My 2 year old has suddenly become ill :(

[xjennsx]

For the last couple of weeks my 2 and half year old has had diarrhea and started to be sick after his milk at night. Which made me book an appointment at the doctors (which I had to wait 10 days for!) A day before his appointment we went to a party and suddenly he began screaming and scratching intensely at his head, within seconds he was covered in hives. A few hours later he developed a really chesty deep cough that started suddenly but had no signs of a cold.

At the appointment the doctor said to keep him off wheat, dairy, gluten and nuts until blood results come back. We are now over a week later still chasing, chasing and chasing the results - but have now been told could be another 2 weeks!!

I have got no idea on ways to explain to him or get him interested in other foods as he just not understand why he suddenly cant have anything he was allowed before. Having another 3 children doesn't help either!!!

My husbands family has severe allergies - his mom has various allergies and his nephew is allergic to dairy, gluten, wheat, soya, rice, oranges, apples, nuts, eggs - so I have no idea exactly to what extent my sons allergies are going to be.

The doctor had already said that I will have a problem getting allergy tests done and it's probably best to pay for them myself. I looked at Holland and Barratt and places like that but they all have bad reviews, so does anyone have any advice to get us further than where we are now??

Seeing my 2 year old rolling around the floor screaming his tummy hurts every night and not being able to do anything to help is killing us. :(

[Copper]

Welcome to the site. I can understand how frustrated you are feeling.

I would start by looking at this site

http://www.allergyuk.org/

They have a helpline which you can phone. If you click the link above and then look on the left hand side of the page you will see a box labelled Blossom, this is a section dedicated to childhood allergy.

Please let us know how you are getting on.

[cnc]

Welcome to the site:) Sorry to hear how distressing everything is. You can get allergy tests on the NHS, you just need to ask the right people. If you have a look on the local/ biggest hospital near you, then they should have an immunology and allergy clinic, and that's basically the people you want to get your GP to send you too. The wait can be long, but they're the people who know what they're doing.
I'm assuming they did blood tests (RASTs) if it was done in the GP surgery? It's worth reading up about the tests he's had done as RASTs only respond to one type of allergic reaction, I think Ig, but there are other types of immune response that cause an allergic reaction which aren't picked up by the blood tests.

Skin prick tests give the fastest results but need to be done in a hospital- your local one should be able to cope.

A lot of the tests are for intolerances rather than allergies that you can get on the high street so they're not really going to be much use for you.

I hope that this makes some sense, I've recently developed new allergies, which is why I know a bit about the testing procedures and the different ones. Some GPs don't take allergies very seriously, unless you have anaphylaxis they don't seem to care!! so it can be a bit of a battle, I'm afraid, but hopefully it'll all be okay.

[xjennsx]

Thanks for your replies :)

Still waiting on blood results. But at least I now have convinced the doctor to send him for allergy tests once the blood results have come back. I told him that with 2 immediate relatives with anaphylaxic allergies I think it needs to be done, and to my amazement he agreed with me!! :):)

Just got to wait and wait wand wait now for these results.

Quick question for you all though - any suggestions on what bread I could try that might be sucessful - have made my own, have brought the one from Tesco's and he refuses outright to eat them.
Also does anyone know of a lemoncurd subsitute without egg in it - again everyday I get the tears as all he wants is his lemoncurd sandwich!!

[Copper]

I have not found any lemon curd which does not contain egg. It is a long time since I made my own but I think the eggs are needed to thicken the curd. I guess you could experiment by adding another thickening agent instead.

My daughter is wheat and gluten intolerant and says that all wheat free is nasty. The least nasty is Orgran white bread mix. You can buy this in the free from section in Tesco down here. A local health food shop might stock it or be prepared to order it in for you. It is easy to make yourself.

[xjennsx]

Thanks for your reply - already tried that one, and its a no no :(

Im really hoping that the test come back to say he is ok with wheat as can just about cope with the dairy free but wheat is proving a problem!

[miche]

Being 2 is a difficult time as kids can be a bit all over the place with food. You could put another spread on the bread, Sainsburys do a really nice Dairy free, Gluten and Wheat free chocolate spread and there's no egg in it. The other kids could eat it as well so he doesn't feel the odd one out, I think it tastes much nicer than the milk version. I too am waiting for blood test results for my son, he had his done in September from experience they don't tell you but expect you to contact them. Good luck.:rolleyes:

[rebecca c]

Lemon curd - I have a recipe you can adapt if you want it goes with a cake in Delia's winter book.

Potatoe flour is a very good thickener have no idea if it would work though.

Health food stores do a nice sweet pear or pear and apple spread he may like once he gets used to it.

I have ordered a coeliac handbook and will let you know what their bread recommendations are when it comes - if you go to coeliac website there is a link to a good gluten free/coeliac chat room and they will be good people to advise you on bread. I dont know what my sister eats, I will ask her.

I am also thinking if he reacts to something again and there is any sign of problems in or near his mouth or throat get an ambulance to come straight away - better safe than sorry and a quick shot of adrenaline will sort it out. Is it worth getting an epi pen in case???

in the case of private tests the high street ones are NOT going to be reliable for such serious allergies so if you cant get them on the NHS my guess would be find a practioner in Harley Street but check check and check again to be sure they are qualified and carrying out accepted medical pratice.