a brand new reation...joy...

[Panserbjorne]

So here's my take on blood testing for food allergies. i guess it's like a pregnancy test. There aren't false positives, but there are false negatives. Dd somehow got ahold of dh's plate last night and helped herself to some crab. In all fairness her bloodtest didn't show an issue with shellfish, but lo and behold...she developed hives and other itchy red bumps on her arms and legs, screamed at the top of her lungs ALL night, and got super mucousy and hoarse. She was inconsolable. I'm annoyed on many levels-first we are vegan and she shouldn't have had access to his food, but also because I thought we had our bases covered with that test. I get that she could develop more sensitivities, but this was not that. This was a flat out allergic reaction that, from what I'm reading and hearing, can become anaphalactic with repeated exposure. So, beware those with tests, there could be more alergies that didn't turn up. Also, with a reaction this extreme what else is she likely to react to-what qualifies as "shellfish and related allergens?" I won't be eating anything offensive because I don't eat animal products at all, but I want to be responsible about this and know all of the problem areas.

[circlemama]

"All forms of allergy testing are highly inaccurate" quote from Dr. Robert Wood, head of pediatric allergy and immunology at Johns Hopkins.

Allergy testing is a bit more accurate over the age of 2.