IEG allergy vs. GI

[FireWithin]

Can you help me understand the differences? I had my 4 month old tested for a RAST skin-prick test. It all came back negative. He doesn't have any allergies.

Through an elimination diet, I have removed the blood in his stool and reduced other allergic reactions. With the RAST test, I was hoping to fully pinpoint what foods were bothering him. That didn't work. Currently, I am not eating, the following: dairy, soy, beef, legumes, coconut, chocolate, shellfish. The next step is going to a GI doctor. What does this mean? What will the doctor do? And will she be able to tell me exactly what's bothering my son? I am hoping, hoping, hoping that my list is not "right", and that I can add something back into my diet.

The good news is: now that it's not IEG related, I expect my son to grow out of it by (hopefully) one year.

Can anyone help?

[wendy1221]

IgE moderated allergies are the ones that typically cause immediate serious reactions (hives, anaphylaxis.) IgG allergies typically are delayed reaction and cause more GI symptoms, eczema, behavioral problems, etc. Although people often have those symptoms w/ IgE allergies as well. THe tests that allergists do are only for IgE allergies in most cases. I'm not sure waht the GI doctor will be able to do for you. Most doctors do not test for IgG allergies,and I've never heard of a GI doc testing for any allergies. I'm assuming you were sent there to rule out other causes of these symptoms (a lot of peds don't even seem to believe IgG allergies exist. )

[wendy1221]

Oh, and the way to see if you CAN add some of these things back into you r diet is to do it. Only add 1 ata time and wait a full 2 weeks in between (longer if he reacts.) I would suggest legumes first since it's rare to be allergic to ALL legumes (I say that cuz it's apparently true, but ds1 was.) So eat a few black beans one day. No reaction, eat a bunch the next day. Still no reaction, eat a whole lot for the next few days. Wait at least a week to make sure there is no delayed reaction. If there is a reaction, wait until there are absolutely no more symptoms before trying something else.

[Panserbjorne]

I'm sitting here nodding. What she said!

[goldfishkate]

My family doctor sent my ds to a GI doctor for his bloody stools. She said that bloody stools were rare for infants and wanted to make sure there wasn't any other cause. She also recommended that I cut out dairy or switch to a hyper-allergic formula (no way!). The GI doctor do a basic exam and checked for fischers around my ds anus. He was an older man and didn't really believe dairy protein could pass through breastmilk. He also discovered my son's liver was enlarged. He ordered some blood work to make sure the liver was working correctly (and it was thank goodness!) and to check other levels of somethings that could cause bleeding, but I don't remember what it was. We had a follow up appointment with our family doctor the next day and we concluded that my son was sensitive to dairy eventhough the specialist didn't really believe it was possible. I don't know if I really needed go to the specialist, but I am glad that I know the bloody stools are not caused by another possibly more serious problem.

[Wolfmeis]

Originally Posted by firefaery

I'm sitting here nodding. What she said!

Wendy rocks it. Another :

[Panserbjorne]

Intestinal bleeding is a very common symptom of a dairy allergy. It can be passed via bm if the mother has a sensitivity herself. Not many people are aware they have sensitivities until their kiddos point them out. Anal fissures as well. I wold definitely get rid of ALL dairy if you are seeing bloody stool.

[wendy1221]

Originally Posted by Wolfmeis

Wendy rocks it. Another :

[Missy]

It can be passed via bm if the mother has a sensitivity herself.

It can be passed via bm even if the mother doesn't have a sensitivity.

[Missy]

I'm not sure waht the GI doctor will be able to do for you.

It was our ped. gastro who first suggested that ds2 has non-IgE-mediated allergies. The two scopes he's performed have confirmed the extent of the damage done by foods that were barely positive on the RAST.

Our allergists and gastro have all said that, based on ds2's past patterns, to expect more non-IgE-mediated allergies to emerge as he outgrows the IgE-mediated allergies. A few foods that used to cause hives have dropped dramatically on RAST but, on trial, cause massive damage in his gut and incredible pain.

When we have an episode here, our gastro, ped, and primary allergist stay in close touch and work together with us to figure out what's going on. But, it's taken a long time and a lot of scary encounters to find these doctors; we've definitely been through more than our share of arrogant idiots.

[Mrs.PhD]

Thanks for the thread I am just trying to do some last min reading up on allergies. Lily goes to the allergist tmw for her 6 month check up. Her 1st testing was at 12 months, blood work. 3 or dairy (we suspected that.) and 2 for egg yokes (we had no idea about that.) At 18 months we did skin testing showing still positive for milk and egg yokes. (neg for soy, peanuts, and wheat.)

