Wait to test and \"pretend\" pa? What do you think?

You may need a test result to start school but otherwise if you are comfy with no numbers, it doesn't sound like it matters. Me? I like information...I would want the RAST numbers so that when they test in a couple of years I know if the numbers went up or down! And my kids aren't bothered by the blood test. Luvmyboys

i don't think it can hurt to just "assume" she's allergic but i do think it would be helpful to you to know (it would cut down on some of your anxiety about possible reactions). i have three girls, oldest with no fa's, middle with PA (diagnosed at one year old after anaphylaxis),and youngest with PA (tested at 12months before any indication that she could be PA..no reactions). her test numbers came back higher for PA than her older sister's (i realize this doesn't necessarily mean she's MORE allergic...but it was startling nonetheless to find out that info. without ever seeing a reaction of any sort).

for me, just knowing that one of my kids does not have PA is comforting. that's one i don't have to worry about 24/7, in terms of PA anyhow. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

i think it would be good to know just because it's good information to have. if you find out she's not PA...yeah!...one less thing to worry about in life. on the other hand, if she IS pa, i would think it would be helpful and good info. to be armed with.

and also, if she's going to any type of daycare or preschool or anything in the future, i would want to be able to say, "my child HAS a serious food allergy" not "my kid MAY HAVE a serious food allergy." don't you think caregivers would be more likely to take you seriously if you had a definite diagnosis? if you don't use caregivers, then i guess this would be a moot point.

just my two cents. let us know what you decide to do.

[This message has been edited by joeybeth (edited August 03, 2006).]

Could you have RAST done when her blood is drawn for another reason? As the timing worked, we did dd's first RAST right around her 1st birthday, so had her lead #'s tested with the same blood draw. (Where we are, lead levels need to be done yearly.) I imagine we'll do that every year, just to lessen the number of blood draws she has to have.

If I were in this position I would be fine w/ not testing, and proceed to treat her like she is allergic, and test her when she is older (or having a blood draw for another reason- like somone suggested).
I think it is great the allergist prescribed an epi-pen so she will have one in her name when/if you leave her somewhere (babysitter, childcare etc).
I have nver had to prove that my DD#1 (10) has PA for school. She has meds and the forms are signed by the doctor (although she does not have a 504 plan).
DD#2 (5.5) we treat like she is PA, but she does not have an epi. We did not have her tested until she turned 5. RAST at 5 was negative. SPT 1wk ago was negative and successful peanut challenge today. She won't be loading up on peanut foods, but it is liberating not to have to worry about her re:PA. Testing for the sake of numbers is unnecessary for me, allergic is allergic. No matter what the number, I would treat the allergy the same.

I would suggest testing her anyway. It would be good to know where her RAST levels are now. Also, they can test her for several nuts and peanut so that you can know if she's allergic to those. Later, test her again to see if her levels made any changes.

Sounds like 2nd child is allergic. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/confused.gif[/img] So, you wouldn't be "pretending".

My PA son has actually never "officially" or "properly" been tested for PA. No test scores, no numbers, whatever. I know he is and I don't feel the need for a #.

Now here, I have never been required to provide an actual # or class or whatever to "prove" to the school that he is allergic. I have to get the doctor's signature on his emergency medical plan, but that's it, so it hasn't been a problem getting him into school without that information.

I feel absolutely NO reason to have him tested when I know he is PA. Now, if he had a reaction and I wasn't clear it was PA, I would then consider testing.

He did have allergy testing (SPT) at the age of 5; came back with a bunch of false positives; and I wouldn't let them prick the part where the peanut should have gone on and he still came back with a huge wheal.

But unless something else happens, no more allergy testing for us.

I don't think you're "pretending".

Best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

------------------
If tears could build a stairway and memories a lane, I would walk up to heaven and bring you back home with me.

This is how our allergist explained a similar situation to us: A reaction proves that a child is allergic. Period. You don't need testing at all. With a documented reaction to a food, that is enough to diagnose a child as allergic to that food. Since your child got hives from a nut based cookie, she has an allergy to, most likely, nuts. Even if her testing came back negative, she would still be considered allergic simply based on her history.

That being said, if her blood is being drawn for another reason, it wouldn't hurt at that point to see which, if any, nuts pop up positive. If they come back negative, then maybe you would want to consider a challenge when she is older and better able to verbalize how she feels when eating nuts.

I would ask for a test to know exactly what she is allergic too. I like to feel like I have some control over some of my DS allergies. He was allergic to eggs and peanuts but I was keeping him away from soy protein, shellfish, fish, but now that I know it is only peanuts and egg whites I can relax abit when at restaurants. I talked to the allergist and she said he is only PA and EA and not to worry about the other stuff. I still don't give him shellfish or fish or soy protien but I don't mind if his stuff is fried in the same oil. If that makes sense. But I think I have a big comfort zone and he is only 2.

