Hi!
Went to the allergist, Monday, fully expecting to get skin-tested. However the doctor took a look the hives on my neck, back & arms, then decided skin tests would be rather useless since I was already having a reaction and a skin test might be inconclusive.
Instead of skin tests, he told me to go to a lab for allergen-specific IgE blood tests (to check for allergies to dairy products, eggs, wheat, dust mites, mold, latex & several other food items). We discussed a possible reaction to my medications (I take 7 different meds a day) and how we could individually examine them through 'elimination challenges' in the future, if no allergy-causing substance turned-up in the IgE tests.
He also mentioned that there is a possibility that we'll never find out what is causing these hives since they may be generated by my auto-immune system for no apparent reason, but that the blood tests should eliminate some possible triggers.
Afterwards, I went over to a lab where they took a lot of tubes of blood (including one for a thyroid test plus the allergen-specific IgE tests). It will take about 2 weeks to get the results, but (thankfully) the doctor also gave me a prescription for
Allegra, as well as one for
hydroxyzine - a night-time antihistamine syrup to stop itching and encourage sleep - it works very well. He also said I should take two Pepcids per day and I can also take benadryl if I get a bad outbreak of hives during the day. So now I'm up to 10 different medicines per day..
The good news is that with these antihistamines, my itching & diarrhea seems to be under control for now.
ladychecotah - you wrote: >>"
Also, I am allergic to several families of antibotics so I do have to be very careful." <<
All allergies are a big concern especially when a person is highly sensitive, as you are. I know exactly what you mean when you said: (about latex)
>>"
I haven't tried another test to confirm because I fear the reaction."<<
A serious allergic reaction to something is enough to scare you silly. You come away from it not trusting anything even remotely related to it. Another problem for me is that the allergen triggers seem to keep changing as I age.
If I say: "I'm allergic to all antibiotics
EXCEPT those in the X, Y, & Z groups" then, sure enough, one of those X, Y, or Z "safe" antibiotic families seems to provoke an attack. The worst one was an unexpected anaphylactic shock episode from Ceclor back in the 1990s.
Kristi wrote:
>>"
Just wondering if it's a food since it gets you in the gut as well as the skin. "<<
That's an interesting suggestion! I'm curious to see the results of the blood tests to find out if dairy products, eggs, wheat, or other foods are causing these problems. The fact that the intestinal distress is more intermittent than the hives also seems to indicate that there might be multiple allergens triggering the responses.
Wishing everyone an allergen-free day!
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