So I am just trying to be up on my info and know what to ask about.

She could test neg for dairy and eggs, (IgE) and still have IgG allergies we don't know about right? I mean she doesn't have any contact with them so we just don't know. I know she SHOULD or at least have a good chance of outgrowing this, but I must say as much as I want it I am going to have a hard time feeling that milk and eggs aren't the enemy. At this point I don't think she is allergy free. I have hope she might be in 6 moths or at least next time at this year. She is not as sensitive as she used to be (and we have started non dairy chewable probiotics too.)

So I think I am going to ask for blood work this time to see if there is any changes in her score. What do you guys think. I don't really want all the picking on her back right now anyway. Drawing blood once seems less mean.

Any thoughts? (oh and thanks everyone, I feel I have learned so much about managing allergies since joining MDC. )

[my2girlz]

We did the allergy tests and they all came up negative. Then we did applied kinesiology with our chiropractor and he found wheat, citrus, and dairy. It's been 1 year for my dd2 and 1.5 for my ds and we had them retested recently and they've outgrown wheat and dairy. Their sensitivity to citrus is pretty big so I'll give that another year before we try that one again.

[3_opihi]

Mary, I would skip the blood test. In my experience, they have been notoriously innacurate. For instance, we had my son blood tested for allergies, and it said he had none. But on further skin testing, it showed he was pretty much mildly allergic to almost everything! And highly allergic to corn and shellfish. I would go with the skin testing, but your dd is so young that an elimination diet may be the way to do it.

[Panserbjorne]

What kind of blood test did you do? I have found them to be TERRIBLY accurate. Were you testing IgE and IgG?

[3_opihi]

We did the RAST blood test. I will have to go look up his paperwork specifically, but he has been tested for everything under the son - he has a serious autoimmune illness. All of his antibody levels have been tested, numerous times.

From what I've always read and been told the blood tests are not really reliable in terms of looking at specific allergens. However, you can get a good idea if somebody has allergies, by taking a look at what their IgE levels are. For instance, if somebody's IgE levels are through the roof, then yah they have some issues going on that you would want to explore further with skin testing or elimination diet. Unfortunately, skin testing is pretty not fun for a baby and not something I would go for unless you absolutely need to know. With my 6 year old we absolutely had to know, and he has been through it multiple times. With my other two children I know they definitely have allergies, but I feel like I can get a good grasp of what to avoid by food elimination diets. There is nothing that they are anyphylactic to besides medications, which I know about and avoid. I felt it was best to wait a couple more years to avoid the trauma of skin pricks. You do whats best for your family. The whole thing is so hard, especially when everyone has a different opinion and experience.

[3_opihi]

Sorry if that was unclear. RAST blood testing is innacurate. Antibody testing is accurate, but not for specific allergens. Make sense? I thought the previous poster was referring to RAST testing.

[Panserbjorne]

We did antibody testing for 115 allergens. Granted, if you don't test for pinto beans and you are allergic to pinto beans you aren't going to be helped. They tested for IgG and IgE reactions both so we covered allergies and sensitivities. They also did the assays for yeast and celiac disease at the same time. I was very happy with our results.

[3_opihi]

That's cool. I'm glad it worked for you! Like I said, it didn't work for us. It has to work for some people, otherwise what would be the point of having it. My only point is that it's known to be innaccurate. Did you do the ImmunoCap test, by any chance? I think that one is supposed to be better.

Here's some info:
http://www.questdiagnostics.com/hcp/...immunocap.html
http://www.foodallergyinitiative.org...b_section_id=2

[Panserbjorne]

We went through Immunolabs.

[Mrs.PhD]

The allergist appointment went well. We decided to do the blood work this time (she had it aug 2005, and then skin test feb 2006.) I really want to know if she has outgrown the egg allergy (I suspect she has, but I want proof before I feel comfortable with it.)

My doc said the blood work is more reliable then it used to be, and the lab work is even better then it was last year (what test this lab is running.) Not sure what that is, but she mentioned it was a scale from 0 to 5 last time, and is now 0 to 15 so it shows levels more.

Anyway she was super good getting the blood drawn, but I think it helped the doc did a great job. (she was 7 months pregnant too.) Lily laid now so nicely, didn't move and said "ouch" when they put the needle in. Then "go home now." The staff couldn't believe it. She walked around all day saying "I was very good." It was too cute. (not bad for a 2 year and 2 month old.)

If the blood works comes back neg then we will consider the skin test to be sure since there is a chance of false negatives.

I should get the results in a few days. Keep your fingers crossed that she has outgrown the egg. (I think the milk will be a while longer.)