DS is 2 YEar old. When he was 9 MO, we found he was allerfgic to Dairy (reaction: hives, vomiting). At 10, we gave him wheat germ for the first time and he got hives. At 12 we tried pasta at our ped's advice and he seemed to be fine with it. Anyway, we got the RAST done in Dec 2008 and it came severe for Egg and Dairy and moderate (1.06) for wheat. Our Ped advised we see an allergist. We completely avoided egg/dairy and wheat.
So, we met the allergist in Jan 2009, and they did skin testing again. Well, they said he was allergic to Egg/Dairy and NOT allergic to wheat. So, I started giving wheat to DS. However, we noticed his nose was always runny and eczema got worse. Moreso, he would eat wheat dishes sometimes and sometimes completely refused. So, in March 2009, I stopped giving wheat to him. He would still eat Cheerios because I thought they were mostly oats.
In July 2009, we had our 6 monthly appointment with the allergist again. They did the skin test and Lo and Behold!! They said his egg/dairy had become more severe and he WAS allergic to Wheat. That totally baffled me. Allergist said we should completely avoid wheat. So we started doing that (no more cheerios).
NOW, for his flu shot this year, we got the blood work done again in Sep 2009 (RAST Test).. This time his Dairy and Wheat numbers are waaay below the worrying levels (0.6 wheat, 1.5 dairy). Our allergist suggested we could do a food challenge. We are scheduled for a food challenge on Nov 3. However, I am totally confused. How can they say that he is allergic to wheat in AUg (based on skin test) and then say he is NOT in September (based on RAST test). I don't want to get my hopes too high and am not thinking too much about the wheat challenge we have on Nov 3. However, I am thinking if he really is not grown out of wheat, it would do more harm than good trying to give him wheat at this stage. It would basically just push his growing out of this allergy to a further day.
What do you ladies think? What is your experience? Sorry this is a long post. I am so torn apart by my need to have more options for him (as he becoming a 2 year old picky eater) and my feeling to protect him from something that may not do anything good but actually harm him..)
You did not mention the Sept 09 retesting on eggs. Anyone allergic to eggs is not allowed a flu shot. It has egg protein in it.
As for the tests....I have heard skin tests are more accurate than Rast tests. Maybe someone else has more info, but I thought the RAST test just measured the antibodies, not if you would have a reaction? I would say it is unlikely he has outgrown it in that short a time period and at this age.
Welcome to my world! We've been told so many times that DD is allergic/not allergic. Her Rast numbers are also way baffleing! Anyway here is my take on it! And you have all heard me preach this...
REACTION TRUMPS ALL! If he is reacting then say no to the trial!! End of story!! It's your call! not the docs! I don't care what they say, apples make DD seriously ill she tests negative to them, but they make her sick so we don't eat them, along with a ton of other foods :) But that's just my 2cents worth!!
Katrina
Katrina Pelters CL on Children's Allergies Mom to Nicole Currently eating Elecare, Chicken breasts, eggs, Apples. Failed trials: Soy, Rice, Dairy, Avacados, White potatos
Have you asked them to do the food challenge in office if that'd make you feel better? I've been told by the allergist we've seen that food allergy testing is only so accurate in adults (that challenges are really the only 100%, but just aren't worth it some cases) and that they have a high rate of error in children under 3. Who knows how true that all is because it seems that every doctor tells everyone something different! Until you decide what to do, have you tried rice pasta in place of wheat pasta (to get some more texture etc into his diet)?
I'm dealing with a similar situation. DS #2 was initially tested for FAs when he was seven months old. He skin tested highly positive to egg, dairy, and peanut. He had a smaller reaction to wheat, but the allergist told us that since he was already eating wheat products with no problem (Cheerios, Gerber puffs, pasta in baby food meals), it was likely a false positive, and we could continue feeding him wheat. He was never RAST tested for wheat at this time.
Fast forward to when he was about 15 months old-- he started eating wheat in larger quantities, and then the diarrhea and vomiting started. We took him in to be retested, and he did have a significant skin reaction this time around. So, we pulled wheat from his diet, and he's been wheat-free ever since (he's 3 now).
At his most recent appointment this past April, his skin test for wheat was completely negative, so the allergist scheduled an in-office food challenge for him. Shortly before the challenge, though, the doctor called me and said that even though the skin test was completely negative, he didn't like it that we didn't have a RAST history for him-- only one RAST test for wheat had been given (out of the four testing appointments he'd had so far). The doc decided that he needed to be RAST tested again in six months and that the challenge should be postponed-- he wanted to see if DS #2's RAST numbers were falling. He also said that they generally don't do a food challenge unless both the skin and RAST tests are negative, and DS #2's last wheat RAST was 16 (26 means that you are 90% likely to have a reaction to a given food).
Anyway, I was sort of sad that we postponed the wheat challenge but also relieved. I think my allergist was right-- better to wait and test DS #2's blood again. If we get a negative RAST, then I'll feel more comfortable about challenging. If we don't, but we see that his numbers are falling, we can take comfort in the fact that it probably won't be long before we can do the challenge and that he might get wheat back.
Sorry this was so long-- my feeling is that it's always better to wait and then do more testing than it is to rush into a challenge and risk a reaction. HTH!
