What does "moderate reaction" mean?

AshasaurusRex

DD had blood tests done to determine food allergies because of reactions she's had to a banana and cow's milk (through breast milk). The nurse called since the Dr was out of town and said she had moderate reactions to milk, eggs, peanuts, and bananas. I'll get to talk to the Dr in about a month at DD's follow up appointment, but I am wondering what the moderate reaction means, especially since the only thing on that list that she has actually eaten is bananas, and she immediately broke out into full body hives and started vomiting. Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks! 

loveemandle2

I am wondering if she was talking about the area of classification of the the test.  So, maybe she meant to say moderate allergy itself.  Did she happen to give you the class allergy she has? Maybe she tested as a class I&II two allergy and those techinically are on the milder side.  I don't know.. just a shot in the dark here. IMO the reaction that you describe your daughter having is more than mild b/c it involved two "systems" skin and GI problems.. I was told that if that happens it is a serious reaction and may even need epi-pen used at that time.   

 Just b/c the test were "mild" does not me she can't have have a serious reaction though.  My son has a classifid II allergeries to dairy and egg and his last reaction to egg with serious.. breathing issues, and hives.  Did they tell you to take those things out of her diet? Did they give you an rx for an epi-pen?

AshasaurusRex

loveemandle2:

I am wondering if she was talking about the area of classification of the the test.  So, maybe she meant to say moderate allergy itself.  Did she happen to give you the class allergy she has? Maybe she tested as a class I&II two allergy and those techinically are on the milder side.  I don't know.. just a shot in the dark here. IMO the reaction that you describe your daughter having is more than mild b/c it involved two "systems" skin and GI problems.. I was told that if that happens it is a serious reaction and may even need epi-pen used at that time.   

 Just b/c the test were "mild" does not me she can't have have a serious reaction though.  My son has a classified II allergies to dairy and egg and his last reaction to egg with serious.. breathing issues, and hives.  Did they tell you to take those things out of her diet? Did they give you an rx for an epi-pen?

I have epi pens for both DD and DS (DS has a milk protein allergy too), a Rx for Zyrtec for DD, and I was told to not give her any of the things she tested "positive" for until I am able to speak to the Dr. The nurse didn't give me a classification, and honestly she could have said moderate allergy, instead of reaction, I can't remember exactly. I don't really know all the lingo yet:). DD's pedi did say that her reaction to the bananas (I showed him a picture of her broken out in hives) was anaphylaxis, and of course serious. I've heard that allergy tests can come back negative if the child has never eaten or had a reaction to foods even if they are allergic to them, so since she's never actually directly eaten peanuts, milk, and eggs, and only eaten bananas once, and the test still showed that she has an allergy to them, does that mean her allergy is worse than moderate? I know I'm probably being confusing, I'm still trying to wrap my head around this and am praying it's something she'll out grow.

loveemandle2

AshfieldMay:

loveemandle2:

I am wondering if she was talking about the area of classification of the the test.  So, maybe she meant to say moderate allergy itself.  Did she happen to give you the class allergy she has? Maybe she tested as a class I&II two allergy and those techinically are on the milder side.  I don't know.. just a shot in the dark here. IMO the reaction that you describe your daughter having is more than mild b/c it involved two "systems" skin and GI problems.. I was told that if that happens it is a serious reaction and may even need epi-pen used at that time.   

 Just b/c the test were "mild" does not me she can't have have a serious reaction though.  My son has a classified II allergies to dairy and egg and his last reaction to egg with serious.. breathing issues, and hives.  Did they tell you to take those things out of her diet? Did they give you an rx for an epi-pen?

I have epi pens for both DD and DS (DS has a milk protein allergy too), a Rx for Zyrtec for DD, and I was told to not give her any of the things she tested "positive" for until I am able to speak to the Dr. The nurse didn't give me a classification, and honestly she could have said moderate allergy, instead of reaction, I can't remember exactly. I don't really know all the lingo yet:). DD's pedi did say that her reaction to the bananas (I showed him a picture of her broken out in hives) was anaphylaxis, and of course serious. I've heard that allergy tests can come back negative if the child has never eaten or had a reaction to foods even if they are allergic to them, so since she's never actually directly eaten peanuts, milk, and eggs, and only eaten bananas once, and the test still showed that she has an allergy to them, does that mean her allergy is worse than moderate? I know I'm probably being confusing, I'm still trying to wrap my head around this and am praying it's something she'll out grow.

Sorry you are going through this.. I know it is hard!!

I will say that our allergist doesn't always believe a postive test indicates an actual allergy.  So, in his office unless the child is presenting with all over eczema and they can't find the source, or breaking out it hives, etc and can't pin point the reaction he will only test for the things we suspect they are reacting to.  So, my DS has never been tested for peanuts. However, my daughter was tested for the top 8 allergens b/c she had eczema all over her body and couldn't figure out where it was coming from.  His thoughts are that just b/c they test postive for it doesn't mean that they will actually react to it when it gets in their system.  He has said he has had patients who are a class 5 or 6 allergy to peanuts and have no reaction whatsoever to to them.  So, it doesn't necessairly mean that she has serious allergeries to  them it may not mean anything at all. 

 These are all my opinions so please do the research and keep in contact with your allergist.   My suggestion would be to find out the numbers (if she had the RAST done) and come up with a plan with your allergist.  For now, since she is so young it makes sense to avoid all of those foods and follow up with further allergy testing down the road.  One note, I am EXTREMELY cautious with my DD's peanut allergy.  She gets no peanuts, not tree nuts, nothing that is manufactured with peanuts.  That is b/c of the nature of the peanut allergy.  It can go from not serious to serious without any warning and that is what our allergist advised us to do.  Also, on a bright note, egg and dairy allergeries are the most common childhood allergeries that are out grown

AshasaurusRex

Thank you!

magdusia

here is a chart i found a while ago..

IgE	kU/L	Level of Allergen
0	<0.35	Absent/Undectable
1	0.35-0.70	Low Level
2	0.71-3.50	Moderate Level
3	3.51-17.5	HighLevel
4	17.6-50	Very High Level
5	51-100	Very High Level
6	>100	Very High Level

 

I would call the nurse and ask her for the RAST results.  It's easier to see the numbers for yourself. 

Sorry to hear about the allergies. If it's moderate, you should avoid them and probably get an epipen right away.  At her age, the allergy can either drop or double at any moment.  

 

 

AshasaurusRex

magdusia:

here is a chart i found a while ago..

IgE	kU/L	Level of Allergen
0	<0.35	Absent/Undectable
1	0.35-0.70	Low Level
2	0.71-3.50	Moderate Level
3	3.51-17.5	HighLevel
4	17.6-50	Very High Level
5	51-100	Very High Level
6	>100	Very High Level

 

I would call the nurse and ask her for the RAST results.  It's easier to see the numbers for yourself. 

Sorry to hear about the allergies. If it's moderate, you should avoid them and probably get an epipen right away.  At her age, the allergy can either drop or double at any moment.  

 

 

 

Very helpful, thank you!

g_belle

also as an fyi- laytex and banana allergies can go hand in hand (we learned the hard way).  Some of the things (proteins?) in laytex are derrived from the banana tree.  Our son is mildly allergic to bananas and although his tests were negative for laytex he does break out in a rash if he's playing with balloons (like at a birthday party).  he can be around them with no problem but if he plays in them he breaks out.  I'd avoid laytex until you do a re-test just in case.