Last night for dinner I gave the kids fish sticks. These are the same fish sticks that I have been giving them for a year now (since Emmaline was approved to try fish when she hit the age of three). Well the last few times I have given them to her, she complains that they make her throat hurt. Well last night, she started complaining about it, and got to the point where she was crying - so I knew she really meant it! Upon closer inspection she had some tiny little hives next to her mouth too! Looks like she might have developed a fish allergy! We gave her benedryl and put it on our list to talk to the doctor about today.
So today, the doctor did the usual exam of her skin to check for eczema, listened to her lungs, and we discussed her status in the last year. We also went over her blood test results. He said that the egg was three times the limit that he prefers to even attempt challenging it. Dairy was right at the limit, but basically unchanged from last year - when she failed a dairy challenge - so we won't be attempting that one again this year. Soy shows up quite low (almost zero) but of course her reaction for that is gastro-intestinal so blood tests don't mean much. So we elected to give soy one more year. Cashew and Pistachios were still high but peanuts were right at the limit as well. However, based on that info, I decided that we will wait one more year before we attempt challenging that one either. Peanuts, quite frankly, are the least of my worries and one of the easiest ones to avoid!
Usually we do the skin prick testing as well, however, since we had to give her benedryl last night because of the fish, the skin result will not be accurate (you have to be antihistamine free for 5 days before testing). So we have an appointment set up for next week to go and do that. Her doctor assured us that we did the right thing by giving her the benedryl and we are instructed to avoid fish now too. When we do the skin testing next week, he has the orders written to test fish and shrimp as well as the "usual" stuff.
Emmaline's TwinJects are expired so he gave us a new prescription for an EpiPen Jr. I find the TwinJect a bit more complicate
d to use than I'd prefer - especially when training other people to use it. Turns out he hates it too (the allergist in Utah was the one that had prescribed it before we ever moved to Colorado), so he was happy to switch us back to the EpiPen Jr. The fun part of course is that when a TwinJect or EpiPen expire, you get to practice with it (instead of the emptry trainer pen) and fire it off into a grapefruit. FUN!
d to use than I'd prefer - especially when training other people to use it. Turns out he hates it too (the allergist in Utah was the one that had prescribed it before we ever moved to Colorado), so he was happy to switch us back to the EpiPen Jr. The fun part of course is that when a TwinJect or EpiPen expire, you get to practice with it (instead of the emptry trainer pen) and fire it off into a grapefruit. FUN!In a side note - I did ask him about Imogene. He said they start seeing babies when they are 6 months old. Also later in the day, I got a call from the pediatrician with the results of Imogene's three day stool sample collection. It tested negative for blood which is great. However, her stools are still really green and mucousy so I am going to try eliminating dairy for a month to start with - and see how she does.
Rating: 5 Skittles (which happen to be allergen free!)
3 comments:
One of my sons is allergic to shrimp and shellfish...he was working at an eatery as a teen prep cooking and he started not feeling well so they sent him home...his hands swelled up like baseball mitts ! Thank goodness, he didn't eat any of it ! I gave him benedryl and it worked great.
Thanks for the update - I always wonder how things are going, allergy-wise. No challenges this year, then? I hope the fish was a fluke thing (maybe they changed the recipe and one of her other allergens is now in it?) - what a pain to have to add another allergy to the list. Also hoping Imogene's in the clear and something else is causing her digestive distress - something easily cureable!
Glad to see an update and I'll be checking back to see how next week goes. XOXO
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