RAST tests

[CantSleepWontSleep]

My ds1, almost 2, has had a blood test this morning to do RAST tests for seafood, bee stings and dairy. I suspect that he is allergic to some types of seafood but not all (we know he is fine with prawns, but suspect that mussels cause swelling in the mouth), allergic to bee stings, but only intolerant to dairy (and intolerance has eased as he's got older).

Will the test results be 100% correct and definitive concerning what he is allergic to, or are they more woolly than that?

Unfortunately they won't be definitive cantsleep. They give a level of the likelihood of a reaction occurring as far as I know. The higher result the more likely a reaction but it doesn't give an indication of the severity of the reaction.

There are lots of anomolies (sp?) though, ds scores highly for soya (grade 4) yet doesn't show any reaction at all and we think that's also the case with peas although I've not pushed for a 'pea challenge' yet as it seems to bit of a waste of nhs resources!

I also know others that post here have had the opposite - anaphlactic reactions to very low RAST results. So it might give you a good idea as to where your ds's problems may be but a challenge is the only real test.

Ah bugger. So assuming that something shows up on the test, will we need to be referred to an allergist to get challenges done and find out more? Our GPs are not v hot on this topic.