Have your LOs had a reaction to everything they tested positive for?

TheBub

DS tested positive for chicken and eggs back in November at 2yo.  He had been eating both without incident since before he was 1.  The first allergist told us to eliminate them and retest in a year.  We got a second opinion today and he gave us the go ahead to eat both again.  He explained that you cannot officially diagnose an allergy until you get positive test results AND a clinical response to the offending food.

What have your experiences been?

The nut portion of the appt was far more frightening.  At least we have a clearer understanding of what to do in an emergency.

g_belle

if he had been eating them without incident- I'd think the test was faulty (both the skin test and the blood test can result in false positives and false negatives).  If he's had them fine- I'd be ok giving them going forward with caution. 

Our allergist does both tests and if postive for allergies on both- we avoid.  Not sure what positive on just one test would have done for us- all of his testing matched up.  J had head to toe eczema as an infant and puked immediately after drinking regular formula.  That got us our initial testing.  Since then we've had reactions to peanuts , wheat and dairy through accidental exposure that we know of and some mystery rashes that I'm fairly certain were due to cross contamination .

loveemandle2

My allergist would agree with the allergist you saw today.  For example, my ds just had the RAST done as we know he has an egg allergy, but suspect a couple of other ones as well.  My daughter is allergic to eggs, peanuts, and dairy.  So, I kind of just assumed that he would test my son for peanuts as well.  He said, no... He would prefer for him to have some peanuts, in small doses and if he reacts then he will test.  Because he doesn't want a false postive to follow him around for the rest of his life.  At first I didn't agree, but I think the more I think about it the more it makes sense..

 

  So, anyways.. I would start to introduce those two foods back to your dc.. and just see what happens start in small doses and make sure to have benadryl and epi on hand just in case!

mrs_kelly1014

A common phrase I've always heard in regards to food allergies is "Reactions trump everything else". If DC has been eating those foods without incident, I would absolutely consider it a false positive and move on.

On the other hand, sometimes there can be a reaction to food and a negative test. This happened to my DS with wheat. He was very clearly allergic (would have skin reactions) if exposed, but he tested negative to skin and blood tests. We obviously went wheat free despite the negative test. (We have had other correct tests as well - for peanuts, tree nuts, etc)

luvmagoldn

DS#2 - tested positive for pistachio, cashew and kiwi.  The pistachio and kiwi we knew before we even walked in the door.  He has never eaten cashew so we don't know if he truly is allergic.  But, since it's not impacting his quality of life we aren't going to food challenge for it at this point.

DS#3 - tested positive for milk, egg, peanut, tree nuts, sesame and soy.  We know the milk and peanut are true positives due to reactions.  Soy continues to be positive but he's been on soy formula since he was a couple of months old so we consider it a false positive and continue to give him soy.  Tree nuts and sesame are both new (as of his two year RAST) and he's never been exposed to them so we aren't sure.  Egg has been on his list since seven months but he's never had egg.  So, we are going to see a specialist in October  (in addition to his regular pediatric allergist) and discuss food challenges for the tree nut, sesame and egg. 

For DS#3, opening up his food possibilities is important so we are  interested in challenging what we are not sure of.  But, I would not be comfortable introducing foods on my own.  I only want to do it in a clinical setting in case there is a reaction.