Hives and Allergy Testing

I've had hives only 3 or 4 times in my life (and I'm 51). Two times it was simply from my skin getting cold, and my dad said he'd gotten them from that, too. Another time it was from drinking homemade apple cider that Dad put a preservative in, and I think that was what caused it. It's definitely not 'comfortable', but it's not dangerous unless their throat swells inside.

My youngest son was tested when he was 2. They had me hold him on my lap facing me. I had to straddle his arms and legs with my arms and hold tight. The two nurses pressed the trays with all the needles containing allergens onto his back at the same time. It least it was done all at once but really hurt. He cried for a long time afterwards. After we went through that they said he was only allergic to one type of pollen. His back looked like one huge hive and he complained of itching and pain. The allergist told us that we could stop all of his medications because he was only allergic to this one thing and it was not the season for it. So I did. Within 4 days we were back at the peditrician because his asthma flared up big time, he was congested and sneezing constantly and just laid around. They gave him a nebulizer treatment and told us that he was fine. The following day we went to visit my cousin who had cats. We were not in her house but 5 minutes and he was wheezing and could not hardly breath. I took him home but the older kids stayed. I gave him his nebulizer and allergy meds. By the time the older kids came home he was feeling better. They came in gave him a hug. Within a minute he was wheezing again. I sent them up to shower and change clothes. I did another neb treatment to my youngest, then he was fine. I called the doctor and told them what happened. They said that It must be something in the surroundings and still told me that he did not need the allergy meds or the nebulizer. This went one for 6 more months until we could change insurance and doctors. The next peditrician told us that a child should not be tested for allergies that young. Also that your allergies and sensitivities can change every seven years.

My daughter had allergy testing two weeks ago, so I am pretty familiar with it. You and your husband will need to be at the appointment. When you get to the appointment they will have your daugher wear a sleeveless shirt and diapers or underwear. (if they tell you shorts, suggest the diapers or underwear) Be sure you take your child potty before you they start :) My husband ended up holding my daughter (2yrs old)in his lap and I held her legs. They took a little plastic square that had about 12 allergens on it(liquid form) they placed them on her upper arms, her lower arms, and two on each leg. Before the procedure we got to choose which allergens we would test...ie: peanuts, beef, fruits, and airborne allergens.

Over all, the difficult part of the process was the fact that we had to hold her in our laps for 10 minutes so that the allergens would not be rubbed off. Luckily they had cartoons on TV when we went, but we had to bribe and sing songs and tell stories for 10 minutes- so be prepared. It did not hurt her at all, it just frustrated her that she had to sit still for so long.

Good luck, it is worth it to know what you can feed your child and you can be prepared for the future!

my DS has milk and peanut allergies. we had him tested just a few months before he turned 2. they did the skin prick test on his back and it was so quick he didn't even start crying til the end and he hardly cried the. the nurse went really quick with him. they also did the blood test b/c a couple came out really low and they wanted to be sure of if he was allergic or not. we will be retested in a few months for the milk b/c he is expected to outgrow it thankfully! it really isn't that bad. i say if you ped thinks you should then go ahead. that way you will know if you should avoid any foods.

My daughter just recently had allergy tests and it was a fairly easy procedure. It was a series of plastic "needles"
dipped in an allergen applied in columns to the back. They called it a cat scratch there was no bleeding or real needles involved. The whole test including waiting for reactions took about a half an hour. It really is worth doing you may be amazed at what could be causing her reactions.

We have had my daughter tested twice. It is relatively simple and she didn't cry after the back scratch test. She did cry during the blood test but she is afraid of needles, she didn't know what they were doing to her back.
My daughter has so many food allergies I just keep a running tally of what she breaks out with. Luckily nothing has caused any anaphalactic shock and I am able to curtail most of the hives with Benadryl. We have even elimated restaurants.
You will have to have her drug-free for 3 or 4 days before the test. You will be able to see immediately if she is allergic to a substance by looking at her back.
Our biggest surprise, Jess is allergic to rice and bananas. THe first two foods you start with.

Just a thought - you might want to switch to organic detergents, soaps, shampoos, and cleaners and see if that makes a difference. She could be reacting to something in the environment. You didn't buy new carpet or furniture or even a new car recently, did you? Those can spew out toxic fumes that can cause reactions in some people.

Good luck!

A., Our daughter was having similar issues and we took her into see the Allergist. She had just turned One. We to had to wait to go in because they didn't want her to have had benadryl for three days and they also wanted us to keep a food journal. We were unable to narrow it down to a particular food. When we went in, they came up with a few things to test for and asked us if there was anything else we would like her to be tested for(which I liked. They divided up parts of her back, then brought in the trays, with plastic needles and applied the allergens. No bleeding involved. She did cry torwards the end but over all fairly easy. The hardest part for us was keeping her from lying down or rolling over onto her back and not being able to touch her back at all for 15min- which did turn into 20min because she was so sensitive to everything. So bring extra toys, books, etc. Good Luck!

I had to take my daughter when she was four for the testing. It was more tramatic for me than her. They did 10 pin pricks at a time. By the fourth set, I told them to make sure that this was it because I wasn't going to have her do any more.
See if they can do a blood test instead of the pin pricks. I don't know how strong you or your child is, but they are heartbreaking to watch and then have to explain that you are going to let them do that again.
By the way, my daughter took shots for about 3 years. Ever since, she has been fine.
Good luck and God Bless.
W.

