Food Allergy Families

Sorry to hear you got the results you did. My allergist told me that, with the blood testing we did, if my son's number was a 4.0 or above we avoid, at 2.0 we challenge. He was a 3.5 - so not much help there - but we decided to wait until April and then do a challenge. I'm not sure what you mean by a class 2 but hopefully a food challenge is an option for you. Even if only for some of the foods, just to narrow it down a bit.

Otherwise, can you do an elimination diet? Have you tried one before?

Deb

Sorry you are having so much trouble with foods. That has to be really frustrating to not be able to narrow down the cause.

I've never been involved in an official food challenge test. But, I thought they were used when a food has been eliminated, and to see if the food could be re-introduced into the diet. In my non-professional opinion, it sounds like an elimination diet may be the place to start. (Unless, of course, you have already eliminated all of the foods she is allergic to. In which case, ignore this whole paragraph!)

Hopefully you will get your answers on Thursday. Please keep us updated.

Well to do an elimination diet - in my understanding - you eliminate anything that she may be allergic to. Well according to the tests that is everything! To do the food challenge, you eliminate everything for 2 weeks and then try the food you think you are allergic to. I just don't think they can do that here. If as seeit said we only worry if the number is above 2, then that would help some. (anything from a .5 to a 2.5 is listed as a class 3 allergy but she has a lot that are under 2.) We have eliminated most of the high number foods (or she never ate them to begin with). The one we haven't eliminated which I guess we need to is Baker's yeast. Anything to stop her itching. She is miserable. Yesterday the pedi put her on oral steroids to give her some relief. I guess I will see how the allergist wants to tackle food issue on Thursday. I will let you know how it goes.

I am new to this food allergy thing since no one in my family has had them. Here are the numbers we got back from the blood test.

IgE antibody levels
Class 2 (.16 - .50)
Oats .17
Rice .49
Beef .38
Chicken .24
banana .33
cheddar cheese .50
barley .37

Class 3 (.51 - 2.50)
Milk 1.83
Wheat 1.6
Corn 2.41
green pea 2.46
soybean 1.01
tomato 1.4
pork 1.34
Orange 1.00
egg .55
blueberry .56
potato .83
apple 1.37

Class 4 (2.51 - 12.50)
Lamb 3.69
Carrot 3.69
green bean 4.29
grapes 3.44
peach 4.01
strawberry 4.14
baker's yeast 6.19

Class 5 (12.51-62.50)
peanut 16.6

When we got the results we got rid of peanuts from her diet and worked on removing the cats (70), dog (20) and dust mites (70) from the house. She also is allergic to our grass (25) which means we have been putting shoes on her when she plays outside rather than run barefoot. We have eliminated all Class 4 (except the yeast) from her diet. She is still not better. So next would be the yeast and whatever else the allergist suggests. Anyone with suggestions, advice or anything - it would be appreciated.

Wow. I have never seen such an extensive testing list before (not that I've seen alot of them lol). I am NOT a doctor or do I have ANY training in science at all (I'm an english major and a special ed teacher ) - but - I do have an opinion here. Take it for what it is worth, which may not be much. I hope if any of you disagree you will say so, because like I said I am only running on experience. But.

If it were me, I would be inclined to totally ignore the whole first category (except the cheddar cheese, which is covered under the milk allergy). If the cows or chickens were fed egg or corn then that might explain the reaction you see to beef and chicken. Plus, by my allergist's ratings, anything under .35 is not an allergy - everyone would show a reaction to something if you tested, kwim? My DD got a .53 to dog dander and we have a dog, and she still told us not to worry about it, so Id ask about those lower numbers at least.


I would challenge everything from a 1.0 to a 2.0 if it were me, then go from there. Obviously you are right to avoid those higher numbers. Yeast is a logical next step, and you may end up avoiding wheat in the process so you could add that to the list pretty easily. I would think you could take it from there as far as big to smaller numbers, and see if you can narrow it down some. It will take time though. In the end, though, once you get the skin thing figured out, you'll still have to narrow down what exactly she reacts to and what she does not - because IMO no matter what the blood test says, if you don't react to a food then there is no point in avoiding it, kwim?
Otherwise, ...have you ruled out celiac disease? I know celiac can manifest in a dermatitis that can mimic excema. It's another test altogether but it might be worth at least asking about.

Also, did the doc say anything about avoiding legumes along with the peanuts?

That class 4 list is a doozy, I hope you can at least re-introduce some of that once you get the skin thing figured out. Please stick around and let us know how it is going. All together we have years of experience with this stuff!

Deb

And Debbie - if you're out there - I'd love to hear any input you might have on all of this.

We hope to reintroduce some of the fruit after we figure out what is causing the skin problem since DD loves fruit and I hate to keep it from her. (easy right now in the winter when some of that is harder to find). The allergist didn't say anything about legumes but did suggest staying away from tree nuts. They said we could do another blood test this month to try and expand what she could eat. I don't know what other foods they can check for. So many people have suggested her skin condition is due to a milk allergy so I don't know if we will start there or with some of the higher numbers that she is still eating. I am taking a list of what she has eaten for the past week with me to the appointment on Thursday. Thanks for your input. I have been thinking on the same lines. I just wish we could find an answer quickly.

We had a pedi perscribe loratidine for DD's eczema and itching. I guess it is super safe and shouldn't make her drowsy. You can get it over the counter, but I would check with her pedi first. We never actually used it because I didn't think DD's eczema was bad enough to justify going on another med. Best of luck, and keep us posted.

Not sure if you use this site anymore, but would love to hear how things are going. We are currently in the same position, but unfortunately, not sure how to go about testing and treatment. We haven't had as extensive of testing, but clearly all the results we get back seem to suggest "allergic to everything". I would love to hear your experience and how you went about approaching it all.

We have not heard from Ryanandleigh for awhile but I posted a note to her on another board she used to frequent. You could also click on her profile pic to see other past posts - I know she continued to write in about how she was going about things. And please feel free to stick around - we have all been where you are, in one form or another, and are happy to help where we can.

Deb