Referral to allergy clinic after anaphylactic reaction - confused about tests

[PieceOfTheMoon]

Hello - I'm new to this section of MN and hoping for some advice about allergy testing for my DS.

DS is 18 months and has had 2 anaphylactic reactions to food. I'm pretty sure the first was caused by mushroom; the second I'm not sure - it was after eating stir fry so could be a number of things (possibly it was contaminated with mushroom).

After the second reaction the paediatrician in A&E referred us to the allergy clinic for testing. I thought they would test him for lots of things, but they have told me they will only test him for things I suspect him to be allergic to and to bring a mushroom with me.

I can understand that there's no point testing him for things that I know he's fine with, but what about food he hasn't tried yet? Is it normal to only test for things you suspect have already caused a reaction? Or should I ask them to test foods he hasn't tried yet (e.g. shellfish, tree nuts)? Also, can they test for non-food allergens, like animal fur?

I suffer from allergies myself, but have never been tested so I feel totally clueless about what to expect, what questions to ask etc. We've had to wait 2 months for the appointment so I want to make the most of it - I know I'm going to come out of the appointment and think of a million questions I should have asked!

Would really appreciate any advice from anyone who has been through this - thanks!

My daughter is allergic to egg and has recently been diagnosed with peanut allergy. I really had to push for tests, and literally told the GP what I wanted her tested for and he wrote it down, then sent us to the hospital for the blood tests etc. I realy had to push for it though, and had a clear idea of what I wanted her tested for - ie tree nuts, legumes, shellfish. I'm not sure about animal fur etc, though I do have my suspicions she might be allergic to it :-(

I think it is normal to test for things that have already caused a reaction. Apparently these tests are really expensive, and our consultant was suprised our daughter had had tests for things she hadn't reacted to. I wanted them for my own peace of mind though. I think if you have allergies yourself, it is probably worth pursuing.

There's no point testing for things they haven't tried yet as they won't have developed antibodies to them. Problem is, it can be like looking for a needle in a haystack - how do you decide which foods to test for? My DS is allergic to milk, wheat, eggs and nuts but the only other thing he was tested for was soya as we thought he might have reacted to that in the past.

Ds has had blood tests for cat and guinea pig. He had a positive for cat, but we now have a cat and he .ever had a reaction to her.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I didn't realise they needed to try something before developing antibodies.

I'm so scared of giving him new foods now, but might feel more confident once we have an epi-pen. I'll probably end up doing the sitting in A&E car park thing - suddenly doesn't seem so daft!