Hi! My son is allergy prone too. I took him to our regular doc when he was 4 and asked for the allergy testing but was told that he was too young for the "needle" test. But she did order a blood test done. This test will at least tell you what his main triggers are. (well, at that time, because allergies can change over time as we've learned) It tested for food, pollen and pets and was interesting to see the results. Knew he was allergic to peanuts but did not know that his strongest reaction was to oak pollen! Now at least I can keep track of the pollen reports and know when to MAKE SURE he has his Zyrtec. Hope that helps if your daughter is younger. :)

Has she recently had anti-biotics?
This reaction is common after having drugs from the penicillin family.

Many kids do not react until a week or more after they started the drug.

Otherwise, start a journal & keep track of the foods & things she comes in contact with. If it happens again, you will have a reference. You might try to list everything she has had in the last few days before this episode to see if there is a fit.

Hi A.,
I am not sure how old your daughter is but yes we have experienced allergy testing. They did the scratch testing on my daughter which is basically little grids they set up on their back and then they put the allergens you want them to test (food, outdoor stuff like pollen etc) and then they poke it on their back. They only put it there for a few seconds and apparently that is painful but then the hard part is just waiting for the results. The child can't scratch or touch their back in any way for 15-20 minutes and you need to hold their hands to make sure they do not do this otherwise, the test is all for nothing. Usually they are sitting facing you and your childs arms are under your arms. It sounds worse than it is because they brought in dum dum lollipops for us and my daughter got over the initial stuff pretty fast when seeing them. It is just hard not to get them to scrach especially if your child does have allergies because there will be places really bothering them during that period. Good luck to you. It is definately worth it.
-Jenn

A different perspective:
Procedurewise, the other moms are much more up-to-date with the current skin testing techniques. My now 19 y/o son went through it about 10 years ago.
The allergist tested him for about 45 substances, two of which were controls. He reacted positively to 27 of them and started to go into anaphylactic shock on the table. Luckily, they had the appropriate emergency medications immediately available and there were no follow-up problems at all.
He was allergic to our dogs, our cats, and our bird, our dustmites, molds, mildews, oak and pecan trees, Bermuda and rye grasses, chocolate, peanuts, etc.
His pet cockatiel died of natural causes the following week. We started keeping the dogs and cats out of his bedroom.
He learned to wash his hands anytime he touched the pets. I learned to dust, vacuum, and "bleach" his room weekly as soon as he left for school in the morning (not when he was home). I put his blankets and pillows in a warm dryer for 20 minutes weekly. I changed the heat/ac filters frequently, kept his bedroom windows closed as much as possible, and bought a high quality air purifier to put next to the head of his bed.
I didn't want him to grow up "in a bubble", I wanted him to be able to run and play outside. So, he was allowed to run around outside, play in the woods behind our house, roll in the neighbors' Bermuda grass, etc. He had to get in the house as soon as possible afterwards, though, to jump in the shower, and put on clean clothes. It was OK with me if he did that 10 times/day, as long as he did it.
Now he's an Eagle Scout. He's put in his time camping without showering, but he still showers when possible if he thinks he's "carrying pollen" with him. However, he rarely reacts to any of the allergens that used to bother him.
He carries his Albuterol inhaler and his Nasonex with him only when he travels, "just in case" and that's it. He hasn't used his Albuterol in years, and uses his Nasonex a couple times a year. He takes Claritin or Zyrtec every once in a while.

Don't know if you are still looking for a responce to this but thought I would tell you my experince with hives. My son broke out with them TERRIBLY once when he was 2 and a half...we narrowed it down ourselves to he had spent the day with a different sitter and they had mowed a field next to her. For the next couple of months he would break out a little around his neck if he got hot or was outside very long....but nothing like the 1st time. He is 7 and a half now and I havn't seen any hives in yrs. He did have seasonal allergies but not hives for about 3 yrs after that..and still has a flair-up "occasionally" with his allergies. Just wanted to tell you this cause it might be worth waiting to see if this really is gonna be a problem..before you do any testing.

The suggestion to switch products is a good one. I have worked for a wellness manufacturer for 17 years - and we have lots of moms that notice big, immediate changes when they get rid of the toxins in their home. www.joyboudreau.com will shed some light on this - my inform moms site.

Fortunately these days - healthier products are easier to get and there are companies that are making them very price competitive - not on a store shelf so much...but online, generally speaking. They all don't perform as well as some - too many greedy companies trying to get a piece of the "go green" pie.

Allergy testing disturbs me because I went through it (as an adult) several years ago. All of my serious allergies were items I didn't even eat but rarely. And - it turned out that the itch was from too much caffeine consumption - that my low blood sugar did not like. It took a customer to lead me to that - not the doctor that was getting the money! And for the last eight years - her diagnosis is still correct!!

My son broke out with hives from a navel orange. Was he allergic to them - not really. The hives only came when he would have THREE close together. Ha. Too much of a good thing.

Allergies are an immune system problem. Learning how to build the immune system (cut the sugar, white flour - change to non toxic products, take a quality vitamin) is a lot easier and healthier than allergy shots.

Just my two cents worth...

J.
www.joyboudreau.com

I agree with your husband about how unpleasant allergy testing can be for a child. We took our son to be tested when he was around 3 or 4 and it took his dad, the nurse, a doctor and me to hold him while they pricked his skin all on his back and arms. He pleaded for us to "save" him while this was going on. To this day he has an aversion to needles or getting shots. It was a traumatic experience for all of us and I regret having it done. He only tested positive to an allergy to dust mites! However, he was not breaking out in hives like your daughter. He was found to have eczema really bad behind his knees and in the creases of his elbows. I wish you and your daughter the best!