Allergy Testing - Oneonta,NY

Dear J.,

I am a mother of five children ages 2 to 28 years old and have two grandchildren. Allergy testing is very scarry for both the parents and the children. The place that all of my children have been tested is in Branford, Conn. with Dr. Gary Wanerka ###-###-####. He has been practicing for many years, accutally he was my pediatrician when I was 14 years old and has since taken care of my children and grandchildren. He is the kindest gentles doctor and man that I have ever met. The kids love him. I have reccommended him to several friends and they have been very pleased with the outcome. I hope this helps.

E.

i have a son zach who is highly allergic to peanuts/tree nuts.we found out when he was only 6mths old.i am a stay at home mom of 6 .zach is now 13 years old and it has really been a challenge. he has many other allergies but with the nut allergy he has never eaten it, just came in contact with it and reacted.it is good that you have found this out at such a young age. you have to be very careful especialy of aphylactic shock. we go to a pediatric allergist and he is the best. the reason you may have a long appt. is because they really have to go through your medical history .allergies are also connected with asthma,dermatitis,stomache problems ect. there are so many of them.if they do test on him there is a reaction time that they have to follow. food allergies can be very scary, we didnot find out about them until we had zach and he is #5 of the kids. no one else in either side of the family has them.the best advise i can give you is to become a label reader(tree nut warnings are on alot of things you would never imagine),wash your hands alot when handeling foods ,talk to any care giver and make them aware , you can never be too careful.zach is also allergic to alot of other things,too many to list, and he has asthma which is getting better and they sometimes grow out of. these two websites are very helpful-www.kidswithfoodallergies.org and www.foodallergy.org/-13k. if the dr. does the prick test, dont be nervous,zach has had up to 48 pricks at a time(they wont do that to the little ones)but he says they dont hurt,just itches.they sound scary but really arent.it eases your mind when you do find out what they are allergic to.i hope some of this is of some help.good luck with your little guy! let me know how you makeout. D.

I went through this when my son was about the same age. We had testing the first visit. They pricked him with different substances all over his back and we had to wait for reactions to develop. They gave him the run of the offices and he was really cute running around in just his diaper. When I took him off the foods to which he reacted, his ear infections were reduced by about 75%.

Good luck to you and your son!

C.

My son is 7 years old and went for allergy testing initially when he was 5 years old. The doctor talked to both of us for about 1 hour, asking lots of questions, luckily my son was old enough to answer a lot of the "sypmtom" questions. The first part of the testing was also done that day. The MD placed a rectangular piece of plastic on my sons forearm and pressed down. There are 8 little needles on it. He placed another one on his upper arm and then 2 more on his other arm. He holds each one on the arm for around 15 seconds and then discards the plastic. The hardest part is after that, you have to sit and wait for about 20-30 minutes for the reactions to occur or not. The needles look like plastic and my son said it didn't hurt. This is a kid who needed 2 nurses and myself to hold him down for a shot and a blood draw at the pediatrician!!! He HATES needles! He can't scratch at all while waiting for the reactions to occur, he can blow on his arms if need be. After that the MD comes in and measure how big each bump is. Large bump = large allergic reaction. Each of the little needles has a different "venom" on it representing a type of tree or food allergy. We had to go back again to complete the testing. Then once more for a follow up. The best part, my son looks and feels so much healthier now, he can breath better, sleep better, eat better, you name it. Good luck!! Oh, I brought something with me to play with my son to keep his mind off scratching!

I have had both my kids tested and I have no idea why it would be 3-4 hrs???
I took them to the specialist I use (who has been instrumental in changing my quality of life dramatically). She is great. We went in and she took about a 15 min history on both of them. Any reactions I knew of etc. The basic information on their delivery and their health. Some talk about our house...ie carpet, pets etc.
Then they went in for a round of testing which took about 45 mins. Then we go back for the next round, and the next. They will do it at varying doses of the allergen (if you are having a skin test) which is more accurate than the blood tests especially with food allergies. By the way I am allergic to pistachios. Make sure they make him come back for more testing because it is hard on their little arms to endure too much testing at once. Plus it isn't great to keep introducing the allergens all at once.
I am not sure who you are seeing but they should explain the process to you better than telling you it will be a 3-4 hr day for your toddler. I have had severe allergies all my life and have never had to sit for that long with anything.

N.
Th

Hi:
The tests are a little painful - different substances are injected just below the skin and depending on the swelling or lack of it, the doctor will determine what he is allergic to. They are pretty accurate and will give a broad look at what he is allergic to (usually people who are allergic to one thing, really have more than one allergy). It is usually done in two sessions. The first visit they will ask quite a number of health related questions and may begin the testing, then on the second day they finish the testing. (I had the testings done as an adult, but I understand that it is similar for children)

well this seems like its going to be horrible,

I suggest bringing 2 additional adults

to help entertain him, and support you

ASK questions!! Question statements!

I am not sure what they do at a pediatric, BUT
Usually they test your arm,and it takes about 2 or 3 visits

Also Call the American Red Cross they teach a course on INJECTIbles, this way you can use the Epi pen Junior incase of emergencies

M

Hi J.,
Sorry to hear about your sons trouble with allergies, they are always such a discomfort for children. My daugter age 7 has many allergies from skin rashes to constant snorting and itchy eyes and nose. She is also asthamatic. I took her to a pediatric allergy specialist in York, Pennsylvania, who was fantastic. It did take about 2 hours, they ask a series of questions from type of birth, enviroment they are in, detergents, food they eat, type of bedding, animals etc. She then had a skin sensitivity test. This was about 20 superficial scratches on inside arm with different substances which will react if your child has an allegry to that substance. My daughter was allegeric to almost everything envorimental with the exception of nuts and animals. THis is extremely itchy for them. It is also important that your child doesn't take anything that contains antihistamin for a week. THen you meet with the specialist on how to manage all these allergies. I have followed her guideline strictly and must say that my daughter has had very few allegric episodes and has only used her ventolin inhaler a few times this year. I'm not sure if this helps in any way as it was not a nut allegry.
All the best.
P.

