Hello and what would you do?? Possible peanut allergy

Hi there,

I'm the mom of two awesome little boys. My youngest, now 4 years old, had terrible eczema that started at 2 months old. He would scratch himself raw and he was miserable most of the time. The doctor wanted to do a blood test to test him for allergies at this point. It showed that he was "sensitive" to eggs and peanuts so I was instructed not to give him either as he began eating solids. Fast forward to when he was almost 2 years old, his eczema became so bad that the doctor instructed us to go to the children's hospital so that we would be able to get in with specialists ASAP. We were referred to an amazing pediatric dermatologist at that time and with his care plan the eczema started clearing up within a week. Today he rarely has flare ups, and when he does they are very small and easy to take care of. We were also referred to an allergist at that time. They did the skin prick test on him. They tested for a whole array of things and again we were told eggs and peanuts were off limits.

Now I just took him in for a followup appointment this week. He no longer reacted to eggs, but still peanuts. I informed the doctor that my son has been given food containing peanuts before by family members by accident (we won't get into that...) and he did not have any reaction... We were given a prescription for more Epipens.

I've been researching like crazy the past few days and I'm reading these tests give false positives like 50-60% of the time. I'm feeling super frustrated because he likely should never have been tested in the first place since he never showed a reaction to eggs or peanuts in the first place. I believe that should be the reason for allergy testing...? Now we are stuck in this spot where he's likely not allergic but has to avoid certain foods and carry an Epipen around with him forever.

Now do I see if I can find or get referred to a doctor that will do a food challenge test for us? Do I wait until the allergy Clinic wants to retest at 10 years old?? I'm feeling super helpless :(

Post Edited (mkureluk) : 1/20/2016 10:22:23 AM (GMT-7)

Thanks so much for your reply :)

His eczema care plan:

Prevention plan: 1 regular bath a day and 2 "bleach baths" a week (no soap-Cereve to wash), seal in the moisture, moisturize twice daily (Cereve cream/lotion). Unscented laundry detergent.

When there's a flare up: Continue with prevention plan. Moisturize 3-4 times daily, medicated cream as directed. At bedtime he's to wear "double wet pajamas". Wet the first pair in warm water, then put a dry pair over top. Benadryl to stop the itching. Polysporin applied to effected areas.

We have since stopped the bleach baths but continue with the rest of the prevention plan. We haven't had any issues for months.

He was born vaginally.

I have environmental allergies but no food allergies. Annoying, but nothing serious.

His diet is a normal 4 year old diet. He eats like a little bird most days, some days he's tough to fill up... likes his fruit and veggies, yogurt, cheese etc for healthy food, but also likes his "junk" food. I wouldn't say he eats super healthy, but not horrible.

Are you referring to having a skin test again, blood test? Or is the food challenge test our only feasible next step?