Seasonal Allergies in kids...testing Vs. No Testing.

If the allergies are relatively mind I wouldn't test unless the doctor suggested it be done...treatment would be the same with or without the testing. If they do the prick style test it is uncomfortable.

Hi-

I am a long-term allergy sufferer, and both of my children are as well. I made different choices for each in terms of testing, however. My daughter seems to be allergic to grass, and probably a few other things, but handles it okay, and refuses to take medications (except for nose sprays, which seem to do the trick.) My son, who is younger, has bad allergies which last year were controlled fine with zyrtec during the spring. This year, however, nothing controlled his allergies, and he was totally miserable for 6 weeks with runny nose, itchy eyes, etc. Nothing helped. He was on nosespray, eye drops and prescription medicine, and still it didn't help. When his symptoms subsided, I took him to my allergist and had him tested because the only thing left to help him would be allergy shots, and they needed to know what to put in them. I know my resistance has increased as a result of these shots, and if the zyrtec had controlled his misery, I wouldn't have put him through it, because the itching made him more miserable.

I guess, my advice is to only get her tested if you suspect a life-threatening allergy (such as peanuts, etc.) or if the OTC isn't taking care of it. If it is, great, and wait until your daughter is older or the need is really there.

I would never have put my son through it if we hadn't run out of options...

both of my boys have been tested and neither one of them minded. The worst part is having to wait 15 minutes after they get their backs pricked. The were both brought for food allergy possibilities but were tested for environmental ones as well. My oldest tested positive for dust, dust mites, and tree pollen and my youngest tested negative although he does have very bad allergies it isn't 100%. You may want to consider getting her tested if she doesn't get relief from the flonase and otc med. just to rule out any type of animal or mold, etc that could be bothering her.

I think it would depend on how severely her allergies affect her. Our sons seemed to be getting worse and became almost year round vs, "seasonal", so we had him tested. We did NOT do a prick test. Our doctor said that a blood test is much more accurate as it is not subject to interpretation by the technician or physician reading the results. They drew a couple of tubes of blood and sent it off to the lab. In less than 2 weeks we had a comprehensive list of exactly what our son was allergic to and how severely he reacted to EACH allergen (in numeric form... to the decimal; not someone interpreting the colors on a strip or something).

Then we were able to discuss our options to try to avoid the allergens, or what we could do to lessen his reaction to the agents.

Check around. Blood work can actually be less expensive to do also.

We opted to have allergy shots for our son. He is 12. The younger you do the shot therapy, the shorter the length of treatment required, and the higher the success rate, vs. for adults. Our doc said our son's treatment could be 2 years vs. 4-5 years for an adult. He does NOT mind the shots, either. (He gets 2, one in each arm, as the allergens are divided into the highly reactive ones and the more minor ones so that they can increase the doses faster with the more mildly reactive ones). He gets to play video games while he waits the 20 minutes in case of a bad reaction. He loves it.
good luck.

The testing is uncomfortable. It can be a grid of skin pricks on the back, and waiting and not scratching and no anti-itch creams until they measure how much each spot has swelled. It's a little bit useful to know what things to avoid, such as pets, dust, and playing outdoors. And you can watch the pollen count reports on TV to know which days will be bad for different pollens. But it probably won't change the treatment unless there's a severe reaction. No matter which plants your child is allergic to the doctor will still just treat the symptoms with allergy meds.
I have really bad seasonal allergies and I had the testing done so that I can take allergy shots. It's easier for me to predict whether my son is going to have a bad day if I'm having a bad allergy day too. I try to treat the symptoms before it gets really bad, or I'll end up with a sinus infection.

Hi Michelle,
As a severe allergy sufferer I just was tested again for all allergies and I couldn't believe how many things they tested me for. They tested my back for 40 different things and then retested the negatives on my arms. The back was a little uncomfortable but not too terrible. I think they do it a little differently for children. But then the re-check in the arms was literally 20 needles. I don't think my 5 yo would handle that very well at all. However, if the Flonase plus other allergy medications aren't effective then the testing might be necessary. The only reason to really get the testing is to make sure that she is indeed suffering from allergies and to see if maybe she would be a candidate for allergy shots. I just started with the shots and they take 5 years to become completely effective. So, if you figure that you do get her tested...she has allergies...she needs shots to remedy them...she could idealy be allergy free by age 10. If only I knew that when I was a kid and didn't wait till I was 31 to start I wouldn't be nearly as miserable for 1/2 the year every year for the past 25 years!!!

We found out when our son was 1 1/2 he had a mild peanut allergy from a prick test. This year at 3 1/2 he was suffering from seasonal allergies and had red/swollen eyes. We took him to an allergist for a blood test of about 25 seasonal allergies. We found out he's severely allergic to rye grass. Well this spring we added seed to the lawn where there were dead spots, apparently most seed has rye in it. Won't be doing that again. I also explained why this year was worse than last year. Dad took him to get blood drawn, I didn't want to. I take them for shots, thats enough. =) He did good and now we know and can prevent it for next year. Good luck.

I am in the same boat as you are right now. All summer my son, 4, has been suffering for allergies and I chalked it up for a while that it was just a "bad year". Well, the summer is almost done and he still is having issues and so I took him to the ped and they recommended the same treatment, OTC meds. Well, we are 3 or so weeks into the OTC meds and have noticed some improvements but not much. So, we have opted to do the testing to find out what is causing his symptoms. I guess I am looking at it now if I can help remove or lessen some of the allergens than it should relieve some of his issues. We do have a cat and dog and have already decided that they are family and either way we will not get rid of them, but if it means that I need to step up the cleaning and either vacuum more or get the dog shaved more often then thats what we need to do. I already know he has a dust allergy so I am already dusting our house like crazy and vacuuming every other day, but like I said if I need to step it up and do a once a day then so be it, I will do it.

I would recommend the testing just so you know how you can help your child.

Good luck!