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Why would someone be put on a maintainence med for a food allergy?

SunnyD

SunnyD

Belgian Waffler
I'll just go with the cliffs version.

1. Daughter is tested for food allergies (because of a hunch)
2. Tests come back showing reactivity to peanuts, eggs, pork, wheat and milk (we figured milk)
3. Went for followup to see what it all means...
4. Doc says daughter can't have ANY of those items in her diet, writes script for epi-pens and a prescription allergy med.

Now, my daughter is 8. She's been eating those items for a while note, though we've been lean on milk for the past year or two. I'm fine with food allergies, they can be major bad and all... so I can understand the epi-pens... but if my daughter isn't going to have any listed items, why the hell is she being put on an allergy med? If she's going to have any sort of reaction (which she hasn't EVER before), you're going to need the epi-pen, not Zyrtec. She doesn't have seasonal allergies either.

:|
 
eggs, pork, wheat and milk?
shens.

but yeah, if she isn't going to eat them, no need. just keep the epi nearby in case of attack.
 
Have you asked the doctor or the pharmacist? Generally, they're educated and can provide answers to questions regarding treatment. Just a thought.
 
Any chance they get to pump the general populace full of useless drugs my friend. Never to young to get your kids used to popping the pills.
 
Originally posted by: sjwaste
Have you asked the doctor or the pharmacist? Generally, they're educated and can provide answers to questions regarding treatment. Just a thought.
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I'm beginning to have some question our doctor, hence ATOT Armchair Doctors are asked. She seems to be one of those ready to medicate at the drop of a hat.
 
Originally posted by: Colt45
eggs, pork, wheat and milk?
shens.

but yeah, if she isn't going to eat them, no need. just keep the epi nearby in case of attack.
Click to expand...

are you just being a moron? Lots of folks have food allergies.
 
Originally posted by: Azraele
Originally posted by: Colt45
eggs, pork, wheat and milk?
shens.
Click to expand...

Why shens? Both of my brothers had severe food allergies, including milk, corn, sugar, etc.
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one of my nephews was allergic to eggs for the first 4 years of his life. seems to have grown out of it tho.
 
I have food allergies to beef, dairy, and nuts, but they are far from significant enough to require medication (muchless complete avoidance). The doctor is either an idiot, or gets kickbacks for writing that script...or both.
 
Originally posted by: CPA
Originally posted by: Colt45
eggs, pork, wheat and milk?
shens.

but yeah, if she isn't going to eat them, no need. just keep the epi nearby in case of attack.
Click to expand...

are you just being a moron? Lots of folks have food allergies.
Click to expand...

I guess shens might have been a stretch, I don't think I've met anyone with such a wide variety.
That's gotta suck.

I'm thinking maybe just mild reaction to some of the above, maybe something benignish or grow-out-able... there is a difference between sensitivity and full blown attack causing thing.

No ham sandwich!? or bacon and eggs? 🙁
 
Originally posted by: panipoori
ugh dont give them to her then.
Do you need help breathing too?, you dont have to do everything the doctor says.
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Yeah... except for the fact I need to somehow convince my wife of this, which will be a monumental task in itself. I'm trying to get an idea of whether or not this course of action requires a sanity check or not.
 
Originally posted by: SunnyD
I'll just go with the cliffs version.

1. Daughter is tested for food allergies (because of a hunch)
2. Tests come back showing reactivity to peanuts, eggs, pork, wheat and milk (we figured milk)
3. Went for followup to see what it all means...
4. Doc says daughter can't have ANY of those items in her diet, writes script for epi-pens and a prescription allergy med.

Now, my daughter is 8. She's been eating those items for a while note, though we've been lean on milk for the past year or two. I'm fine with food allergies, they can be major bad and all... so I can understand the epi-pens... but if my daughter isn't going to have any listed items, why the hell is she being put on an allergy med? If she's going to have any sort of reaction (which she hasn't EVER before), you're going to need the epi-pen, not Zyrtec. She doesn't have seasonal allergies either.

:|
Click to expand...

What kind of doctor? Allergist? Regular MD?

1. Allergy tests are often inaccurate, and many allergies change over time. What kind of tests did your daughter have?

2. There are several milk issues. There is lactose (milk sugar) intolerance. There is milk fat allergy - a true allergy, as opposed to the inability to digest lactose. There is also milk protein (whey) allergy. Lots of milk problems in my family! If your doctor hasn't discussed this with you, try another doctor.

3. What reaction has your daughter had to these foods?

4. The basic idea with the epi-pen and the Zyrtec is that the epi-pen is for those emergency incidents, and the zyrtec stays in the system and keeps the level of allergic reactions down on a regular long-term basis. This is a common prescription.

Many docs do an elimination diet - eliminate all those things from the diet, and then one at a time add them back in. If there's an allergy you find out really quickly.

Also, testing results aren't perfect. Sometimes one food intolerance/allergy can mask a different intolerance/allergy.

I'm not an MD, but we have many family allergies. It often takes a bunch of allergists before you find one who accurately diagnoses your issues.

Best to you and your daughter.

 
I guess shens might have been a stretch, I don't think I've met anyone with such a wide variety. That's gotta suck
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Imagine having 2 brothers that were allergic to sugar, among other things. They couldn't trick or treat on Halloween. They pretty much ate rabbit food for a year before they were slowly weaned back onto real food.
 
Because those are extremely, extremely common food ingredients and your daughter will inevitably be exposed to them directly or indirectly. The allergy meds help reduce the reaction she will have.
 
Is she allergic to any fruits? Some food allergies aren't truly food allergies, and can be fixed by taking a seasonal allergy medication.

For example, there is something called "oral fruit allergy syndrome", which causes allergies to alot of stuff like raw potatoes, peaches, cherries, tomatoes, etc...

