if this isnt anaphylaxis then what is?

[jenk1]

Had dd,s appointment with paediatrician yesterday.

She has various allergies, development delay and he diagnosed her with infantile hypotonia yesterday but, he said that her reaction to egg,swollen mouth, red rash, difficulty in breathing is NOT anaphylactic and that he will not be prescribing her an epipen,so what is it then, im confused as me and DH as did our HV all thought it WAS anaphylaxis.

He has ordered Rast tests,ive heard of them but not too sure what they are can anyone enlighten me?

TIA

I think I'd ask for a second opinion, as from what I understand of it, that does sound like anaphylaxis to me.

I'm sure someone will be along soon who knows more than I do, though ... but this will bump the thread for you if nothing else.

I dont know but it was my understanding that with allergies you dont know when the reaction can turn to being as serious as anaphylaxis and therefore a previous history of strong reactions (like you describe) would warrant an epipen just in case. There are no adverse effects to having an unnecessary shot of adrenalin.

My DD has one for her dairy/peanut allergy but has never gone into anaphylactic shock with it.

Message withdrawn

Does sound like anaphylaxis to me (I'm not a doctor but I did pharmacology/physiology at uni and work in medicine). Get a 2nd opinion.

How confusing. Call the paeditrician back and ask him to explain. He should be happy to fill you in.

I would get a 2nd opinion straight away. Anaphylaxis can include difficulty/noisy breathing, swelling of tongue, swelling/tightness in throat, difficulty talking and/or hoarse voice, wheeze or persistent cough, loss of consciousness and/or collapse, pale and floppy in young children. These signs are stated on www.allergy.org.au. GPs and paeds don't always have a clue about allergies. I would keep getting seen and insist on an epipen. Just so you know - child has to be minimum of 10kilograms to qualifiy for epipen junior.

My ds1 had an epipen at less than 10kg - maybe 7.5 kg - it just had to be presribed by a paediatrician not the GP.

A friends daughter had what seemed like very bad allergies - very sensitive to skin contact - but she was tested and given blood tests and told that although it looked extreme it would never develop into anaphylaxis because her heart rate stayed stable I think - don't know if this was a Rast test.

LizP my ds was not allowed an epipen until he reached 10kg. We actually waited 6 months from diagnosis until he reached that weight. We see a paediatric allergy specialist. During this time she offered to show me how to draw down adrenalin with a syringe in case but I was able to keep him safe at that point. I am pretty certain that in the info leaflet that comes with EpiPen Jnr it states the minimum 10kg weight as the dosage is very high.

A RAST test is a blood test to test the level of allergy specific antibodies in the blood - i.e. they take the blood, expose it to the allergens and then test for the antibodies. It is supposed to give you an idea of what you are allergic to and how bad the reaction is.

For what it's worth, dd had a similar reaction to egg and we were never given an epipen. The RAST test showed a moderate allergy and the skin test (where they pin prick you) showed a severe one. We avoided egg for several years and now she seems to be outgrowing it.

I would avoid all egg till they have done all the tests (it may well show a severe reaction in her blood and then the consultant will be more likely to give you an epipen). He may well want to wait to see what her tests show.

thanks everyone for your replies, the paed that we saw IS the allergy specialist for the hospital and he said her symptoms arent anaphylaxis but he has ordered tests anyway.

I still dont give her egg and dairy and citrus fruits, we have to wait 2 months for the results,
i always carry piriton around with me anyway and it seems to do the trick.

Why have you got to wait 2 months for results?

they are testing her blood for various other things in light of her just being diagnosed with hypotonia and the other results will take 2 months so have decided to see us when all the results have been received

oh ok. Its just the allergy tests only take a a few days and you could ring to find out results (I did for my DD) to save you hanging on and restricting her diet?

thanks for that information QV, i will definately ask when they do the blood tests in a couple of weeks.

Jenk, see it like this, the tests only help you to be taken seriously by the doctor. They also save you from the difficulties of having a fully exclusion diet, you don't want to spend several months worrying about anything that may have the slightest remote connection to egg when there may be other thing around causing the problem (ie. we tested DS for peanuts -but testing of other allergens was also part of the pack-, and at the end... his worse allergies are egg, soya and milk, the positive point of it is that since we removed milk from DS's diet he is a completely different child, we would have not realised how ill milk was making him feel if we had not pushed for the tests, or we would be still worrying to death about nut traces when in reality DS is fine with traces though not with whole)

HTH