Testing and food challenges

[> kontro]

I was just wondering how other people's doctors deal with food challenges. We have a very conservative doctor who will not do a challenge unless the skin test and the blood test are both negative. I'm fine with that, but when I read that the blood tests can be inaccurate, I feel very frustrated. Both of my food-allergic children are negative on the skin test to wheat, but they are both positive on the RAST (one got a 17 and the other a 19). Since wheat is typically not a food that produces an anaphylactic response in children, I really wish that he would try a food challenge with them. Is this typical with your doctors, or do I live somewhere that's still pretty unenlightened about food allergies? I have been thinking about taking them to another city to see if we can get more help. Thanks!

[> tam]

My son was negative on both tests, but we never came across a doctor that gave any credibility to even a food challenge. We then came across Dr. Susan Tanner at Spherios Medical Center in Alpharetta, Ga. She used a urine test. Turns out: on a test where a 12 is borderline and a 15 is intolerant, he scored a 77. So much for skin tests. I don't fully understand the technicalities, but I do know that there are different types of IgE reactions and the ones used for skin and blood work are not the same as the one used in our case, and yet it is no less legitimate. My son does strongly react to any gluten. He even reacted with stomach aches and allergy shiners (dark circles under the eyes) and rashes from the wheat germ oil in some lip therapy made by Bert's Bees. It took me a few days to figure it out. It's hard to believe that that level of sensitivity would not show up on all the tests, but that's just how it works. This is new territory for many doctors. Good luck!

[> jan]

We did an elimination diet suggested by our natropath. We eliminated all high alergy foods for 2 weeks....wheat, corn, nuts, dairy, eggs, citris, bananas, tomatoes, coffee, alcohol. After 2 weeks 1 food is introduced back into the diet .....3x a day for 2 days, and if there is an allergy there will be a reaction. When my daughter introduced wheat almost immediately she developed an ulcer in her mouth. We also discovered other allergies through this diet....It was a real break through for us!