Tests show many food allergies may not be real

[jodifla]

I read about this recently in The Wall Street Journal. Don't see that story, but here's another take on the subject from The Post-Dispatch:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2011156549_allergytests23.html



Is child's food allergy real? Tests trigger false alarms

Food allergies are sometimes misdiagnosed, leaving parents needlessly worrying about dangerous reactions and painstakingly monitoring food. Here's a look at why some of the tests are false and what parents need to know.

By Michele Munz

St. Louis Post-Dispatch


ST. LOUIS — Food challenges take place every Friday at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Children who have tested positive for food allergies are pitted against the suspected culprits. They spend hours eating increasing amounts and monitored closely for reactions.

In about half the cases, nothing happens. The children are fine to eat the food many have been avoiding for years.

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

Interesting. My cousin just dealt with this issue with her 3yr old son. He has alot of food allergies and sensitivities. He had tested positive for a nut allergy. Either a skin prick or a blood test, not sure which. Anyway, they had her bring him to the Boston Children's hospital (they live about an hour away ) and bring her own peanut butter. I'm not sure why. Then they fed him some with the nurses waiting in case of a reaction. Nothing happened. He asked to eat a pb&j that night for dinner

Thankfully, my children do not have any food allergies. However, if they did I'm not sure I would take ANY chances. Better safe than sorry.

 

[ReneeA]

I just had my DS in for allergy testing. In the hystory & physical it asked for all other family allergies. I have a shellfish allergy, and the doctor asked me if he could test me for it - free of charge. I was curious, so let him do it. After all these years, I discovered I'm not allergic to shellfish. He said he finds that many people that have this allergy in fact have eaten old shellfish and had a reaction to the toxins built up in it - not the shellfish itself.

 

[luvmy3]

My ds has been diagnosed with a tree nut allergy and had a reaction to other foods including peanuts, soy and sesame on his skin test. He eats PB&J sandwiches and alot of foods contain some form of soy, he also eats stirfry sauce and has never had an allergic reaction to those foods. His doc told me to continue to feed him those foods but that I shouldn't stop and then re-introduce them because there is a greater chance of a reaction if I do. He ate an almond and his throat started to itch so tree nuts are avoided, I know thats a true allergy, unfortunately.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

My allergist actually told me of this many years ago. Said food allergy testing was far from accurate.

 

[stashbin]

A friend of mine had her daughter tested for allergies and the doctor told her that she was allergic to wheat and dairy products! That meant no cake & ice cream, no pizza, not really anything! The poor kid would go to birthday parties and get nothing! I told my friend that I thought she should get another opinion. A couple of years went by and I guess she got tired of being a food nazi so she did finally get a second opinion. The child had exema!!! She wasn't breaking out because of the food...it was exema!

 

[disykat]

Why would people be diagnosed with, or even be testing for, food allergies if they haven't already had bad results from ingesting those foods?

 

[Momvic5]

Right before my ds 5th birthday, he broke out in hives so severe that they left his body bruised. His eyes and lips became so swollen that it hurt just to look at him. Steriods and Benadryl did not help him at all. It took weeks for his hives to disappear. After testing(skin and blood), we discovered that he had become allergic to peanuts. He had been eating peanut products for years and had eaten a PB sandwich the day he broke out in hives. After that, we avoided peanuts - he was accidently exposed to peanuts twice at school and had to be taken to the emergency room both times due to his severe reactions...however, after 9yrs of avoiding peanuts, he decided to try them on his own. He ate two peanut butter cups this past Halloween to test his allergy...nothing happened...we scheduled a visit with our allergist, and after a skin and blood test, his results showed that he was no longer allergic to peanuts. I can't tell you how relieved we are...no more worries. I don't care how or what they label it. I just know his body reacted to peanuts for years.

 

[Christine]

My allergist actually told me of this many years ago. Said food allergy testing was far from accurate.

It's not actually that the tests aren't accurate. If you have a reaction during a food allergy test, you *do* have an allergy. What the test cannot predict is whether you will actually have an adverse reaction if you ingest the food; hence, the need for food trials.

My son has reacted to everything that he tests positive for on an allergy test. Although, he reacted before we ever tested.

Also, skin prick tests are better indicators of reactions than the blood test. You can come up positive on the blood test but not necessarily react with ingestion. If you react on a skin prick (where the protein actually gets into your system versus a reaction being measured in a laboratory) you will probably react upon ingestion.

 

[Christine]

Why would people be diagnosed with, or even be testing for, food allergies if they haven't already had bad results from ingesting those foods?

I didn't think anyone was allergy tested for no reason. But, my son reacted to peanuts on ingestion. So went to the allergist to confirm and they tested him for 8 other items that he had never eaten. He was positive on the test for eggs. We then fed them to him and he did react.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

I
Also, skin prick tests are better indicators of reactions than the blood test. You can come up positive on the blood test but not necessarily react with ingestion. If you react on a skin prick (where the protein actually gets into your system versus a reaction being measured in a laboratory) you will probably react upon ingestion.

I reacted highly positive to skin prick test for tomatoes and some shellfish. I have eaten tons of that my entire life, kept on eating. No problems. I do have other seasonal allergies though.

 

[Christine]

I reacted highly positive to skin prick test for tomatoes and some shellfish. I have eaten tons of that my entire life, kept on eating. No problems. I do have other seasonal allergies though.

I would still say you are allergic but you just don't react upon ingestion.

I've also heard that people with eczema and sensitive skin often give false positives on scratch tests. My son has this but, so far (and unfortunately) he actually reactions to everything he reacts to on testing.

