Allergist day
Jan. 26th, 2010 03:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mangofandangoI took Sophie to the allergist today.
She had skin prick testing, where they put little drops of allergen-containing liquid (?) on the skin along with itsy bitsy imperceptible skin pricks. I thought this would be really unpleasant, but it wasn't bad at all. Sophie played with a toy the whole time. This kind of testing has a high false positive rate, but a good negative test result rate (meaning, it is good at telling you what you are NOT allergic to, but not very good at telling you what you ARE allergic to).
According to these tests, Sophie is not sensitive to dairy or wheat. The caveat here is that I have completely eliminated those from my diet, so she hasn't been exposed in a long time, which means she may not be reactive to the test despite possibly being reactive to the food. However, I haven't tried reintroducing wheat at all, and she may very well be over that. I haven't tried reintroducing dairy in months, so it might be time to retest that, too.
She did test positive for eggs and almonds (tree nuts). The almond reaction was not huge, just pink skin. The egg reaction, though, was a big itchy-looking red bump. I am not sure whether a reaction like that should be any more convincing to me given the high rate of false positives, but it kind of IS more convincing to me. (However, despite my eating eggs she doesn't really have big allergy symptoms anymore, with the exception of eczema...which I also have, so that could be genetic.)
I don't have a lot of faith in the testing. But, I will try removing eggs and tree nuts for a while, and reintroduce wheat. If wheat goes well, we'll try dairy too. After a few weeks, I can challenge test by reintroducing eggs and seeing if there is a reaction.
The allergist gave us a prescription for a junior epi-pen, just in case. Also, information on how to avoid anaphylaxis through random exposure like people kissing the baby up to an hour after having eaten eggs. Um, yipes? Seriously though, I am not that concerned right now. I will fill the prescription though, because having an epi-pen around seems like a not-so-bad idea regardless of what this baby is or is not allergic to, you know?
I need to call back later or tomorrow, because I have a few remaining questions. Well, who am I kidding...all we really have are questions. ;) But a plan of sorts is a plan of sorts, which is all I really thought I might possibly get out of this appointment.
She had skin prick testing, where they put little drops of allergen-containing liquid (?) on the skin along with itsy bitsy imperceptible skin pricks. I thought this would be really unpleasant, but it wasn't bad at all. Sophie played with a toy the whole time. This kind of testing has a high false positive rate, but a good negative test result rate (meaning, it is good at telling you what you are NOT allergic to, but not very good at telling you what you ARE allergic to).
According to these tests, Sophie is not sensitive to dairy or wheat. The caveat here is that I have completely eliminated those from my diet, so she hasn't been exposed in a long time, which means she may not be reactive to the test despite possibly being reactive to the food. However, I haven't tried reintroducing wheat at all, and she may very well be over that. I haven't tried reintroducing dairy in months, so it might be time to retest that, too.
She did test positive for eggs and almonds (tree nuts). The almond reaction was not huge, just pink skin. The egg reaction, though, was a big itchy-looking red bump. I am not sure whether a reaction like that should be any more convincing to me given the high rate of false positives, but it kind of IS more convincing to me. (However, despite my eating eggs she doesn't really have big allergy symptoms anymore, with the exception of eczema...which I also have, so that could be genetic.)
I don't have a lot of faith in the testing. But, I will try removing eggs and tree nuts for a while, and reintroduce wheat. If wheat goes well, we'll try dairy too. After a few weeks, I can challenge test by reintroducing eggs and seeing if there is a reaction.
The allergist gave us a prescription for a junior epi-pen, just in case. Also, information on how to avoid anaphylaxis through random exposure like people kissing the baby up to an hour after having eaten eggs. Um, yipes? Seriously though, I am not that concerned right now. I will fill the prescription though, because having an epi-pen around seems like a not-so-bad idea regardless of what this baby is or is not allergic to, you know?
I need to call back later or tomorrow, because I have a few remaining questions. Well, who am I kidding...all we really have are questions. ;) But a plan of sorts is a plan of sorts, which is all I really thought I might possibly get out of this appointment.
