To think my child should be allergy tested ? Pics

[Millymollymaisy]

For about 6 months now my son has been breaking on the same areas , front and back and occasionally arms. I’ve been to the gp multiple times and tried creams , steroid creams, oral antihistamines and nothing . The latest feedback was its allergy excema but no mention of finding the root of the allergy. I feel so bad for him . His skin is red raw . He currently is on the antihistamines daily plus clobetasone cream and zero derma .

I’ve dropped any chemicals in laundry and his shower gels .

Poor boy. Which allergens would you want them to test for though? To do allergy testing you have to at least have some idea what you're looking for. I know it's frustrating not knowing though.

Have you tried excluding things from his diet to see if it helps?

I'd cut out dairy and see if that helps

Could you afford a private consultation? Poor lad.

I would try cutting out dairy to see if it makes a difference as well. You could keep a food diary for a few weeks to see if there’s any patterns or triggers you can identify yourself first before pushing for testing.

Thanks . I don’t think it’s dairy he doesn’t drink milk or eat yogurts or cheese or eggs. I’m racking my brains to think what could it be

Ask your GP for allergy testing. Be very specific that this is what your DC needs. They will test for a whole host of common allergies. I agree with other people to make a diary, it could be wheat or something he eats regularly.

Might be worth keeping a food/activity diary for a few weeks before heading to your GP just so you have as much information as you can to support your request for referral for allergy testing.

Allergy testing isn't generally very helpful for eczema. An exclusion diet to identify triggers can be more useful.

Dermatitis herpetiformis? Could he have coeliac disease?

Eggs are a common culprit for eczema and allergic rash. Also, make sure he's wearing natural fibres. My eldest had mild eczema as a toddler which cleared up in time but, even as an adult, it reappears on his chest and around his armpits if he wears a polycotton t-shirt.

My dc had skin like that which turned out to be coeliac disease. So allergy testing wouldn't have diagnosed.
Maybe could start by asking gp for bloods doing? Keep a food diary? Symptom diary? What are bladder and bowels like? Any chest issues? I think allergy testing maybe difficult if you don't have a clue so you'll have to hunt for clues? Dc went to a dermatologist (referred from an asthma clinic as that's a common combination). Was given some tubigrip pj's. Advised only to bathe every third day, put plenty of cream on (had a steroid cream and an moisturiser one) which kept it from deteriorating while we found out the cause. I think with lots of these things it's an elimination game (not the answer you want I know as I've been there but you have to keep asking Dr's what next).

A third of eczema is related to food, I think.

Look up the top 9 allergens and have a think if any of them are included in his diet. Start by eliminating the ones that are in there the most. It's odd to me that he doesn't have milk or eggs because they are in so many things like biscuits and cake so just double check that you're understanding the ingredients if you use processed food. Gluten is also a potential culprit.

Don't hang around waiting for allergy testing because it might take ages. We had to wait over a year on the NHS. Besides, allergy testing can give false negatives so it's not always that helpful.

Other culprits could be mold (you can get mold testing in your house) or pets. Do you have pets?

That was me ages 5-11. My parents paid to take me for allergy testing as all the nhs wanted to do was to keep slithering me in creams.

I was diagnosed with an allergy today and citrus fruit. Once I stopped eating these my skin cleared up completely, and by my late teens I was able to add dairy/citrus back into my diet with no problem.

So YANBU at all.

Scattergun allergy testing is likely to mean you cut out foods that he isn't genuinely allergic to.

It's hard to do skin testing when their skin is already irritated because everything might react just from the irritation of having the prick test. They could maybe do bloodwork. I'm not sure how that works in the UK. However I think it will be difficult to get to the bottom of this without a specialist. Here in the US, we would see an allergist. In the UK, I'm not sure if you would go straight to an allergist or see a pediatrician first. I would check out www.kidswithfoodallergies.com, they have a community forum and a lot of experienced parents who have been through the same thing.

In terms of prevention, if you can afford it, I would start by making his bedroom allergen-safe, as they spend a lot of time in there while sleeping. If there are pets, keep them out of there. Make sure he isn't eating food in his bedroom. You can also do preventative work for dust mites as lots of kids with allergies also have dust mite allergy so it can be a big stressor to their system. So allergen-proof encasings for the mattress, box-spring, and pillows. Wash sheets and blankets in hot water every week or at most every two weeks. If possible, get an allergy cover for the duvet (duvets are a pain to wash). Dust and vacuum the bedroom weekly. However, if cost is an issue for you, then prioritize visiting an allergist over "fixing" the bedroom, so you can find out whether it's really necessary to do all of this work to attack dust mites.

Other things you can do while you develop a plan are to avoid tight clothing. Eczema tends to go through an itch-scratch cycle. They itch, so they scratch, that makes them itch, so they scratch, and so on. Tight clothing will make them itch because it's rubbing against skin that is already irritated.

Allergy testing for eczema is different. It takes a week and it is quite stressful. I would be torn on putting a very young child through it.

it would probably be simpler to remove the most common skin related allergens from
your household and see if things improve. That is going to mean changing all your products to remove fragrance and common problematic preservatives.

That's what my Psoriasis looked like for about six months - I was diagnosed in the end by a locum GP and it wasn't until my next largescale flare that they started forming into classic plaques.

Has he ever had quite thick dandruff/cradlecap/dry scalp?

This looks like eczema.

It can develop at any age.

OP first thing is to treat the eczema, manage it, and then look for a possible cause.

My daughter uses Betnovate 1 in 4.

Use it liberally at first to get hold of the eczema. (Ignore scare stories about using a pea sized dose.. that's practically useless).

And moisturise all over twice a day.

Better to use a cream rather than a lotion (which is water based and can sting). We use Astral.

An you check your washing liquid/powder, shower gels and shampoos for methylisothiazolinone. Referred to as MI.

It's in an awful lot of stuff we use and can cause rashes just like that.

The allergy specialist said to me they think about 15% of the population are allergic to it.

It's a preservative.

Yanbu. The silver lining of my son having an anaphylactic reaction was that we finally cured his eczema after endless visits to the GP who all insisted it wouldn't be caused by allergies

Eczema is caused by non iGE allergies which don't show in the blood tests but the reality is many children have both.

An elimination diet may help but it is also worth establishing whether he has any severe allergies as well.

Milk, egg, wheat and soya were causing my son's severe eczema. We had to eliminate them all to get his skin to clear up.

Thank you for your replies . I already deep
his room and washing his bedding every week always air the room out too

only use non bio washing detergent and no laundry conditioner. No perfumed body washes or anything on his skin. Gp has given me a tiny tube of a steroid cream which is useless as he’s covered and the cream won’t last 3 days let alone 10. Oral antihistamine is doing zero.

today I’ve started dairy free , thanks for pointing out about checking labels . After a good week I will also remove gluten wherever possible .

we do have a cat but we had a cat before and he never had problems ,

I’d also look at soya too and asking for a blood test for coeliacs disease , he must be consuming gluten for the test to be accurate so maybe hold fire on cutting out gluten until he’s had this test.

My son has allergies to milk egg soya and has gluten sensitivity . He comes up in the same rash as your son after eating gluten.

Milk is In lots of things op. Crisps, biscuits, stock cubes, etc.

My daughter has had something similar for years. After the last flare up we thought about what she had been eating and cut porridge oats from her diet. Her skin has returned to normal for the first time in a couple of years (she loves porridge for breakfast so it has been an adjustment for her!). No issues with dairy products.

One of my DC was allergic to her polyester fleece PJs and the poly-cotton school uniform shirts- these affected them in the same way in the same places. Once I switched to all natural fibre clothing it cleared up.