Talk to me about testing.

[Boobs]

What are the options for getting tested for allergies?
My 16 mo ds is allergic to peanuts and we know he is sensitive to soy, corn, peaches, berries, and possibly cinnamon.
The allergist we visited said he is much too young to be tested. I, personally, would like to be a little more certain about what he's allergic to. Specifically if he's anaphylactic-level allergic to anything other than peanuts.
What does thr RASP test involve? Are there other tests?

[bectoria]

Some allergists don't treat children under the age of three, so you may need to call around to find someone for your ds. My 18 month old dd just had the scratch test and RAST test done to test for allergies.

THe scratch test involved them poking dd with a bunch of little plastic doohickys on her back. It didn't hurt her - irritated her a bit, but didn't really hurt (she didn't cry or anything). We waited 15 minutes and the doctor came back in and "read" the results.

The RAST test involves drawing blood (from a vein - semi-traumatic). They need several vials of blood to do just a few tests, so they will likely do the skin test first to narrow down how to use the RAST test. The results take 10 or so days to get back.

[nonconformnmom]

My 3.5 yo has had the scratch test, was supposed to have had the RAST test first but the hospital ended up doing the wrong blood test.

I don't think either of these tests will put your mind at ease about the severity of the allergies, unfortunately. They do not measure degree of sensitivity, only allergic vs. not-allergic.

If you can find someone who will do the scratch test on your 16 mo, it might be useful so that at least you will know for sure which foods to completely eliminate. The scratches are really painless and there should be no drama involved, it's quick and painless.

p.s. your senior title looks good on you!

[mhibbard]

What about Applied Kinesiology for allergy testing? My son's NP recommended that yesterday (9 mos old ds is allergic to milk), but I'm a little skeptical. Anybody know anything about that? I too would like to have allergy testing done, just so that I'm not SO paranoid about introducing new foods, but don't know if it's possible for 9 mos old.

[Wildcrafter]

just keeping posted

[Boobs]

I'm so frustrated. Thanks for the replies. Just in the last few days he's also shown reactions to corn and avocado, 2 things that were fine before.
I just want the easy answers. I'm so tired of living in fear already and he's only 16 months old.

[JenniferKSwan]

We had to call around to several allergists to find one that would test Aiden (at 7mos). With the exception of the peanuts, he has been exposed to each of his allergens in small doses (usually by accident, sometimes as a trial) since then and has reacted (wheat, barley, soy and egg). We have been introducing small amounts of flour - meat that has been browned in it or added as a thickener and he seems to be okay now. Not to the point that I will give him a slice of bread, but it's giving me hope that he may outgrow some of them.

My understanding is that none of the allergy tests are 100% reliable - there are both false positives and negatives, especially on young kids. The only reliable test is to expose the child to the food that they may be allergic to in the allergists office (because they have the ability to counteract if it is an anaphylactic reaction). Regarding ana allergens (ie peanuts, tree nuts, milk, etc), from all the research I have done, they don't always start out as ana reactions. However, the more they are exposed, as well as the older the person gets, the worse the reaction becomes.

I belong to another site for eczema and have had several mom's mention that foods that were once okay, are now off limits. My allergy to bananas has worsened over the years. I know - it's not much help.

BTW - Boobs, I love your name! As someone who wears a 44G (all natural with the possible help of milk and chicken hormones) before nursing - I understand the "more than a handful"!

[talia rose]

I have extensive experience with Applied Kinisiology and have had my childrens lives completely changed as a result. We are blessed with a woman who specializes in food sensitivity testing and can test on newborns even. I love this method best. Muscle testing tests to see if the "electrical currents" that run through our body are weakened with exsposure to a certain food - or even environmental toxins ( I know quite a few babies who test horrible on the poison chemicals they put on mattresses). It is completely non-invasive and I have found it to be very accurate, though I have still used my mothers intuition along with it (as in, when we cleared out the gluten, I began to see a reaction to soy and had that tested) Sometimes when your body is being overwhelmed with a food that "weakens" it , you will take on other allergies just because you are in a reactive state. I used to own a childrens store and referred about 50 kids to her for testing and watched thier lives change as the kids got healthy. If you can find someone who does this, definitely check it out!