Allergy tests

[AnnMorin]

DS (just turned 10) is going tomorrow for allergy tests. He is always stuffed up -except when we are in the caribbean (go figure I think that is a reason to move there ) anyhow I had them as a child and as I recall they were horrible, painful and itchy. I feel so bad for him- have not told him the gorey details because maybe they have changed since I was a kid. Anyone have them lately? thanks Ann
ps- I did get him a gamecube game that he can have afterwards and we have the screen for the car so maybe I will hide it in the trunk.

 

[allicat]

DD age 7 just had these tests done last Thursday. They use disposable plastic needle type things (its doesnt look anything like a needle, just looks like a short plastic straw) to put the drops of liquid on your arm now. The nurse was saying years ago they used metal needle type things and it was painful so maybe thats what you are remembering.

The nurse told DD it would feel a little like a mosquito bite. DD was brave and said it didnt hurt at all. If the spots got itchy she could blow on it and she only had to sit and wait for 10 minutes.It really was no big deal for DD and she is very nervous with any type of medical test.
We only had half the testing done and so far nothing was found.
DD is constantly stuffed or with a runny nose.

 

[AnnMorin]

Well that is reassuring. I vividly recal over 80 'scratches' and DH said his was over 100 all on our backs but of course we are 41 and things were done much different then! The doctor is a 0 min drive from our house but he is suppossed to be the best..

 

[disykat]

My ds had his about two years ago (he was 8). Small pinpricks on his arm - nothing like the scratches on my back I had years ago. Even the amounts of allergen were smaller - his welts were much smaller than I expected. Ds took some benedryl when it was over and really wasn't bothered much.

 

[AnnMorin]

ooooh do I dare tell him that is all it would be???? I have him prepared for little scratches on his back but pinpricks on the arm is even better!? I better not - if I tell him that and they still do the scratches it will be worse, he is prepared for the scratches so the pinpricks would be a gift..oh the woahs of being a mom!
(well my mom was an a** that said toughen up this is costing me a fortune when she took me- but then again you won't see me crying at her funeral )

 

[CindyKansas]

DD had allergy tests done last year and they were done on her back and arm. I am allergic to most everything so that could be the reason so much was done to her. Poor thing, went through all of that and found out she wasn't allergic to anything. The allergist was amazed since I am sensitive to everything.

 

[Wendy]

I had allergy testing done just a couple of months ago. It was nothing compared to what it was when I was a kid. They did the little pricks on my arms (it felt like a mosquito bite, not as bad as an ant bite), and the worst part was when the ones I was allergic to started itching and I couldn't scratch them. I asked my doctor beforhand if they would be the ones on the back with the scratches that I remembered from when I was a kid. She said some doctors do still do them that way, but most don't because the back is much more sensitive than the arms.

On me, after they did all the pricks on the lower arm and read them, they did do some additional ones on my upper arms. Those were actual little bitty subcutaneous injections just under the skin. Again, they really didn't hurt and they were nothing compared to an injection into the muscle. They left a little bitty bubble where they injected the allergen.

Hope that helps!

 

[clutter]

Your allergist should have some benedryl cream to rub on after they're done, but you might want to bring some in case....

 

[cruisnfamily]

Let us know how it turns out.

We are currently on a three week "super medication binge" to see if we can cure DS's constant tummy aches which come from his allergy drip. He is now on Claritin Reditabs, Singulair, Flonase and Mylanta. Hope this works because if not, he is going to have to go for the testing and probably weekly shots after that.

 

[AnnMorin]

Well good news is he is negative for cats, dogs, mold, dust/dustmites, milk etc (80 tests) but lit up like a christmas tree on ALL trees and grasses. Now understand we have the woods on one side of our backyard and the golf course on the other. Kinda a tree and grasses smorgesborad. They did do scraches on his back but not like when I was a kid, kinda neat eight at a time, no pain just itchy. Next week he has to go back for suceoueous (sp) testing to narrow it down and maybe a rasp test. The doctor said out of a scale of 0-4 he was mostly 2-3's. I hope he can avoid shots.