4mths to see a consultant!

[MrsWhirling]

My GP referred DS (now 8mths) to the allergy clinic to see a consultant 3 weeks ago, after reactions to cows milk, yoghurt, cheese& butter.

We received our appointment in the post today-29th of October!!! By which time he will be 11mths old.

My main concern really is nutritional, I'm worried about him getting enough calcium & fat and what I can & can't give him.

I'm still BF and plan to until he is 1yrs when I return to work.

Any ideas or advice/experience would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you. X

Where are you? DD was referred last October 2012. Her appointment was for 11 June 2013 (Lewisham). DS was referred in April, same GP but after DD's experience GP referred to St Thomas's. Appt was for May. Can you exercise Patient Choice and ask for another hospital? Ask the GP for advice?

With DD we were prepare to pay ourselves to go privately but in fact out private health insurance covered it. We had an appointment within 3 weeks (could have had one within a week but the child has to be clear of all antihistamines for 5+ days first). If you consider going privately, it seems to be around £120-150 in London.

FWIW DS had reactions to dairy at 8m (along with reflux) but has outgrown that. We were told to give him soy alternatives, which meant I also had to switch to soy, and to try again after a while, but I think you have to take the GP's advice as it will depend on the reaction. My DS just projectile vomited, never anaphylactic or rash of any kind.

Hi, I'm in Lewisham too.

I am prepared to pay privately but don't know where i would go to see a consultant & dieticion privately. Do you know of any?

Thanks!

We struggled - tried to get seen privately but nobody would see DD - partly because of her age (7 months at the time) and partly because of what our GP had written on the referral.

Can you find out who your consultants secretary is and try to get an earlier cancellation appointment? (we found the appointments system at the hospital we used never seemed to know about cancellations and just kept telling us there were no appointments). A few times they cancelled the clinic that we were due to go to and just put her to the back of the queue (13 month wait).

Can you get your doctor to refer you to a dietician in the meantime? They might have a shorter wait and be able to give you some ideas about foods you can give him.

I think I will ask for a referral to a dietician private or NHS. I'm happy to wait but worried he's not getting all the nutrients he needs.

Were you seen eventually? What happend?

Yes, got seen eventually and were very pleased with the actual doctors and nurses. Dealing with the appointments booking was a nightmare and caused untold stress, especially before the first appointment because A&E at the RUH in Bath had "helpfully" told us that she was probably allergic to lots of other stuff but "not to worry too much". You have my sympathy because it feels like forever to wait.

DD had reacted to cheese so they tested her for milk, wheat, peanut and egg initially (skin prick tests). She tested positive for egg and milk so we avoided those.

She went back once a year to be retested. They did a food challenge for her egg allergy just before she was 2 (failed) and one before she was 3 (passed) and then a milk challenge just before she was 4 (passed) so she's fine now. We were told by the people doing the challenges that egg and milk were the allergies that children were most likely to grow out of, but they were growing out of them later than people expect - some children not until their teens.

I BF DD - they gave us some nutramigen to try anyway. We only used it once to check whether she was ok with it (tastes foul but she didn't react). It's available OTC but v expensive. Since you're BF too I wouldn't worry too much about nutrients like calcium - vegans don't eat dairy after all.

There are lots of dairy substitutes and if he's ok with soya then you've got more options (soya yogurts like Alpro are fine). For cooking - Oatly is usually ok, Alpro do a 1+ soya milk, which is fortified, Rice milk is not suitable for under 5s because of the level of arsenic in it. Vitalite and Pure are dairy free butter substitutes.

we had to wait 8 months when our son was 1yr, which felt very long, but had heard that that waiting time could of been 18 months. (our son is now 17.)

St Thomas and other london hospitals tend to see you within 10 weeks so I have heard, perhaps that has changed due to another rise in allergies with children.

why not try and ring to get an appointment thats been cancelled?

We had to wait 4 months, and couldn't afford to go private.

As your DS is breastfed, you don't need to worry much about nutrition until he is at least one. Babies can get nearly all of their nutrition from breast milk until they are at least 12 months old, sometimes longer. There is enough iron and calcium etc. in breast milk, despite what you sometimes see in the media, and it is in a form which is very easily absorbed. Our hospital dietician wasn't particularly worried about DS`s nutrition when he was two because he was still breastfed!

I know the wait can be frustrating. By all means go private if you can.