The true allergy, however, is from an allergy to birch, which will go away when taking seasonal allergy medication.

Oh, and pretty much any allergy causes the same basic thing to happen within your body. Taking any anti-histamine will help in some manner.
 
What sort of allergy medication is she being put on? Your daughter will always have a large amount of circulating IGE and Mast Cells ready for even the smallest exposure of the antigen. If she is on something like Chromulin it works to stabilize her mast cells so they are less likely to go off. Anti-histamines will keep them from binding if she does have a big attack but they have to be around early.

I am assuming they have her on Cortical Steroids which basically knock down your immune response and keep you from going into a crazy reaction by actually lowering the amount of circulating T and B cells. They usually do this after a big allergic reaction no matter what because there is a huge chance that if she is exposed again within a 6 month period that she will have a pretty nasty reaction that Epi might not be able to help.
There is a lot of stuff looking into Eosinophila after allergic reactions and they might have her on something to keep them in check. There are some Autonomic drugs that work on keeping them in check as well as keeping the mucous layers nice and clean and IGA controlled.

Just a word of advice. If you EVER have a reaction where you inject her with Epi... YOU MUST take her to a hospital. People can kick right out of a full blown reaction with an Epi shot and sometimes people think that they are then alright. You need to have her checked out and then monitor her for at least 24 hours. Delayed reactions get really nasty and this is where Eosinophila kills kids.


EDIT:

Also there is a common misunderstanding that you get Allergies from two exposures one to get exposed the second gets a reaction. This isn't always true in the sense that you can have many many exposure and then one time you get a dose and then you develop the IGE needed to develop a true allergy.

Also, since I got asked this a bagillion times the one summer I worked at a water park as their first aid staff, just because you are allergic to peanuts doesn't mean you are allergic to bee stings. Well not necessarily anyway.
 
Originally posted by: DayLaPaul
Text
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this has nothing to do with it.

Seasonal Allergy medications block a lot of the same things that need to be controlled in Allergic reactions. They both involve IGE, B cells, Mast Cells, IGA and Eosinophils.

I could give you a million better examples of Off-label uses that are a lot more ridiculous than this. For instance, if you have an older woman in your family, find out if she is on flomax. It is used to treat Benign Prostate Hyperplasia, something a women would NEVER have due to certain lacking anatomy, but you won't believe the stuff Pharm companies are trying to Off-label with it.
 
Originally posted by: SirStev0
Originally posted by: DayLaPaul
Text
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this has nothing to do with it.
Click to expand...

I agree

Seasonal Allergy medications block a lot of the same things that need to be controlled in Allergic reactions. They both involve IGE, B cells, Mast Cells, IGA and Eosinophils.
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Might as well add histamine to that thar list champ 😉

Hense the antihistamine (Cetirizine - Zirtec)

As for food allergies, I think pretty much all has been covered - the items she is allergic to are quite common and things like powdered egg and milk are used in a lot of foods.


It is uncommon for patients to have more than 2 true food allergies, and since your daughter has quite a list I'm going to go with -

Mild food allergies can present as Urticaria. It's pretty common with egg allergies, and since it's not anaphylaxis the epipen isn't going to help. The Zirtek will help.
 
Originally posted by: SirStev0
What sort of allergy medication is she being put on? Your daughter will always have a large amount of circulating IGE and Mast Cells ready for even the smallest exposure of the antigen. If she is on something like Chromulin it works to stabilize her mast cells so they are less likely to go off. Anti-histamines will keep them from binding if she does have a big attack but they have to be around early.
Click to expand...

Yup having an antihistamine in your system will lower the effects of the mast cells dumping histamine into your system. Taking some (oral antihistamines) after the event will be of minimal help (they will help, but take time to get into the system, by which stage other pro-inflammatory events have happened which aren't quickly reversed - see the wiki link above).

I am assuming they have her on corticosteroid which basically knock down your immune response and keep you from going into a crazy reaction by actually lowering the amount of circulating T and B cells. They usually do this after a big allergic reaction no matter what because there is a huge chance that if she is exposed again within a 6 month period that she will have a pretty nasty reaction that Epi might not be able to help.
There is a lot of stuff looking into Eosinophila after allergic reactions and they might have her on something to keep them in check. There are some Autonomic drugs that work on keeping them in check as well as keeping the mucous layers nice and clean and IGA controlled.
Click to expand...

Not enough information to assume that she is on corticosteroids, by the sounds of it SunnyD suspected a milk allergy which is why she was taken to the MD.

Just a word of advice. If you EVER have a reaction where you inject her with Epi... YOU MUST take her to a hospital. People can kick right out of a full blown reaction with an Epi shot and sometimes people think that they are then alright. You need to have her checked out and then monitor her for at least 24 hours. Delayed reactions get really nasty and this is where Eosinophila kills kids.
Click to expand...

You should have two epipens, sometimes one isn't enough - check with your MD. Also watch out for the expiry one them, they don't keep for too long. Ask your pharmacist when getting them if you can get ones with a similar expiry.

If you have to use them take her to hospital. IV antihistamines and bronchodilators may be required to help her recover over the next 24-48 hours. She may also get IV hydrocortisone (corticosteroid).

Also there is a common misunderstanding that you get Allergies from two exposures one to get exposed the second gets a reaction. This isn't always true in the sense that you can have many many exposure and then one time you get a dose and then you develop the IGE needed to develop a true allergy.
Click to expand...

Sounds like wiki ?

Also, since I got asked this a bagillion times the one summer I worked at a water park as their first aid staff, just because you are allergic to peanuts doesn't mean you are allergic to bee stings. Well not necessarily anyway.
Click to expand...

True
 
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