I've gone through this with my son - now 13 - they take different allergens and put them on his back with a device that has little 'prongs' on it with the allergens on these prongs - it doesn't hurt - but will itch - and he will be there for that long to monitor which allergens he may or may not have a reaction to - and if the reaction is severe - the doctor will be there to help administer any counteractions to the allergen.

After having my son take all the drugs to calm his allergies - Zyrtec, Nasonex, Alavert, Singulair - etc. - we finally decided to go forth with allergy injections. This is a COMMITTED decision - we had to go weekly for 6 months, then bi-weekly for a couple of months - then every 3 weeks...now we are at 1x a month for about a year then he will only have to go 1x a year.

I suggest bringing some of his toys/books etc to keep him busy as he will be a bit uncomfortable from the itching of the allergens.

Good luck to you!

When I took my daughter to be tested at age 4 we were out of the office within an hour. they used this thing that looked like an egg carton and each slot had a different allergy producing thing inside and there was a tiny needle on the bottom of each slot. they pushed them (3 of them) into her back. the hardest part was staying still for 15 minutes for them to register. if she was allergic to anyting inparticular, then that one would puff up and become red. It was really very easy and she didnt' cry at all when they administered the test. Like I said, the hardest part was keeping her still while lying on her belly for 15 minutes. Good Luck.

I know with other allergies you don't always have them with the first exposure. But in those cases, each exposure after the first signs of reaction are worse and worse. Also, peanuts are not nuts. Their a legume like peas. So technically he could have a nut allergy and not be allergic to peanuts.

Hi J.,
I have had both my daughters allergy tested and one is allergic to peanut. 3-4 hrs. is not necessary! It sounds like you are going to the same Dr. we went to initially. It took them over 2hrs. to get a history on ONE child. It was horrible! Are you going to an office in Hackensack? If you are in the Bergen County area I highly recommend Dr. Perin in Teaneck. He used to be a Pediatrician. Then became a Pediatric Allergy Specialist and now see adults as well. He has a great bedside manner for both the kids and adults.

We went for a second opinion and the visit was only 1 hr. 20min. and much easier on the kids. They scratch tested them on their backs. My older daughter said "ouch, that pinched" but that was it. I held them on my chest and whispered in their ear. We carry nn Epi-pen Jr. for the peanut allergy now and will go back in a couple of years to see if she outgrows it.

My email is ____@____.com
I'm curious what office you are going to.
Good luck!

Hi J.
I work with a Nutritionist and see this everyday. It is more common than you think. My cousins child suffered for 4 years before she was able to addresses it and get him relief. I won't tell you how many hours she spent in doctors offices and in ER's with him. Most allergies are coming from a mineral deficency in the body. Raising the alkalinity of the system will help those allergies disappear without medication. You will be amazed as how simple it is to get under control. Often times the symptoms never recur. The testing is necessary for your peace of mind. My direct email is: ____@____.com I would be happy to give you more details on what I know. D. Kelly

J.,
My 5 year old was tested recently as well. They did the 'scratch test' on his back so that he couldn't reach it and rub it. Don't be scared by the term 'scratch' it is more like painting with a small plastic wand - it is not painful at all. The nurse that was doing it gave him one to try on his wrist and play with before she started so he would see how it works. The one challenge was getting him not to lean back against anything while the test was setting.

J.,

My daughter, who is now two and a half, had a reaction to cashew nuts back in the fall. I took her to Yale New Haven Children's Hopsital to the Pediatric Allergist there. We were there for probably about an hour and a half. The doctor took a thorough health history and asked me a ton of questions about her food intake and anything else she may have reactions to. Because cashews were the only concern, they did a very brief scratch test only testing for the cashew and peanut allergy. This required only four little skin pricks. We had the results in minutes and then received our epi-pen instructions. We are going back again in a year for the blood test to get the allergen titer levels. Hope this helps...Good Luck.

H.

Hi J.,
I am so sorry for your son! I hope his reactions are not severe. My 2 year old has many food allergies, and some extremely severe. Have they done a blood test (RAST) yet? They can test for many common allergens with a blood test first. It is a long day in the allergists office for the first visit, and then again if they don't test the first day. Keep in mind you cannot bring food or drink (other than water) into the office at all, because you never know what another patients allergies might be. So you will need to bring a lot of bribes (I bring stickers, new coloring books, etc.) If you are looking for info online, FAAN.org is a great site. Good Luck!

Hi J.-
I took my Daughter to the allergist this past summer. The Doctor asked abunch of questions and then took her in to a different room where the Nurse did about 10 scratch tests on her back to see what had a reaction so we would find out what she was allergic to if anything...That took about 15-20 min. Then back to the Dr's office to see what was going on...the whole appointment was over in about 1 hr 40min. It was very simple and easy. They also do the testing on the inside of the arms as well but my daughter being so young they did it on her back due to it itches or burns a bit and they did not want her to rub it so I had to hold her. Hope this helps a bit.