beeskneesmommy Posted June 1, 2011 Report Share Posted June 1, 2011 Hi: My 4 yr. old son had a blood test come back showing extreme allergy to dogs and dustmites, and minor allergy to cats last week. Today, he went in for a scratch test which showed NO allergy to dogs, minor allergy to dustmites and extreme allergy to cats. The really weird part is that he didn't react at all to the CONTROL, which was histamine! The docs and nurses were all scratching their heads on that one. Am I crazy and grasping at straws when I ask: is it possible that, given that his antibodies obviously behave differently to invaders like Strep/virus, that perhaps his antibodies are behaving differently to common allergens? Trying to get to the bottom of the allergies because I think that maybe the allergies are impeding his recovery from the PANDAS. Any ideas or experience like this? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibcdbwc Posted June 1, 2011 Report Share Posted June 1, 2011 You know I have NO idea. However there is no question in my mind that allergies and/or the way the body reacts to allergens is very much involved. My son scratch tested negative for pretty much everything when he was 5. But at age 10 he clearly reacts to seasonal changes with fairly pronounced, traditional symptoms (puffy eyes, nasal issues). His two major PANDAS flares have also each been in the spring. It's related, test or no test! You may be on to something. Perhaps the traditional testing does not capture our children's unique responses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eljomom Posted June 2, 2011 Report Share Posted June 2, 2011 I thought I heard someone mention something about Dr. T thinking pandas may have something to do with histamine?? Anyone remember? Sorry, I can't keep it all straight.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philamom Posted June 2, 2011 Report Share Posted June 2, 2011 (edited) Hi: My 4 yr. old son had a blood test come back showing extreme allergy to dogs and dustmites, and minor allergy to cats last week. Today, he went in for a scratch test which showed NO allergy to dogs, minor allergy to dustmites and extreme allergy to cats. The really weird part is that he didn't react at all to the CONTROL, which was histamine! The docs and nurses were all scratching their heads on that one. Am I crazy and grasping at straws when I ask: is it possible that, given that his antibodies obviously behave differently to invaders like Strep/virus, that perhaps his antibodies are behaving differently to common allergens? Trying to get to the bottom of the allergies because I think that maybe the allergies are impeding his recovery from the PANDAS. Any ideas or experience like this? Thanks! My 9 yr old daughter had constant sinus infections with behaviors since age two. Once on antibiotics the infection would clear and the behavioral symptoms would resolve (this was before I knew about pandas/pitand). Then the entire cycle would happen again in 4-6 weeks. They told me it was most likely due to allergies (nasal passageway inflamed) but in between sinus infections she showed no symptoms. In fact, even during the sinus infections she never had the itchy red eyes or sneezing you usually associate with allergies. When she was three, they did the arm scratch testing = negative. When she was four, they did the back scratching = negative. When she was five, they did arm scratch testing and when that was negative, they did intra dermal testing for dust mites and cats (we had two cats). She finally showed up positive with the intra dermal. So I went out and purchased expensive air purifiers, mattress liners, kept her room tidy, exc. Didn't really notice much difference. At age eight, they did a blood test which was negative for dust mites and cats. At the time of the blood test I was down to one cat. I have since lost the other cat as well. We are still dealing with pandas/pitand (and lyme). When she had the intra dermal testing it was during her first major/severe episode. I often wondered if she triggered a false positive reaction to the test. Just our experience. Edited June 2, 2011 by philamom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiera Posted June 2, 2011 Report Share Posted June 2, 2011 My ds's blood and skin tests virtually matched up. The first obvious thing to do would be repeat the skin test as the histamine is the control, which failed, so maybe the vials were expired, defective etc, it is possible. Also, allergy testing is just a snapshot in time, they can change over time or even an adult can develop new allergies at any time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peglem Posted June 2, 2011 Report Share Posted June 2, 2011 I was under the impression that the skin test was IgA response and blood test was IgG? Although it seems like IgE would have to be involved somewhere. Anyway, my daughter tests negative for allergy both ways- and barely reacted to the histamine prick. But she has very low IgA and IgE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibcdbwc Posted June 3, 2011 Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 Just following up on this thread. Someone posed the question about Dr. T. and his thoughts on histamine. I spoke with him today. He said he feels like histamine could be a player given the new very preliminary finding linking tourettes and a histamine gene. He also says he's seen two groups of kids: those with low IgE, low basophils, scratch tests negative-- but with sxms of allergies OR those with crazy high IgE and no sxms. So I guess the answer is -- who knows? Either way- both groups-- don't "test normally" with standard allergy screening. What a roller coaster... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiera Posted June 3, 2011 Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 Well my ds is definitely in the over-reactive column! His skin and blood tests are off the charts reactive to almost every major food group, yet he'a never had an anaphylactic reaction to anything! So he eats everything, as he's underweight. I've never been able to make sense of the whole allergy thing and his allergist wasn't much help either. Hopefully one day they'll be able to figure it out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaesMom Posted June 3, 2011 Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 Skin testing & blood testing is for IgE allergies. Skin testing is only accurate 50% of the time and blood testing is even less accurate. I've got a dd who has had multiple skin testing done locally, at National Jewish in Denver, and Cincinnati Children's Hosptial. We never get the same result except to mold & milk. Reaction to the expected allergen is what really matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeskneesmommy Posted June 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 OK, please bear with me. My son's Immunoglobulin E was 185.9. in the blood test. The Ped. did say that because of a high reading (I am thinking this one??), he wanted us to do the scratch test to r/o false responses. So this is why I started this thread - the readings for the scratch rests were mostly extreme opposites, or went from very high (dustmites) in the blood, to very low for the scratch. I am trying to get more succinct info - perhaps there isn't any out there yet. Seems that Dr. T. (Triffeleti??) is thinking that kids with PANDAS can have abnormal levels of histamine, either high or low? Also, this study or lit. re: histamine and Tourette's that someone mentioned - do you have a name or a link for this study so I can refer to it? Thank you!! -Kath Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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