1 yr old has 1st appt with allergist - what to expect?

[71newmom]

Hello,
My 12 month old son has an appt with an allergist tomorrow. he has been vomiting lately after meals and has a few other symptoms that his ped thinks could be related to allergies. i'm not familiar with allergy testing, this is all new to me. i believe he will be having skin testing done, but i'm wondering if there is anything else i should bring up with the dr at this initial appt? for all you parents who have been through this with your kids, what should i know about this first appt in order to get to the bottom of my son's problem? my experience with drs is that i never feel like there is enough time to get my point across and ask questions. they are so quick to fly in and out and i'm left in the dust.

how accurate are these skin tests? for instance, if it shows he isn't allergic, do we stop there, or does it mean there could still be a problem?

[4Blessings]

Our DS was first tested at 11 months via SPT (skin prick test) because I didn't know any better!

He tested negative to milk, yet we had seen reactions first hand. Serious reactions.

I would recommend the RAST test, if available. It is a simple blood draw and is more acurate than SPT and easier to administer IMHO.

I remember it being very difficult to hold him in place while waiting the fifteen-twenty minutes for the results.

From age two on, our DS has been RAST tested and we have found the results to be very acurate. He is now allergic to milk, egg, peanut and treenut.

Actual food reactions always trump any test results. It is important to keep a food diary to keep track of any reactions to specific foods.

If your child tests positive make sure to discuss an emergency action plan with your doctor. In addition, DO NOT leave the office without an RX for an Epi-pen Jr. and the knowledge of how/when to use it!

If you need more info I would suggest trying

http://www.foodallergy.org
http://allergy.hyperboards.com/
http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org

Good Luck!

[nalo]

Unfortunately, what you can expect is probably not much! Allergy testing at that age is notoriously unreliable and most allergists do not have much of an understanding at all about babies and food intollerances/allergies. There are no magic answers to be found. You will need to eliminate foods and keep close track of intake as well as LO behavior, output, etc. Also, if you are nursing you also need to strictly keep to all food changes as well. Sometimes the best place to start is eliminating the top 8 allergens for a few weeks and see what happens. The goal is to get your LO to a baseline and then you can introduce one food at a time to see if you can pinpoint the culprit(s). I agree though - with lots of vomiting and other symptoms I would insist on leaving with an epi-pen script, just in case.