2 Year old with allergies, help and advice needed please

[sunnyflowers]

Hi, I also posted this in chat but thought I would try here too....

My Ds who is 2 has always suffered with his skin. He had really bad ezcema from about 6 months which only got sorted when I switched him from Cows milk. Now he is pretty good apart from a few flare ups when he has been poorly etc.
However yesterday he developed a rash on his face and what looked like a big hive (don't think it was a bite and I have alot of experience of hives) he also seemed to have one the other day to, although it wasnt as obvious.

Anyway I just wondered if its worth persuing with the doctors, or leaving to see if things get worse etc? My doctors aren't very helpful normally and werent over the ezcema situation. Or is there a private thing you can do to see what things a child is allergic too?

Just want to know what's causing these reactions so I can help him

Hey - not sure I can offer advice on your particular problem, but my son suffered from ezcema caused by cows milk, so he just has Lactofree everything now...but I found until he was 3 wheat also caused flare ups, but he grew out of that. Doctors were, excuse my french, crap. I'd only use your GP to try and get a referral to a specialist consultant as they just prescribe cream for the symptoms. Good luck!

Do you know what your ds was eating before the hives came up? I only ask, because my dd had bad eczema as a baby and lots of rashes. When she was about 18 months, she came up in hives and then developed a rash (which the doctors initially thought was measles). Six months later, she had a very obvious reaction to peanuts. With hindsight, I'm sure the earlier hives had the been first allergic reaction, but we just didn't make the link at that point.

Hi sunnyflowers,
Although there is some testing that may show up as a positive to allergies, a lot of allergies may show up as 'negative' on these tests (google IGE and non IGE for details). The absolute best thing you can do is a food diary. Write down everything that your child eats/drinks (yes, everything), then also write down every reaction that they have. These can be varied from behavioural to anaphylaxis, via ear infections, reflux, eczema, asthma, hives, etc, etc). After a while (or sometimes just one new food) you can see a correlation. If you want a dr to steer you, you'll probably find it's a long wait on NHS. We've been both private and NHS and I still found a lot of the allergies 'myself' because although they don't come up on skin prick or RAST tests, they cause delayed issues (eczema, reflux, etc).

Good luck

Sorry for the very late reply! Thank you for your answers.
I do think its likely that a) the doctors will say its not serious enough and b) even if he gets referred that they won't find much.

I thought we had cracked it with the goats milk as it made an amazing difference, I didnt even bother telling the doctors so its not been written down as an actual allergy. But since the hives he now has eczema on the back of his legs and he has now got a slight cold/cough and he has woken up with little bumps on his face ( kind of like under the skin spots) and a big red spot or hive on his forehead.

I just feel so sorry for him, and I feel if there is something simple we could avoid then it would make a difference.

I will keep a food diary, it should be quite easy as he is a fussy bum and doesn't eat a very varied diet