Home › Forums › General Baby Care › Miscellaneous › Bloodwork for allergy testing
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December 2, 2008 at 2:20 pm #59128AnonymousInactive
Ped gave us paperwork/order for allergy bloodwork for Evan. Any pros & cons for getting it done right now?! We also have one for Brodie too…
December 2, 2008 at 9:02 pm #59142AnonymousInactiveOh Erin that is a hard one. Evan is so young that I don’t know that you are going to get accurate results b/c of his age. I think they really like them to be at least a year old usually older to be confident in the results. I might see if Sheri has any information for you. I don’t know if the testing she has had done for her kiddos is more accurate at a younger age or not. I do know that it probably isn’t covered by insurance. I hope someone else chimes in. We waited until Cooper was 18 months, but I know you would really like to be able to expand your diet so I understand why you want to go ahead and do it.
December 2, 2008 at 10:42 pm #59145hellbenntKeymasterAccuracy of allergy testing & great post by sherri explaining IgE and IgG (intolerance/allergies) https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10815
Allergies-PATCH, panel, RAST testing, etc- allergies & intolerances, too:
https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11673&PN=2
December 4, 2008 at 4:10 pm #59195AnonymousInactiveWell, I was able to get a last minute appt w/ the children’s hospital to draw the blood for Brodie… & since I was already taking Brodie & was able to get into the children’s lab I went ahead & did Evan as well.
I guess my thinking is this: if there are any positives (for Evan) then I will know what I’m potentially dealing with in the long run.
Someone correct me if wrong: there is the possibility of false negatives (meaning it may not show he’s allergic to milk but he could potentially have a milk allergy) but the chance of a false positive is unlikely?! Is that right?!
Thanks for the links Laura – I think I have both of them bookmarked for future allergy testing (for the skin tests).
So, let’s hope Brodie’s outgrown his peanut & tree nut allergy (I know, not likely but we can hope).
As far as the actual drawing of the blood it wasn’t too bad. Brodie was upset but actually handled it quite well (I was holding Curious George fruit snacks as a reward so that seemed to help w/ the pain a lot-lol). It took 2 tries w/ Evan & even then they were only able to get 1 1/4 vials (they needed 2). They ended up getting enough serum though to do the tests (I think my ped ordered the full food allergy & Florida environmental allergy).
December 17, 2008 at 9:46 am #59643AnonymousInactiveUPDATE:
Evan’s came back with nothing ‘abnormal’… meaning no positives. No big surprise there I guess. We’ll probably still do further allergy testing once he’s 18 mths. Would that be the next step?
Brodie’s came back positive for peanuts… again, no big surprise but good to finally have it confirmed by blood test.
My question is: What’s the next step we should take for Brodie? A ped allergist? Request an epi-pen?
At school his classroom is nut-free, but the entire school is not. He has his own bottle of benedryl just in case but I don’t even know if that would be enough if an accident happened.
And of course I feel guilty- like this was caused by ‘us’ since he (Brodie) was given (not by myself or dh) pb @ 11 mths old. I wonder about the whole ‘introduce it too early causes allergies’ thing (esp now that Evan seems to react to pears & I gave those to him @ 4 wks old).
Anyway, thanks for any insight!
December 17, 2008 at 1:49 pm #59658AnonymousInactiveI think waiting until he’s 18mths would be the thing to do. We also had RAST testing for Averi and everything came back fine. The next step was going to be skin prick or patch testing…BUT…I figured why bother. We’ll just wait until she’s 18mths and in the meantime keep her away from the foods we know bother her.
As far as Brodie…I’d see a ped allergist and ask any and all questions you may have. I’m sure they’d be able to give you some insight into how to handle the school situation. (sorry I can’t be of more help) I don’t think it would hurt, KWIM?!I’ve often wondered about the ‘introduce it too early causes allergies’ things also. No one ever really knows, it’s just one of those things. Don’t beat yourself up about it. You’re a great mommy!December 17, 2008 at 2:05 pm #59662AnonymousInactiveErin I put this on facebook but wanted to put it here as well. I think you probably need to get an Epi pen script for Brodie so that you can have it if needed. I think the RAST scale is 1-5 with 5 being the worst… Cooper was a 3 for egg white and 2 for egg yolk or vice versa I don’t remember but our ped wrote us the script to have just in case since We don’t know how Cooper reacts as I have never given him eggs. And with Peanuts it is so hard to really be sure that you are avoiding esp in the school setting so I would get it to be safe. Have the school use the Benadryl first and then they will have the epi pen if it doesn’t work… Cooper’s school bag has his epi pen in it along with 2 premeasured benadryls in it and it goes with us everywhere we go… just in case. Our allergist didn’t write the script but my ped had a child with an egg allergy and she wanted to air on the side of caution. Good luck with Evan I am so glad things are improving esp with Christmas right around the corner.
December 17, 2008 at 2:28 pm #59666AnonymousInactiveThanks ladies…
Yes, I think I need to call the ped & find out what # his RAST came back with. They didn’t say when they called w/ the results (& I was in the car on the cell & a bit flustered so didn’t think to ask).
I’ve been saying for over a year that we need to get the epi-pen & I just need to do it. We are obviously very careful when he’s around us but can’t be there @ school. There is a little boy in the classroom across the hall from his that is anaphylactic allergic to nuts & reacts to even the smell/residue so he is VERY severe. I can’t imagine being his poor mama (he actually is also allergic to milk, soy, eggs, shellfish & maybe wheat too).
December 17, 2008 at 6:46 pm #59676hellbenntKeymasterfwiw (for what it’s worth), jonah had peanut butter accidently before 12months and he’s not allergic…plus I ate a TON of it while preggo & nursing…
December 17, 2008 at 8:45 pm #59686AnonymousInactiveI called this afternoon & left a message for ped/nurse requesting the # he scored on the RAST scale & also for 2-3 epi-pens.
She called back & had to leave a message on my cell (we were doing NAET treatment w/ Evan). Said his number was a 1.1 so that’s low on the scale (thankfully). Then, said that kids don’t need epi-pens unless they ‘score’ a 5 or a 6. That doesn’t sound right to me… Do you think I should push this issue since his # is only a 1.1?
Thanks Laura… I honestly don’t remember how much I ate during pg or nursing. I recall eating a pj & jelly sandwich every once in a while, but I don’t think a ton.
December 17, 2008 at 8:52 pm #59687hellbenntKeymasterlol, I ate pb & j w/ big ‘ole glasses of milk…and no mspi or allergies w/ either kiddo, thankgoodness! I don’t even LIKE drinking milk ‘normally’ (or really even pb&j) but when preggo & especially nursing…well, I did!
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