Allergies

When Colin went in for his 2-year well baby check, his pediatrician told me that when he turned 3, she’d want to have his allergies tested.  (He has such severe eczema and she wanted to try to understand what was causing it.)  At his 3-year well baby check, she didn’t say anything and it’d completely slipped my mind.  So when we took James for his appointment last week, I asked her about it.  Dr. G gave me the paperwork I needed to go in and get the blood drawn.  They were going to test his food, environmental and … some other kind … of allergies.

The next day, I took Colin to the lab, had his blood drawn (UGH, talk about crocodile tears!) and I was told that it would take about a week for the results to come in.

Yesterday (Monday), Dr. G’s office called.  The nurse said she would make a copy of his allergy list because it was just too long to read over the phone.  They referred us to an allergist, Dr. V, and told me that it takes about 2-4 weeks to get in to see him.  When I called to make the first appointment, I told the receptionist I wanted an appointment as soon as possible.  He asked if that evening was good!  I wasn’t prepared for it to be that soon, so we made one for Tuesday that way Daddy could go with us.

(POOR GUY!)  I felt like the world’s worst mom.  But then, perspective came: “You are only the world’s worst mom if you KNOW he is allergic to peanuts and you feed him peanut better.”

Today (Tuesday) is the day … Colin’s FIRST (of many, I’m afraid) allergist appointment.  I am a little nervous about what to expect, but I am sure it’ll be fine.

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Ok, so we went to the allergist – Dr. V is an AWESOME guy!  (If you are in San Antonio and need an allergist recommendation, email me!)

Dr. V asked the hubs and I a ton of questions about Colin and his environment and reactions, etc.  He said that 40% of eczema is caused by allergies.  And of that 40%, 2/3 is caused by food allergies.

At first, Dr. V told us to avoid walnuts, soy, corn and sesame seeds.

Then the doctor decided to do a stamp allergy test (which is really cool – and you get results in 20 minutes).  Since Colin had already had a blood test, the stamp test would give us a more accurate “reading” of what he is allergic to.

After the stamp test, we were told we only need to avoid soy and sesame seeds.   WHEW!  (Although, I am finding that soy is in a LOT more than I thought it’d be in.)  And that Colin’s biggest allergy is to dust mites.

We were also given pointers on how to best help C’s eczema:

1. Buy pillow and mattress allergy covers (the zippered kind).
2. Buy a HEPA filter air purifier.
3. If C sleeps with stuffed animals, was them every 2 weeks in hot water and then dry them in the dryer.
4. Keep his room dry – no humidifiers.
5. After we bathe him, apply Aquaphor while he is still soaking wet and then dry him as we normally do.
6. Keep giving him Claritin (as we have been doing for the past year!)

I am really happy with the way things worked out, especially since I was SO nervous about what might happen!

Do your kids have allergies and/or eczema?  What are your tips for controlling them?