Allergy Testing

I am looking for opinions from people who have had their child with attentional/developmetnal delays/sensory issues evaluated by an allergist to test for food sensitivities/allergies.

DS will be 4 in June. He receives services through CPSE (integrated class, speech, OT and social group). He really presents as attention deficit, has diffciulty with motor planning and pragmatic speech. There are a lot of other factors: his behaviors are off the charts at home. Hitting, screaming, etc. I am overwhelmed! (I also have a 5 year old and 1 year old twins).

So far, he has been to a nuerologist, opthamalogist, orthopedist, and geneticist (to rule out any chromosomal issues). I am at the point where I want to explore allergy testing - could foods that he is eating be triggering his behaviors? He had a milk protein sensitivity as a baby, but by 18 months was tolerating all dairy. He shows no signs of allergic reactions to foods (rash, hives, etc.) but I know food has been linked to behaviors. My mom has auto-immune issues and my sister has sensitivity to gluten.

So, basically, WHAT tests should I be asking for? Anything specific? I would appreciate any thoughts, advice or experiences.

TIA!

Re: Allergy Testing

My DS also had a milk protein sensitivity that he grew out of by age 2. If there is a history of gluten sensitivity in your family I would def see if they can run a blood test for that. I mentioned in another thread that DS just had a blood test and it confirmed he most likely has celiac disease (but this was through a pediatric GI). Although we did not want to do the endoscopy to confirm 100%, My FIL and DH's grandmother both have it so it made sense. So far we have had him gluten free for 2 weeks but prior to that on the GI's suggestion I started to put him on a daily probiotic (culturelle), his teacher has commented that he has made so much progress within the last few weeks alone and his behavior at school has improved. Could be coincidental but I am curious to see if this GF diet will help him further.

Re: Allergy Testing

Absolutely !

It gets very complicated but essentially if you do some research on mast cell activation and histamine/methylation, you will find a lot of information, well maybe too much information :)

A typical allergist probably won't be too helpful but if you want to stick with allopathic medicine someone like Dr Anne Maitland is very informative and up to date.

Message edited 4/24/2015 7:22:23 PM.