Allergy Re-Testing

Back in February last year, a few days before his first birthday, we took Lucas for allergy testing with a paediatric allergist in Leeming, WA. This paed allergist is very well known, and we know many people who have been there for various reasons. We took him for testing because, at 7 months of age, he had had an allergic reaction of hives, difficulty breathing and swelling to cow's milk. At the appointment, Lucas was tested for 26 of the main allergens. The results were that he had 3 allergies: cows milk, raw beef and tomatoes.

Now, a year later we went back for retesting. This time Lucas was only tested for the 3 previous allergens. The paed allergist was pleased to hear that Lucas is starting to tolerate more cheese in his diet, and can now have 6 or so slices when before it was just 1.

Again Lucas was tested via the skin prick method, whereby this allergist draws a grid on his arm, puts a small drop of each allergen (in liquid form) in a grid space. He then pricks the top layer of skin. During this retesting Lucas was not as good as he was the first time. The first time he didn't cry or squirm and was in fact quite fascinated with the whole process. However, this time he is a little older and wiser and cried each time he was pricked :( Thankfully a train stamp helped ease the pain.




Taken 2 minutes after testing. Top red dot was beef, next space was tomato
and third space was cows milk

We then went back into the waiting room to wait for 10 minutes. This gives the allergens time to react properly and gives a better overall picture of the allergies in general. Upon being called back into the office, the allergist drew around each hive that appeared and used sticky tape to record its size. Lucas had two hives appear, for beef and milk. These were then compared to his results from last time.

The beef hive was about the same, and that means that we need to be careful when eating meet. Everything needs to be cooked properly for Lucas, and apparently the place were most Australians eat undercooked meat is at a BBQ, so we need to be more vigilant at those places. Also, no rare or medium cooked steaks for Lucas either! (We learnt at an appointment at PMH that children with an allergy to cows milk have a 10% chance of having a beef allergy too).

The all important comparison of the cows milk hive was what we were most interested in. At the first allergy testing the hive appeared almost immediately. This time around, the hive took around 5minutes to appear and "grow" to the size. Upon comparison with last years' hive, this retest showed that the hive had actually gotten bigger, which translates into worse.

But, the allergist assumed us that this can be normal and not to worry. We developed an action plan whereby during the next year we will introduce cows milk into Lucas's diet. We will begin with it being in baked goods. I need to bake these myself and slowly introduce it. So for example, I may bake something that requires 1cup of milk. I would modify the recipe to include only half a cup of milk and make the rest up with water. We are then to give Lucas only a small bite. The next day we give a bite that is double the size, et cetera. We need to do this until he can tolerate 1 cup of milk in that product.

We were also instructed not to give straight milk products yet, such as yoghurt, cream or ice cream. We need to go for retesting in 1 years' time.

Next we inquired about Tahnee's chance of having allergies. Since she has a touch of excema (like Lucas did), and because both Chris and I have other atopic symptoms (dermatitis, hay fever) and because Lucas has an allergy, her chance is quite high. He then went on to suggest that we start her on solids at 4months, which we have already, and that now we should be introducing small amounts egg, dairy and nuts in the form of peanut butter into her diet. (please do not take this to mean that you should do this for your children. This should only be done on the advice of a qualified, medical practitioner!!).

All in all, an interesting appointment. We thought Lucas had gotten better, but the tests indicate otherwise. And we never would have thought to introduce Tahnee to the most common allergens now, for fear that she would have a reaction. But it makes sense, as we have also been told not to leave their introduction into her diet too late as it can cause an allergy. As I said earlier, please do not consider this post to be advice on what to do with your children. The action plan was developed for OUR children and their specific needs.

(post script: in the past I/We have received a few comments about how bad soy milk is, especially for boys, as it contains a female hormone etc etc. We asked the allergist about this {who had already told us last year to wean Lucas onto soy milk} and he said that what the media reports about the bad qualities of soy milk is all crap {his words!} and not based on science. He said that soy milk is perfectly fine for children to be weaned onto, especially with the presence of a cows milk allergy. So, if you have questions about the use of soy milk please direct them to a GP/Paed/Allergist or other similar medical practitioner}