regard@ttidcc.UUCP (Adrienne Regard) (05/15/85)
Members of my family were very allergic -- my sisters as children (one
still is, the other "grew out of" her's) and myself as an adult (I "grew
into" them).
I had the arm sub-dermal injections and desensitization shots. Desensi-
tization didn't do me much good, and I was at it for 3 years. What my
allergist neglected to tell me was that desensitization works in only
about 50% of the cases. I found that out AFTER paying for shots for 3
years.
I also recently had food allergy tests -- this is the blood test that labs
do that supposedly don't know the difference between cow's blood and human
blood. My conclusion is that may be true, but they DO know the difference
between an allergic reaction and a non-allergic reaction, be it in humans
or cows, because when I cut out the foods on the list I cut my symptoms
in half.
Food allergies are tricky to locate by elimination diet (the standard method
up til recently). Certain things (unfortunately for me, corn is one of
them) are ingredients in an incredible variety of things, so it takes some
real concentration to manage an elimination diet, which you can still
screw up by eating out at a restaurant. The blood test isn't expensive
($150-ish), and is _far_ more reliable in finding food allergies than the
skin test (my skin tests for foods showed _no_ allergy, my blood tests
showed corn {syrup, oil and meal}, chocolate, cucumbers, and some minor
irritants). One bite of chocolate will send me into a sneezing fit for 6
hours.
Fortunately, many kids grow out of allergies, and yours may be lucky. Seems
you can undertake desensitization and judge within a rather short period of
time whether or not it appears to be working. Marginal improvement probably
isn't worth the cost, unless you want to learn to administer the shots
yourself.
Re antihistamines -- certain of these give me a raging headache, so I've
taken to living with allergies, carrying a handkerchief and apologizing a
lot when I sneeze, sniffle, blow, etc. I'm something of a one-man-band,
but (thankfully) my coworkers aren't complaining. I only use drugs when
I've a cold on top of it all, because the affects wear off quickly.
Whatever you buy for the kids, steer clear of nasal sprays (or drops).
Very bad for the lining of the nose, and doesn't really help the symptoms
anyhow -- just postpones the avalanche til later.
One favorable side-effect(?): since I can't smell, I can't taste well,
therefore I don't have any food fetishes, and I don't much care for eating.
Your kids will never be overweight.