Allergy testing

From what I understand there's a limit to what can be tested with the skin prick test for food allergies because unless baby has already been exposed to the allergen the test won't work. It could be a food allergy if you are breastfeeding. I'd talk to health visitor, try to get a referral for dietitian/dermatologist or if you aren't breastfeeding they might still have ideas about what you can do to identify what allergens could be in your home.

My little one has eczema and also had allergy testing when she was younger, the allergy testing confirmed she had cows milk protein allergy. She had lots of other allergy type symptoms though, as well as eczema. Her other symptoms got better when we cut out dairy but eczema has been up and down and something we continue to struggle with.

Very difficult to find the cause of it, even with allergy testing. Environmental factors can trigger it for example, such as temperature, humidity, air quality, which you can't test for. I saw a post from a doctor as well recently that said it's actually a genetic cause and really is about symptom management. I'm not sure how accurate that is though, haven't had a chance to look into it any further, but it rang true for my own experience of eczema.

We did allergy testing at 9 months because he broke out in hives when eating a whole bunch of different foods. I definitely saw a decrease in the eczema after we got the results and cut out his allergens, but he still has some eczema and we keep him in gloves overnight and when we aren’t actively playing with him so he can’t scratch.

Unless it's an immediate reaction like hives (IgE) you can't tell from a blood test. If it's non-IgE (eczema etc) the only way is an elimination diet. Most eczema stems from the gut, so look into healing that, and also look at what you're washing clothing with/fragrance/dust because they can also be big triggers

We are going through the same thing at the moment with our son who’s the same age, we bought some scratch sleeves, doesn’t stop the itching but protects his little cheeks with silk mittens he can’t get off!

We got tested for igE allergies (blood test) as my boy reacted to peanut (hives) and that confirmed his allergy. However he was told to have non igE mediated allergies to Dairy egg and soy which all flare his eczema so it’s eliminated from his diet. These don’t show on blood work as it’s a different reaction (delayed onset) so the only way we knew was eliminate and reintroduce to confirm. He was reacting through my breastmilk so I cut it all out and his diet is free from it all now. X

@Rachel wow through your breast milk, that might be how my one might be reacting but don’t often have milk, cheese maybe. I have a feeling it’s more going to be dust mites but who knows. Gp confirm blood test so I’ve just got to go with it I guess.

@Karrie silk mittens? Not seen them. Worth a try but I think she’s gets around it all by using the sheet as a scratcher. 🤦🏻‍♀️

@Anonymous yea exactly that. We found out about dairy and eggs at 6 months, and I cut those out of my diet then, saw a huge difference in his skin and he started putting on weight (he’d started falling off his growth curve). Then when we started introducing more solids, he was breaking out into hives, we stopped doing any new foods and went and got the allergy testing done to diagnose 8 additional allergies. I think there’s probably a few more since we only had room to test so many, but we haven’t had any more hives incidents since then and he’s 15 months now.

@Anonymous lots of things contain milk powder, egg, soya (often these allergies go hand in hand). I'm surprised your doctor hasn't recommended cutting out dairy altogether for 2 weeks(followed by egg and soya) to see if that makes a difference

@Rachel poor thing, that’s a lot of allergies. How did you find out about the eggs and dairy?

@Rachel no she didn’t strangely but maybe I should try. I don’t have much dairy anyway but I guess it’s the hidden ones. Maybe i should start a food diary.

@Anonymous all it takes is the tiniest amount. E.g a bit of milk powder in something unexpected like chorizo can cause a flare up

The one for my girl was absolute rubbish, I waited months for the appointment for them to tell me it’s not really environmental or food related, eczema is something theye eventually grow out of. She had the allergy testing and confirmed she was allergic to cows milk. However, If the eczema is just something they will grow out of, how comes it’s something she’s developed at 4 months.. bear in mind it only got worse after they prescribed steroids which I strongly advice you stop! The steroid withdrawal is no joke it makes everyone’s eczema much worse. Doctor also said I have to consume a lot of dairy for it to even reach my baby through breastmilk. So he told me the food I’m eating isn’t affecting her eczema. Basically eczema is just eczema and nothing is caused by it. But I strongly disagree. He also said there’s not enough research on it and that steroids is the only thing they prescribe to help with it. When they reach one they can have antihistamine to help with itch relief.

My LO is now 15 months and his allergies started when he was around 3 months, he was on steriods for nearly a year with eczema, i felt like it took so long and so many appointments to get the gp to take me seriously and basically got told that it was impossible for a child to be allergic to so many things so just cut milk and egg out my diet (breastfeeding) now he literally has a list of 15+ foods he cant eat so i would just push for them to take action sooner than later as my child really suffered for months by accepting the gps opinions, only now is it being investigated by the allergy team at whiston.

Been there with the blood on the bedding 😭 There’s no harm in doing the allergy testing. Knowledge is power! We did it at 6 months and found out about dairy (suspected already), but also egg, sesame and peanut. He would have been exposed through my milk and it was making his eczema worse. He’s never directly eaten those foods, so we saved ourselves a few trips to the hospital! His skin has been a lot better since we’ve cut out the allergy foods. But his dust mite allergy are harder to manage, so we aren’t totally out of the woods yet. He also flares after he’s had a illness

@Emelie that’s interesting. She has had a cold recently. I feel like it gets worse when she’s in bed, but I’m not sure if it’s because she’s rubbing her face against the bedding or what. It’s usually the side closest to the mattress too. I thought it might be where she’s been dribbling but I just don’t know.

The last two nights have been bad. I’m trying to encourage her to sleep on her back so she doesn’t rub the cream I’ve put on off but easier said than done. She also has been sleeping terribly. Not sure if that’s related or not.

Eczema is an autoimmune thing so when the immune system is stressed by a virus it can affect the skin. There is a FB group called Erasing Eczema and they have a lot of advice for treating eczema topically (no steroid) and finding the root causes. Quite Overwhelming tho

Also - if it gets worse in bed, could be a sign that she’s sensitive to dustmites. Does she sneeze in the mornings or when she’s playing on carpets?

@Emelie no, she doesn’t. We have a blood test booked for the 20th of Feb. Hope it gives us something to help.

Funny thing happened. Today she sneezed in the morning and also in the afternoon when we were on the carpet on her room. Maybe it is dust mites because I hate to think it could be the cats.

Cats are easier to avoid… unless you have a family cat 😬 they’ll test for both on the blood test. Good luck with your journey xx