I want to test. What if it's not the nuts she's allergic to? It could be something else.

In my experience, those w/ FA can often have MFA.

I went in to get shellfish confirmed--had reactions. Didn't know sesame was being tested. Class 2 for it and am having reactions. I don't think I would have ever suspected sesame. I didn't initially even when I knew my numbers. But then I put two and two together.

Having a test could be a good thing.

I don't think I'd be worried about a test, since history is more accurate than testing. If she tests negative, will you assume she is *not* allergic to macadamia nuts?

I would avoid all nuts till she is older in the same way that a lot of pa people avoid tree nuts even if they haven't had a reaction. It isn't pretending, it is taking precautions.

As far as testing to check for allergies when there are no symptoms, studies have found most people are only allergic to 1-2 things. I think it can be a problem to test because false positives can lead to removing safe foods from the diet.

Tara P

[This message has been edited by VariegatedRB (edited August 08, 2006).]

Interesting topic.

I have a 7 yo unkonown if PA. 9YO is PA. We have a nut free home and my 7 yo never has had a nut except when I was nursing him. Our "old" allergist said "Give him a peanut and see what happens" NOT! Pedicatricians whom we really like said that since he has never had a peanut, the test would not give an accurate portrayal. Then the ped ask if we would do anything differently if he was NOT allergic and I said NO. He said, "Well, there's an answer." We still have not had him tested and I must admit I have not looked for another allergist..WHY? There isn't anything they can do for my older son yet.!!

In the discussion above, numerous post said to wait until child was "older" to test. My question is "how old?"

and I wonder why I am
Perpetually Perplexed

Perplexed, you bring up something I have often wondered about. My 2.5 yo PA DD has only ever been tested for peanut, since that was what she had ana reacation to. Her allergist said doing RAST test for any other nut would not be accurate since she has never eaten it. But reading everyone elses posts,it seems like other PA kids have been tested for all nuts...this confuses me as Im sure most kids have never eaten any other nuts either. Is this just a difference of opinion between allergists, or am I being mislead ?
My daughter was tested for PA at age 13 months after a severe reaction. I will admit that Im going to have her re-tested when she turns 3 later this year - I still live in hope that she has outgrown, or the numbers have perhaps gone down. This will at least make me give up hope and finally accept it...
or maybe it will be good news.

Nope, schnoob, I think you have conclusively identified the issue...

allergists do NOT agree on
1. whether living in a FA household means you can successful "avoid" traces well enough to avoid sensitization

2. whether lack of sensitization means "not allergic" or just "not exposed"

3. whether testing (SPT) is an "exposure" or not

4. whether traces (very low traces, not gross XC) constitute "exposure" in an atopic child

Good luck.... leaves [i]me[/i] perpetually perplexed, too. But I agree with the allergist who asked what difference testing would make. I think this is something we all need to ask ourselves routinely. We don't test any more just to have a number-- only if we know what we will do in response to the information.

[img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

C.Mom explained well why different doctors do things differently-- so much is just unknown with allergies.

As for kids being tested for nuts- many children are older when they are dx with PA, so they actually *have* probably eaten peanuts.

I think it is important to wait to introduce nuts/peanuts until a child is "older" (which I believe is considered >5) ONLY if the child has had an allergic reaction. I don't think it is necessary to wait to introduce peanuts/nuts just because the child has an allergic sibling.

Tara P

Are you sure this is not an egg reaction (based on your signature)?

I would ask for testing to be sure whether it is egg or nut allergy.

THanks for the responses. I think we will probably do some testing when dd is around because that is the age our allergist likes to test. Right or wrong, it's his preference.

DD#1 tests + for eggs, but has no reaction. DD#2 has stomach issues when she eats straight eggs, but not when egg is just an ingredient in something like cake.

I agree that testing just for the sake of testing is no good for us. We have some unexplained problems that appear to be allergy-related so at 3 we will test. Until then, we'll just continue to avoid all that DD#1 avoids (all nuts, pn, shellfish) as well as straight eggs for DD#2. It won't kill us to avoid too much for another year just to be on the safe side.

Thanks though. At least I don't feel so crazy about just calling her allergic because I agree that the reaction means she is....now if we only knew what it was that she's allergic to [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/wink.gif[/img]

Thanks
Patty

------------------
Patty
mom to
Sara (7/02) allergic to pn, grass, trees
Julia (9/04) allergic to eggs? & nuts? (no testing, just reactions)