very persistent allergic rhinits in 9 year old dd - any suggestions?

[geekgirl]

Hello folks,

dd1 (9) has been suffering with a permanently stuffy nose, itchy eyes and eczema around her eyes for about 2 years now.
She was a very atopic baby & toddler with moderate eczema and a monthly outbreak of hives, but then had a bit of a break from it all for a few years.
Anyway - this rhinitis is being perplexingly resistant to treatment - we've tried steroid spray (helped a little bit for a couple of weeks, then stopped working), sodium cromoglicate (ditto), oral antihistamines (still taking those, but with little effect on her nose - they do help with itchy skin she gets when she's been outside).
She's been seen by ENT and is due to have allergy testing in a couple of weeks.

I've just got her mite-proof bedding & mattress cover, removed her curtains, and generally cleared her room of soft toys, cushions etc. but it seems to have made no difference yet.

It affects her sleep quite badly as she is totally bunged up when she goes to bed, she tends to sleep in a cloud of Carvol which helps a little bit at least. Apparently it's also bad at school...

We have a cat (I know, I know) but we got him long after her symptoms started, and she doesn't seem to react to him (neither do I, and I have a proper cat allergy).

She's been given a Sinus Rinse kit and uses it religiously but doesn't think that it actually helps.

I am at a loss as to what exactly she is allergic to?! The ENT consultant said that the skin prick test isn't very accurate and comes up with a lot of false negatives, so I'm not holding out much hope for an answer from that.
I wonder whether it could be a food allergy as well as an airborne allergy, but apparently food allergies don't show up in skin prick testing very well?

Any suggestions or comments would be most gratefully received - I'm at my wits' end with it and she is so snuffly.

I forgot to mention - she also gets 'chest tightness' occasionally where she feels like she can get enough air, but only had a wheezy asthma-type episode once for which I gave her some of my salbutamol and it settled down eventually. I checked her peak flow a few months ago and it was normal.

I've not really mentioned it to the GP because the proper wheeziness only happened once. The ENT consultant said she should be 'checked for asthma' - am I meant to take her to the GP? How can they 'check for asthma'?

Hi, DS has had asthma since he was a baby and now he's older he hardly ever gets wheezy, just tight-chested - wheeziness isn't the only asthma symptom. As for peak flow, well his is 240 when he's well (he's 7) which is quite high, it's only 80-90 when he's ill so a single reading when you're well doesn't tell you much.

Talking to Asthma UK might help, their helpline is fab - they'll be able to talk you through diagnosis and such, their phone number is here or you can send them an email. I've bent their ears many times, they've never been anything but supportive.

Good luck!

In case it's the cat, I would advise wiping it down with a damp cloth as frequently as you can. Sounds ridiculous but as you may know it's the dried saliva from the coat that causes allergies, not the actual hair. So wiping the coat down reduces the dander in the environment.

Just a thought - I hope you get her sorted soon, it's a miserable thing

thanks folks, have rung Asthma UK, the very helpful nurse said that dd1 does sound asthmatic so am seeing GP on Monday.

Feel like a bad mummy now . There I was, secretly thinking that she's just being a bit lazy & unfit