pDoes anyone out there know more info about this test. Apparently it is more accurate than the traditional RAST test?br /
Also, I read a few posts that state, " my child is anaphylactic (sp) to certain foods". Apart from the obvious reason that you may have experienced such a reaction, which I did not think was necessarily indicitive of every reaction, is there any other way to ascertain that this is how your child will react every time? From what I have read it seems that there is no way to actually predict what "strength" of reaction you will have.br /
As a parent of a recently diagnosed PA daughter I am just coming to terms with and trying to identify our families comfort zone.br /
Thanks again. I enjoy this site even although it scares the pants of me sometimes.br /
Steve/p
ImmunoCAP test
Posted on: Thu, 05/16/2002 - 1:43am
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Having seen with my own eyes, the evidence of anaphylaxis after Cayley ate PB, I'm going to assume that ALL future ingestions will result in anaphylaxis. (I don't know about her level of smell sensitivity yet) If I actually see her eat something that I *know* has peanuts in it, she'll get the EpiPen shot immediately then we'll call 911, even before she reacts. If I'm not sure that she's eaten peanuts, but is showing more than one sign of a reaction (ie., vomiting AND hives, or hives AND swelling) she'll get the EpiPen and we'll call 911. If I don't know what she's ingested but she has a few hives, I'll give her Benadryl and observe her closely for the next several hours to watch for any other symptoms.
Carolyn
P.S. Not directed at you Steve - just in general: It's important to call 911, do NOT attempt to drive your child to the hospital. As a parent you will likely panic and will drive erratically - perhaps causing a tragedy far worse than the anaphylaxis alone. There are cases of people (especially husbands with wives in labour) driving emergency patients to the hospital and either killing themselves, the patient or innocent bystanders. To everyone - PLEASE use an ambulance - make sure you tell the 911 operator than they need to send an ambulance with an EpiPen (adrenaline) to reverse a severe allergic reaction.
Just to add to the importance of calling 911 and having your child (or yourself) brought to the hospital by ambulance...they will see you more quickly that way. I have brought Joshua both ways and he was seen and tended to much more quickly when brought by ambulance. They were really quite UNconcerned when I brought him myself, to the point where I had to say to the nurse "Don't you understand that I gave him the EPI-PEN?!!". We waited a very long time and I know that ER nurses see a lot and may get jaded, but it was an emergency to ME. So much nicer to be wheeled right in!
Oops-editing in to comment on the CAP: My very basic understanding of this test is that it is allergy specific, measuring the particular level of IgE antibodies. The more antibodies there are, the more likelihood of a severe reaction because of the elevated level of histamines already in the body. For reasons I don't know, the CAP is supposedly more reliable than the plain Rast. Please, if I am misinformed, someone jump in and correct me!
My son's CAP level is 4.27 and his allergist wants us to do a food challenge. He thinks there is a possibility that he has outgrown the allergy.
[This message has been edited by Dawn (edited May 16, 2002).]
Here are some posts on testing: [url="http://www.isitallergy.com/physician/testcomp.asp"]http://www.isitallergy.com/physician/testcomp.asp[/url] (This one is about CAP RAST)
[url="http://www.labcorp.com/datasets/labcorp/html/chapter/index.htm"]http://www.labcorp.com/datasets/labcorp/html/chapter/index.htm[/url] (This one has some limited info. about plain RAST)
[url="http://www.allernet.com/NEWSLETTER/q03/0009.html"]http://www.allernet.com/NEWSLETTER/q03/0009.html[/url]
[url="http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/allergy/sample.html"]http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/allergy/sample.html[/url]
Bumping up!