HELP!
I have a 20 month old with severe allergies to foods. The worst of them
are to Milk and Eggs followed by Beef and Peas. She also has slight
allergies to corn, wheat, oranges, and soy. Actually of all of the foods
she has been tested for the only thing she has NO reaction to is pork
(these are the results of a RAST test).
Her symptoms include swollen eyes and face, redness, egzyma, and most of
all itchyness and hives. This is tolerable when the cause is known but
she breaks out constantly for what seems to be no reason! She finds it
impossible not to scratch herself to shreds. I think the most common
phrase uttered in our house (other than "I love you, Megan!") is "Don't
Scratch". I must have uttered than millions of times. It is
heartbreaking to see her in this condition. Her whole body itches with
concentrations at her wrists, elbows, ankles, knees, and ears. She has
scabs and cuts most of the time from scratching herself. We have tried
everything from Benedryl to pinning socks to her clothes over her hands
and feet. If she can't scratch she will rub her itchy parts together
through her clothes (often removing the first layer of skin there). It
is enough to make you crazy!
We have been told to avoid all dairy and beef and occasionally give her
foods that she has a level 1 reaction too (however this does not
coincide with her "scratching episodes"). No lotions seem to help, with
the exception of Elocon which will over a course of 4 to 5 days will
clear up the dry and cracked areas of skin. However, I don't feel
comfortable always medicating her with cortisone. The symptoms also get
worse when she is teething or sick. We do have an epi-pen around at all
times and a nebulizer since she has had problems breathing (accompanied
of course by the itchy rash).
We have had her tested for allergies to environmental variables. She is
allergic to cat (4) and dog (3), but not to dust mites. We gave away our
cat hoping the symptoms would go away but they have not.
I'm sure we can't have her tested for every food in the world and will
have to risk giving her new things to eat. Megan is also very small
(less than 5th percentile for weight) and is a picky eater, she gets
bored of food easily (who can blame her she has chicken, pork, and rice
at least two meals a day.)
I want to know if there is something else we should be testing her for
(ie. like some immune system problem, it seems she has a food allergy to
almost everything), If there is anything else we can do, and if not, is
there anything we can get to treat the symptoms more effectively (4 or 5
days is a VERY long time to tolerate this). I am also afraid she will be
perminately scarred (both physically and mentally).
Any help would be GREATLY apprecated!
Thank You,
Rosa Brower
