Food Allergies More Testing or Not??

Just because there is no history in the family (and you don't know that...it's just that probably no one has been tested!) do not rule out Celiac disease. My two year old has Celiac disease, and we don't have any "history" in the family...but a long history of Crohn's disease, cystic fibrosis, and other conditions.

Symptoms for my child while consuming gluten (and they showed up right away when I switched from rice to barley infant cereal) were failure to gain weight, constant explosive diarrhea, skinny legs, arms, and butt, bloated tummy, almost constant pain (evidenced by hours and hours of screaming, thrashing, inconsolable fits) and the most awful dermatitis you've ever seen...look up "dermatitis herpatiformis." Literally, it looked like her skin was rotting away in some places.

After putting her on a strict gluten free diet, her symptoms improved almost immediately. It was like a miracle change. This unhealthy, unhappy baby began to thrive...to walk, talk, grow, smile, laugh, and play...things she hadn't been doing. We had to put her back on all the foods for the testing, which broke my heart, because he symptoms immediately return. She is so sensitive that even a touch of something processed on the same line as a gluten bearing product can cause a full blown attack in her.

Testing at a young age can be unreliable at best and they need to be consuming large amounts of gluten for at LEAST several months prior to the test. If you don't want to go through those things and you see such a marked improvement, just make that leap to a fully gluten free/dairy free diet for your child. My child is also moderately lactose intolerant as a result of the Celiac disease...when she is fully healed she will probably be able to consume dairy products but for right now, we are doing lactose free for her.

If you would like any help with the gluten free diet, please PM me and I'll offer you my best advice and tips, as well as foods we have really found to like and meals for the whole family that are gluten free.

I know how awful this can be, I do understand, and I'm here if you want to talk. :)

http://www.celiac.org/index.php?option=com_content&vi...

I would fine tooth comb this website and find out how it relates to you and your family then go from there. I think a specialist is better than a General Pract/Pedi with this area.

What tests did you have done? IgG? IgE (RAST)? skin prick tests? If you want to see if there are any food allergies, go for both the RAST IgE and the skin prick tests. I think there's a blood test for celiac disease. They look for certain antibodies.

If she tested positive for peanut (IgE), have they prescribed you an epi-pen for possible anaphylactic emergencies? If not, you should ask for one, especially if she has never been exposed to peanut protein yet.

If it was a food allergy, they could have some mild reactions intially, and then have increasingly worse reactions with further exposures. Sometimes the first exposure can lead to anaphylaxis. But since you saw improvement when going gluten and dairy free, I'd say it's worth testing for celiac disease and lactose intolerance or milk allergy, just so you know for sure what you're dealing with.

Not really a true answer to your question, but just a note that you should figure/find out exactly what is meant by a moderate allergy to peanuts. Peanut allergies are very very different from gluten and dairy intolerances. Whereas the intolerances cause tummy distress, a nut allergy can be a very serious, true allergic reaction, leading to anaphylaxis and even death. If your child has a nut allergy, you do not just do your best to avoid it as you might for wheat and dairy, you go out of your way to avoid even the possibility of exposure. Also, just because a previous nut reaction was mild or moderate, that does not mean that the next one won't be life threatening. If your daughter is really allergic to nuts, you should be carrying an epi-pen in case she is exposed and has a severe reaction. If that happens, you may not have time to get medical care before her airway is threatened.