 

[mhsjax]

Why would people be diagnosed with, or even be testing for, food allergies if they haven't already had bad results from ingesting those foods?

For us we had our son tested for an allergy to milk, so I guess they ran a whole allergy test, (don't really know how they work) Anyway, Dr's office called me a week later and told me, "no allergy to milk but allergic to eggs> I laughed and asked her if she had the right kid, she said yes and asked why. I told her that my son became very ill when he consumed dairy products but that he ate eggs all the time and never had a problem. I said it was crazy and she got a little huffy and said well these tests are accurate, I asked her to check with the dr. She put me on hold and came back and said. Guess what the Dr said, that's crazy, same word I used. DS still has no problems with eggs or wheat,(another thing they said he was allergic to) and he still can't handle dairy.

 

[golfgal]

A friend of mine had her daughter tested for allergies and the doctor told her that she was allergic to wheat and dairy products! That meant no cake & ice cream, no pizza, not really anything! The poor kid would go to birthday parties and get nothing! I told my friend that I thought she should get another opinion. A couple of years went by and I guess she got tired of being a food nazi so she did finally get a second opinion. The child had exema!!! She wasn't breaking out because of the food...it was exema!

Eczema is a common condition with people with various allergies and often with people with asthma so chances are this child has some allergies, maybe not to wheat and dairy. People can "outgrow" allergies as well. Their bodies are able to deal with the allergens and often don't have that allergy any longer, just like people can develop allergies over time.

 

[krcit]

Eczema is a common condition with people with various allergies and often with people with asthma so chances are this child has some allergies, maybe not to wheat and dairy. People can "outgrow" allergies as well. Their bodies are able to deal with the allergens and often don't have that allergy any longer, just like people can develop allergies over time.

My ds used to break out with eczema when he was a baby. I also noticed that whenever he had grated parmesan cheese he would get red all around his mouth and face. I stopped giving him dairy and the eczema cleared up. I never had him tested though and now that he's 8, he eats dairy all the time with no problems.

 

[maps]

It says about 1/2 the time people didn't react--what about the other half?

I've considered the peanut challenge with my son but his blood levels are so high the allergist won't consider it.

I couldn't imagine telling my son that we are giving him a food that he has tested positive for and then waiting to see if he has a life threatening reaction. What would happen if he reacted and then we needed to inject him twice with an Epi Pen and then send him to the ER with potential difficulty breathing? How scary for us and him!

 

[Jewel1310]

My son gets an itchy mouth and tongue when he eats shellfish or shrimp. Finally at 20 we had him tested. He was allergic to trees, crabs, lobster, and shrimp. He started allergy shots for the trees, but the food allergies are something we were told he had to avoid. They also gave us an RX for an epipen. I wish he didn't have a food allergy as he likes all those items.

 

[jazzielady]

Some people grow out of allergies, like the son of the pp who outgrew his peanut allergy. Lucky him! I also grew out of allergies to egg, wheat, citrus, and some other things I don't remember. Some people react, test, and continue to react all their lives to their allergens. Some people grow into their allergies, eating a product all of their lives until one day, wham! They experience a severe reaction. That happened to me with MSG (monosodium glutamate). I ate it in processed foods for years and chinese food. Then one day, I ate an egg roll at a restaurant and ended up in anaphylactic shock in the ER. That's pretty much what started me on organic, healthy foods.

Allergies are tricky. There will always be stories of someone who tested positive for something they've always eaten, someone who tested negative and almost died, and people with varying forms of reactions to the same products.

 

[Momvic5]

It says about 1/2 the time people didn't react--what about the other half?

I've considered the peanut challenge with my son but his blood levels are so high the allergist won't consider it.

I couldn't imagine telling my son that we are giving him a food that he has tested positive for and then waiting to see if he has a life threatening reaction. What would happen if he reacted and then we needed to inject him twice with an Epi Pen and then send him to the ER with potential difficulty breathing? How scary for us and him!

My ds13 decided to test his peanut allergy on his own!! For years, we were so careful about any and all food that came into our home, but this last October, he decided he was going to test his allergy. He had asked me about it before, but like you, I was too scared to let him try it....we had been to the ER two times before due to his allergy. But at 13 yrs old, he took it into his own hands....he ate two PB cups! He came to me immediately after he ate them, and his words to me were..."mom, just so you know, if I die, it was so worth it." I could have killed him myself! But by the grace of God, he had outgrown them.....

 

[disfan07]

A lot of children grow out of their allergies.

me, i grew INTO them. I was only mildly allergic to peanuts as a child. At 18 I was diagnosed with anaphylaxis to peanuts, allergic to eggs and sodium benzoate PLUS I have two major chemical allergies (lanolin and parabens). At 20, I just found out 2 weeks ago that I am now allergic to shellfish...lovely.

We know that all of these are allergies because my eczema got much better after i cut these things out of my diet and my IgE levels dropped considerably after cuttign them out. Before I was tested, my IgE levels were around 2,000...6 months after I stopped eating eggs adn using lanolin adn parabens, my IgE level dropped to 1400. After 2 years off of those foods adn chemicals PLUS 2 years on imunosuppresents, my IgE level has finally dropped to about 600....the range for normal is 0-99. my immune system is always in overdrive

And my skin got 100 times better after I stopped using products with lanolin and/or parabens in it (shopping for lotions, soaps, shampoos, etc with those two allergies....so not fun at all...its worse than the food allergies)

I have the allergic triad. Asthma, Allergies and Eczema. All three are on the severe end of the spectrum.