Atopic???

[confuddledDOTcom]

My 7yo has been on Piriton for the last 5 years. They found it helps her asthma. A few years back she was sent to an allergy specialist about testing and he said no point because if taking daily piriton helps then whatever it is is impossible to avoid. Recently she has been breaking out in blisters, sometimes randomly, sometimes clustered, sometimes her temperature sores with it and comes back down with Calpol and Piriton.

We've noticed that my parents' bed can cause an outbreak which we think is because they have a wool throw, I noticed when she was in the NNU that she was allergic to wool when I took her hat off one day and she looked like she'd been garrotted where it had tied around her neck. She thinks that the carpet in her classroom is wool too.

Saw the GP today and he said that they already knew she was atopic (I don't know what this means) and he said that he had had the same problem as a kid and they used to play naughts and crosses on his arm when they were bored in lessons lol and taught her how to do it! He's said to keep up with the Piriton but left it at that really.

So, anyone want to come and talk to me?

Piriton every day? Pretty lazy attitude from the docs to be honest. Have you asked to be referred to an allergy soecialist? I think you should, particularly if she has allergy induced asthma issues etc. What happens when she doesn't take piriton? And clearly she can't take it forever. Alkergy testing isnt the most reliable as allergies constantly change. You can be fine with something one day and then have a reaction from it the next week. But the docs should do it to at least give you some idea of tge things that could be effecting her. I've suffered with allergies and nearly died with anaphylaxis....always have my epipen. My throat closes up and still the doc fobs me off! But you should definitely get a referral. ..antihistamines every day is not good for her body.

She was put on it when she was 2 and first diagnosed with asthma, they threw loads of things at her to see what worked and it was the final thing that made a massive difference, they've just taken her off Montelukast as she started to refuse it and they decided to test her and she's now had her inhalers cut down. Allergy doctor said no point testing her because it would be something in normal life that we couldn't avoid which is why the Piriton helps. Her asthma is scary because she has silent asthma so there's no wheeze to warn of it coming she goes from running around to dropped and all you'll know is she's breathing very fast so they've always been aggressive in treating her because she's at risk of big attacks and with her breaking out all the time at the moment they're not happy to take her off it.

I wasn't at the appointment (already missed too much college) but apparently you can make the blisters come up by writing on her skin with your finger, which I've obviously never tried to do before, the doctor said he used to doodle on himself

I have a 7 year old atopic dd too. She has asthma, eczema, hay fever and some food allergies although she seems to be outgrowing the food allergies.

I think it is shocking that the doctor isn't interested in finding out what your daughter is allergic to but I'm not all that surprised. We see a paediatrician with dd and he is not very pro-active. I did research myself and found out about Montelukast. He was aware of it but despite dd's issues being allergy related had never suggested it.

Also he absolutely would not in any way support me in trying an exclusion diet for dd.

I would push for allergy testing if possible. We had dd's done privately. Is that an option for you?

The GP isn't willing to do much as she has a paediatrician. I can see the point that it will be something impossible to exclude if it's something that affects her daily. I have no idea about private testing.

Atopic is an umbrella term covering asthma eczema and allergies including hay fever. It runs in families so parents with any of these conditions are more likely to have children with similar conditions (but not necessarily the same). I really think you need a referral to an allergy specialist but unfortunately there aren't that many in the UK (we see a chest specialist as there is no allergy specialist at our local hospital). Firstly I would say that your child should be on cetirizine rather than clorphenamine (piriton) given my knowledge of current guidance but this is the sort if thing that a specialist would know. I also think you should be offered some form of testing even though I realise that it can be a bit like looking for a needle in a hay stack. Which part of the country are you in? Hopefully someone on here will be able to recommend a specialist that you can ask to be referred to.