Intro and question about confusing allergy stuff

mkeatts

I have a three year old and 8 month old.  I'm not new to allergy stuff, as my three year old has allergies to peas, tree nuts, rice,  and pit fruit.  My 8 month old has chronic congestion and frequent diaper rashes.  We had her tested at the allergist last month and did some blood work.  The only thing that showed up was dog and it was very mild.  Her blood work showed really high levels of allergic response that aren't consistent with the dog allergy.  So there must be something we're missing.  We've been doing a very specific food introduction plan as recommended by the allergist (one food only per week for 4 weeks, then start over with the same foods in the same order).  We're on the second round of the first foods (squash, green beans, sweet potatoes and bananas).  She's had reactions to every food we've tried.  The allergist is concerned that because she had RSV when she was 11 weeks old, she is allergic to everything she was exposed to at that time (I EBF).  Has anyone experienced this?  Also, her blood work indicates anemia.  Do I continue this sloooow introduction plan forever?  When did you begin adding multiple things per week? I'm pretty bummed about it.  My oldest tested positive for all her allergies so it was very clear what we needed to eliminate.  The baby is a mystery and it feels like we don' t have a clue what we're doing.

Thankfulforwine

I am so sorry to hear you are going through this! We delt with a milk allergy with my oldest daughter and she became severely anemic from a secondary problem caused by the milk allergy because we didn't catch it until she was 2 (long story). DD2 is almost one now and had GI symptoms for the first 7 months of life until I went on an elimination diet. We have been slowly adding foods into both her diet and mine but it has been a long road. I wish I had some advice for you!!! I will say that my daughters allergist told us that both the blood test and the skin test are only about 50% accurate - as an example my daughters RAST test came back that she was allergic to everything but almonds but it was just a milk allergy. Apparently if your body is mounting a strong enough reaction to one food it can make others turn positive as well. Food allergies are no fun and do all kinds of weird things . I hope you are able to get some answers soon!!! Good luck!

LSU628

No answers, but we are also playing a guessing game with my DS. The skin test showed all kinds of allergies, but the bloodwork the pedi did showed no allergies. Something is definitely going on, but we just can't put our finger on it. Very frustrating!