Allergy testing....

[V8]

I am wondering about allergy testing for my DS who is 15 months old. I am worried he may be either allergic to wheat/gluten or milk, or possibly both. He seems to have quite a lot of very runny sticky poos, and very rarely has solid poos. Also he has had excema but it seems to have eased now, but still present.

So, would this be a sign he may have an allergy? I have coeliacs (gluten intolerance) and also think i am lactose intolerant (never formally tested).

What is involved in getting tested for allergies and can they test your reaction to milk and wheat products?

Thanks heaps!

[V8]

bumpity bump... anyone know?

[V8]

Guess noone knows.... :(

[daisyxs]

as far as i know there are 3 ways of testing.

1. elimination diet - you stop the foods you think are causing it and then reintroduce to see if you get a reaction.

2. skin ***** tests - you would need to get a referral from your doctor for this one. they just scratch a tiny dot of different allergens ie cat hair, grasses, foods etc onto the skin and see if there is a reaction to any. i had this done with DS to confim his egg allergy.

3. an electrode test done through naturopaths.
your DS holds an electrode type metal handle thing which is connected to a computer
energy currents that are present in different foods are tested against his average body reading and when it comes across a food that is an allergan his reading spikes cos of the negative reaction given by his body against the food.
neither of these hurt and i did the naturopath one for my DD which confimed her allergy to strawberries.

if you are on medicare you shouldnt have to pay for the dr one but the naturopath cost me around $40.

Hope that makes sense. :thumbsup:

[TeamAwesome]

Hi I'm not an expert but believe my DD who's 13mo might be gluten intollerant and dairy intollerant she had reflux as a bub and I was made aware they can be more susceptable to allergies/intollerances. I basically put myself on a dairy free diet and limited my gluten ate more rice then pasta etc... now she's at the can "eat everything" stage I recently chatted to my GP who said while its managable by diet try to stick it out (was doing normal poo) otherwise to test is by doing a blood test (for dairy and wheat don't know what else they can test for) and they try to put that off. I'd say your case is pretty strong to go test. Also maybe seeing a dietician to find out some things you could try to eliminate in his diet to ease the excema. Also maybe call an allergist, they might be able to send you some info.

HTH
Natalie

[daisyxs]

ok the word that has been censored rhymes with trick but starts with a P,
gee mods, i wasnt being naughty :o

[TeamAwesome]

its automatic censor for certain words

[kymmy]

LOL daisyxs

My eldest son has suffered from severe eczema. He is allergic to eggs and other things. Eggs seems to be the main one. Actually today he broke out in hives as he was playing and dropping eggs on the floor :banghead:
He had a blood test last year to test what he may be allergic to. Apart from eggs he is also sensitive to cereal, nuts and milk and possibly soy. He can eat them in small doses (and cooked eggs) but it seems to be more of a contact allergy.

[V8]

Thanks heaps ladies for the advice. I am going to book into my doc and have a chat to him about DS. I am also trying to avoid excess dairy and wheat/gluten products to see if he still has diarohhea.

:D Very appreciative!

[edmum]

hi
my 3 mth old boy has been sick for approx. 6 weeks. He intitially had blood in his poos and was very unsettled, irritible and sleeping poorly. My paediatritian stated my son had some sort of gastro bug and not to worry....
I am gluten intolerant and after having looked on the internet for my son's symptoms, decided to stop eating dairy as well (as babies can be allergic/intolerant to milk proteins through the mother's breast milk).
My son still has specks of blood in the odd poo each day, he does 11-13 poos a day, many of which appear to cause him discomfort, and if he is asleep, the passing of the poo will wake him up. I am now waiting to see a gastroenterologist. Has anyone else experienced this in a small baby?
Thanks:)

[kymmy]

edmum - sorry to hear about that :hugs: We haven't had to deal with that.

My big boy got his formal results back from the blood test.
He has high sensitivity to
egg white, milk, wheat, peanut, soya bean, most other nuts too.
Low sensitivty to oat, corn (maize), sesame and buckwheat
Zero sensitivity to seafoods.

On the paper they test for 4 mixes

Staple food Mix

Nut mix

Seafood Mix

Cereal Mix

What we have taken from this is that we should lessen breads and nuts to a minimum. The doctor said milk is fine on cereal but he is best not to have too much.
I knopw he has had contact allergies - milk or egg on his skin brings up rashes straight away.

[mumofcj]

Hi Mylo
Excema is a big warning sign for allergies especially if they get it at 6 months or less. You need to be careful with the terminology used by people. There is a big difference between an intolerance and an allergy as described in medical terms. An allergy involves a response by the the immune system which then releases histamines. An intolerance is a rejection of the body to the protein but doesn't illicit the antibodies to be released. Coelliiacs have a severe intolerance to the gluten. However this does not mean they don't have significant symptoms just the wording is important.
Mum of the 3 month old give your diet a good 2-3 weeks to work and there is some good info on a low allergy breastfeeding diet fromthe RCH on some websites just do a google related to colic/allergies and low allergen diet - otherwise you could try the RCH - melb directly. It took us several months to clear up my sons symptoms when I went on the diet.

[V8]

Thanks mumofcj, that is so helpful! :)

Edmum, the only thing i have heard about a baby having blood in their poo was because the baby was allergic to nuts. So not sure if you eat nuts, but that could be a problem too. Goodluck with your diet, it would be so hard i think.

Kymmy - wow your poor DS is certainly allergic to a few things, do your other kids have allergies too?

I have booked DS in next week to see if they can do some tests on him. His excema is clearing up though and he hasn't had as many runny sticky poos, so i think i just gotta reduce his dairy and wheat, it seems to be working so far.

[edmum]

Thank-you mumofCJ and Mylo!
I will keep up my diet and exclude all dairy, wheat and nuts. My son doesn't have eczema so I'm hoping he does only have a temporary intolerance.
i will defiantely look up the RCH Melbourne website and then wait to see the gastro....

Kymmy - who did you see to get your son's blood tests?

thanks for all your help!:)

[kymmy]

Only my big boy has health problems - severe eczema, asthma, hayfever and food sensitivities. My girl is super healthy! and my bub only has mild eczema (comparing to my big boy).

My boy had the blood test at the hospital in Epping(Melbourne). He was having the care for asthma and trying to control the eczema and finally they said the test may help us see what the cause might be :rolleyes: You have to pester them to do the tests.
His skin has cleared up a great deal. If you saw him you wouldn't say he had eczema. His face is clear and so soft! I am so happy. His feet still have a few marks.
Sorry :ecomcity: