Peter has had several allergic reactions recently. but dont know what to.

[misdee]

they cary from wheezing to urticia.

he had a reaction on thursday. he felt really sick, and then had to poo loads (sorry), started itchy, and y the time i got him to out of hours, he was covered all over in urticia. he was so itchy and sore. the doc gave him a massive dose of steroids, and i had already given him anti histimine.

we have no idea what he reacted to.

will he be able to get a test done when we dont know what he reacted to?

Bump to see if someone can help

thanks.

am a bit worried as never seen a reaction like that. he looked like a tomato.

you can get tests done but they are not incredibly reliable. I had mine done at the Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital in Central London. The best thing you can do for now is to keep a food and drink diary to try and work out what may be acting as a trigger!

he says he will see the gp this week.

the out of hours doc thought i was mad as i was laughing, as i didnt know what was wrong when i took him there and i was worried it may be a heart issue again. it was a bit of releif that it was a reaction and not his heart.

the on;y things he had different/new was a cereal bar, and some sweets i bought, rum truffles.

but i know reactions can happen at any tim to something u have been eating fine for years.

very true ... I developed allergies in my 20s - I was told they can come on after times of stress etc - that would certainly apply in his case! Also when your immune system has taken a hit. You can also develop problems with foods etc that you eat the most of.

he will be able to get skin prick tests for some of the standard allergens but it would be worth noting the exact contents of the new items, down to additives and E numbers. They will then blood test for anything with a positive skin prick result. It is better if they have some idea what to test for so note also foods he can eat without a reaction. Obviously there is a limit to how many things they will test for so if it wasn't a common allergen tests could miss it/ them.

Peanut allergy has developed in someone given a transplant from a person who had nut allergy. My nut allergic child still has a donor card - better alive and with a nut allergy than dead .

If tested for a wheat allergy by skin prick test this can produce a negative result the same goes for the IgE blood test but you can still have the allergy, another thing to watch for is food-exercise induced allergic reactions and we all know children can be very active. The problem is finding the trigger which is where a food diary is a useful tool, then its elimination of suspected foods etc and reintroduction of that food, unpleasant but needs to be done.

Can your GP refer Peter to a consultant specialising in allergies? These kind of consultants are in short supply hence long waiting lists, but I would press your GP to find one PDQ given Peter's medical history - assume he's still taking immunosupressant drugs?

Try Allergy UK for advice and support in the meantime (and perhaps contacts for allergy consultants).

HTH

Your GP should refer you for allergy testing, I think you will come under Addenbrookes if you are in the area I think you are going from previous posts. (W?)

Not just foods either.

I started to react to latex after years of wearing gloves when I was a dental nurse. Now I have a full blown allergy to it.

I hope you find out what it is soon.