Allergy testing in babies

Ally-Mac · #1 July 20th, 2011, 11:02 AM

I'm just back from vacation and I'm trying to get caught up on all the posts! I wanted to post this topic though to get some input from BTDT moms.

Sydney has had 2 severe allergic reactions in the last 10 days (one on July 8th -- we were on a plane on the tarmac and had to get off..this one sent her to the ER), the second happened on July 13th. She was covered head to toe in hives both times, swollen (hands, feet and face), itchy and did throw up during both reactions. the 1st one was most severe because we had no benadryl on hand, so the reaction lasted almost 3 hours before benadryl and a steroid were administered in the ER (she appeared to be getting better but then got worse). Our family doctor as well as those doctor's in the ER that saw her tell us she needs an epi-pen b/c whatever triggered the reaction is severe enough that it may have primed her for an anaphylatic reaction next time (they classify her reactions as anaphyloid ...severe, but no breathing affected). The dose on the junior epi-pen is still to high and dangerous for her so we were not given one. We need to have benadryl on hand at all times now.

We are waiting on an appt for a pediatric allergist to see her, who may or may not allergy test her. From what i've read they rarely allergy test this young. We didn't feed her anything different, change any lotions, etc. the 1st one happened as soon as we sat down on the plane (we noticed 1 hive..then it spread really quickly), the 2nd one happened at my parent's home.

Has anyone had their kids allergy tested before? I'm pretty freaked out about this and now super careful about anything (we've been told to remove all potential allergens..so all those basic ones..nuts, strawberries, eggs, etc).

#2 July 20th, 2011, 11:33 AM

My oldesnt had a general blood test to determine her milk allergy, but she never had the scratch test (no idea what the term is) where they inject the back and watch for a certain reaction. We just did the blood test to confirm since we pretty much knew what she was allergic too he just wanted the labs to confirm that.

Sounds like a very scary experience. I hope someone else has more experience with it. Keep us posted!

#3 July 20th, 2011, 02:50 PM

Grace had the "scratch test" and a blood test at 15months. We had it done because she kept breaking out from head to toe in hives. All the tests came back negative and we unfortunately never figured out for sure what was causing it. However, she was diagnosed with viral asthma. Her allergist felt that the hives appeared when she was having problems with her asthma and her body was going into over drive trying to deal with the asthma. Even though the test was negative, we did see that when she would eat mandarin oranges, strawberries, or was around dogs her eczema and hives would flare up. She was put on Singulair chewables, Hydroxine, and Triamcinolon cream. This seemed to help.

She has now out grown most of this but whenever she gets a cold it always settles in her chest and whenever she runs a fever her eczema flares up.

Good luck, Grace never had a reaction as bad as Sydney.

shockandawe · #4 July 20th, 2011, 06:04 PM

That's scary. You've fed her strawberries and eggs etc before right? Seems it would have had to have been something she came in contact with at the airport no?

I hope you get some answers soon. What an awful experience, especially while you're on holiday.

#5 July 20th, 2011, 06:14 PM

Has she had peanuts?? I'm just trying to brain storm.. I know most airlines are not serving peanuts anymore but some still do. Maybe she came in contact with that. Of course it could be 100 other things...

KUP

Hollybear · #6 July 20th, 2011, 09:26 PM

What about a latex or a type of rubber allergy from the ramp? OR the anti-bacterial crap they run through the vents on an airplane???

Ally-Mac · #7 July 21st, 2011, 03:36 AM

^^^we actually thought about latex or something like that. She has had eggs, strawberries and fish before. No nuts of any kind yet. What I don't understand is the 2nd reaction at my parent's house ....she was given absolutely nothing different that day b/c we were already on edge. I personally think it's something she comes in contact with and not something she eats. But I'm so scared to feed her anything now! I want her to go back to 100% formula for peace of mind

shockandawe · #8 July 21st, 2011, 07:25 AM

That's why I wonder if it had to be something at the airport. What about earphones, ear plugs or the glue on the baggage tags? What about your own personal luggage tags. Was she playing with your carry on at the airport? What about perfume? Did you go through the duty free? I know it's not typical at the domestic terminal, but something there may have done it, and if it was a spritz of perfume that landed somewhere on her blanket or toy or something...KWIM?

latex came to my mind as well. If you picked it up at the airport, and still had it with you at your mom's I could see the second reaction. I hope you do figure it out though. Poor little girl. Poor little mama.

Ally-Mac · #9 August 2nd, 2011, 10:08 AM

She has had another allergic reaction

Yesterday she broke out in hives again -- it wasn't near as bad as the other 2 but it scares the crap out of me everytime.

We have her allergists appt Aug 12. Today was her 1 year check up -- the Dr delayed giving her the MMR vaccine b/c I believe it's an IgY vaccine (raised in chicken's). From what I've read it is still safe if she has an egg allergy (we don't know at this point what it is) but the Dr would rather have the allergist administer it under his care.