"asymptomatic sensitivity" vs allergy?

seeker

Thu, Jan 28 2016, 1:34 am

We have a lot of allergies in the family so I had my younger DD tested just in case, and because she has been constantly coming down with every germ in the universe for the past year or so.

She came up with a number of "abnormal" results but they were all category 1 or 2 and mostly foods she was eating already with no reactions. The allergist said that means it's really fine and we have nothing to worry about. He said it's "asymptomatic sensitivity" which means something in the blood test reacts but it doesn't mean anything practical for her health.

I just can't help but wonder how you can know that it has ZERO effect. So she's not breaking out in hives when she eats these things, but can we know for sure that it's not irritating her intestines, or keeping her immune system busy so she's not fighting off the colds and stuff well enough?

He also was not concerned at all that she keeps getting sick (colds, strep, coughs...) He said that's just normal picking things up in nursery school. But I still think it's strange that an otherwise-healthy (apparently) 3-year-old can't seem to go a week without some kind of ailment. He didn't even think it was worth testing for anything. All I know is both of us didn't sleep for the last two nights from her coughing and the regular pediatrician said it's nothing but congestion/post-nasal drip or something.

We went to a highly-regarded allergist-immunologist who is not generally dismissive or inattentive - we use him for older DD as well, who has a lot more blatant allergies. But she also tested very low numbers on airborne allergies and yet has very clear reactions - last spring/summer she had to be on claritin every day or she would have major itchy/red/watery eyes, runny/itchy/sneezy nose. So I'm not so sure about these low numbers being so insignificant... maybe it's just because there's a difference between the food reactions and the airborne? But he said there's no point in testing a 3-year-old for airborne because it's not really developed yet. Does that mean it's definitely not causing her constant congestion/cough though?

I'm so confused and not at all as reassured as I thought I'd be by this allergist visit. Can anyone enlighten me about what's going on here?

chani8

Thu, Jan 28 2016, 3:34 am

Those sensitivities can for sure cause an increase in mucous in her body. Perhaps try cutting down on those foods for one month. Yogurts and dairy products and night shades and foods high in pesticides, can cause this mucous reaction.

Eta - for my daughter, wheat bothered her. She can now have a sandwich a day, but taking her off wheat for awhile cleared up her eczema. And dairy gives her a cold within hours. Tried her on goat dairy, and she has no problem with it. Go figure.

Last edited by chani8 on Thu, Jan 28 2016, 12:27 pm; edited 1 time in total

yidisheh mama

Thu, Jan 28 2016, 5:15 am

Try to get another opinion from a different allergist, or discuss it with your child's pediatrician. I also have food allergies, and I tried cutting out certain things that I only have a very slight allergy to, one at a time for 2-3 weeks each, to see if it will make a difference to my general well-being. three of the four things made a big difference to the way I feel (rashy skin and slightly plugged up sinuses).
I have also found in the past that some big doctors that are really good with problematic cases sometimes disregard smaller issues, prob because they are used to dealing with major problems on a regular basis, causing the "normal" issues to seem so minute.

amother

Pearl

Thu, Jan 28 2016, 12:26 pm

anonymrs wrote:

Allergists are medical doctors who go by medical testing and medical treatments. There are alternative ways of testing for food sensitivities that are effective. Eliminating foods that may be not agreeing with a child can build the child's immune system, help the child gain weight, promote physical and cognitive development, and improve overall mood.

What are the alternative ways?

seeker

Fri, Jan 29 2016, 3:25 am

Well we've been off of most of the foods that got those low positives for over a month already, nuts we already don't have in the house due to other people's allergies and the others I removed after we got the positive blood test screening while I was waiting for the follow up appointment to clarify. The only thing I didn't go off was eggs because it was too hard and the number on that was REALLY low. Like barely registered.anyway after more than a month of no peanuts or sesame she was no better than before and possibly worse. Lots of coughing and falling asleep after school every day unable to wake up for a couple of hours. She didn't use to do that all the time. So I'm guessing it wasn't the nuts and sesame, and the eggs was really so negligible that I'm not suspicious. But what IS it??? Dr claims it's just normal germ-catching but it seems extreme to me.

JAWSCIENCE

Fri, Jan 29 2016, 6:34 am

You've all ready gone off foods so this is too late for you but for those reading this with similar questions please be very cautious about stopping foods your child eats but tests positive for. My allergist refused to even test my daughter for foods she was all ready eating and tolerating for fear that if they were positive I would be tempted to eliminate (I would not. I would rather maintain tolerance) when your body is trained by exposure to tolerate an item and it is then eliminated re-exposure can cause severe reaction much worse than before. After tolerization to foods I was given specific instructions to give those foods frequently.

I will take cough and congestion any day over the fear that some mother who sends her kids to the playground with peanut butter sandwiches because "allergies are over hyped and I'm not responsible for your kids, keep them inside. My kid has to live too and will only eat peanut butter and only on shared playground equipment" is going to kill my child.

Use extreme caution when eliminating foods and be prepared for the reaction to that food to be worse after elimination.

chani8

Fri, Jan 29 2016, 7:50 am

If you think it's extreme, then it is. Trust yourself. But what can you do for her, is the question. I have a son who is seemingly allergic all year long to everything. As a young adult he eats wheat and dairy free and thinks it helps. He also takes ginger and turmeric and nettle.

Anyway, I think that strengthening her is the way to go, now, rather then trying elimination diet. You've tried it and aren't getting enough results it seems.

For little kids, trying to get all the vitamins in them is difficult, and the synthetic vitamins for kids are annoyingly unbalanced and almost worthless. But I give them anyway. I recently added magnesium, which is not found in most children's vitamins, to everyone's diet, including the 8yo, and see a difference overall in everyone.

Magnesium oxide mixes into Topaz and tastes like salty fudge. Figuring out a dose for a 3 yo old though. Not sure.

I did try googling how to get all the vitamins through food. Write out the vitamins and google each one and you might find that with a few tweeks to your menu, if she's not too picky of an eater, you can increase her vitamin intake without synthetic vitamins.

seeker

Fri, Jan 29 2016, 3:39 pm

I don't do kinesiology on principle because science, um, hasn't caught up with it yet. I never heard of ALCAT but will look into that.

Jawscience, that's interesting, never knew that. I'm not sure that a month or so off peanut butter and sesame could have done much harm but I'll have to keep an eye on that now. Tree nuts can't be helped because my other DD is so allergic that the whole family is off them (she has had a reaction from me eating tree nuts when I wasn't even home. And I washed up as well as I could before I went home.)

She eats a fairly vitamin-rich diet but no supplements. Maybe we should start.