Hoping you ladies can give me some insight. I've lurked here and searched the board but still have a few questions. I know most of you have LOs that are much more severe than mine, but I'm hoping someone has some experience with this type too.
DD (5.5 years) was recently diagnosed with a milk allergy via RAST test (barely level 2). She's never had a severe reaction-- no hives, no anaphylaxis, and certainly no epi pen necessary. I knew she was allergic to something because of her deep purple shiners under her eyes, chronic congestion, constant phlegm, and enormous tonsils and adenoids. I never suspected a food allergy because the signs all pointed to something environmental and the only GI symptom she had was heartburn.
DD was also tested for environmental allergens in our area, soy, dust mites, mold, dogs, and cats--all were negative. She was diagnosed by her ENT a few weeks ago and we've done our best to eliminate all obvious and hidden milk. We have an appointment with an allergist, but he was booked out for months.
She takes zyrtec in the morning, singulair and flonase at night. Thus far, I haven't seen any change in her physical appearance. Her shiners are still there (more prominent, in fact), and she still has to wipe her nose more often than she should (due to itchiness, not discharge). Her mucosal linings in her nose are still a pretty brilliant lavendar. The only difference is the congestion and snoring are both gone (because her tonsils and adenoids were removed).
Anyway, my questions... Something isn't adding up. I know dairy can take a month to leave the body and we still have a week to go to reach that milestone, but her signs of allergy aren't going away. Have any of you had a child diagnosed with an allergy this late? I understand she may outgrow this allergy, but is it possible it's going to get worse, considering it seemed to have developed over time? Is it possible she has more hidden allergies that are contributing to her unresolved signs? TIA
Re: New to milk allergies... please help.
HI there,
I don't have much to contribute but have you thought about taking her to a naturopath for more testing? I just found that I got way more answers from them than I did numerous docs, allergists and peds. My DD has severe intolerances to cow's dairy, the wax that is on candy and yellow food dyes. We never would have known about these had we not taken her to the naturopath. Good Luck!
I'm also interested in learning more about the neuropathic doctors. Unfortunately, I live in the middle of nowhere and the nearest neuropath is more than 200 miles away.
I'm really at a loss here. I can't find anyone near me with kids with allergies that were diagnosed later, and most of the online resources are geared toward anaphylaxis.