I give. Will be asking for medications, I guess.

Shari

IsItFridayYet?
Yes, I took him to an immunologist/allergist and had both the blood allergy testing and skin testing done, in addition to the...what's it called....ie antibodies testing, or something to that effect...he came up with not a single allergy, which is strange considering both his bio dad and I have quite a few allergies. I've done elimination diets in the past with no effect, as well. We thought we were onto something with milk, but it ended up being a coincidence.

Not to be negative, but....his bio dad's parents were told 35 years ago that he'd "just outgrow it" and that's the only image in my head when they were telling me that. I hope they're right...I hope he does outgrow it. But I plan to continue to act on the assumption that they are wrong - difficult child's future depends on it, and I'll be danged if I'm gonna have him living in my barn, unemployed at age 40 if there is ANYTHING I can do about it.

He might grow out of it. I might fail. There might be nothing anyone can do. But I'll be danged if I'm not gonna try.

The immunologist is still working on an second opinion, and I've found some social skills groups that are based on need, not diagnosis, with sliding scale fees in Kansas City. Not exactly planning on driving there every week, but hoping thru them I can work my direction and find resources closer.
 

Marguerite

Active Member
WHen difficult child 1 was diagnosed ADHD, we were told he would grow out of it too. But it didn't take us long to realise that doctor was downright weird, manipulative, strange, twisted... you name it. By that stage, having seen difficult child 1 still not coping and medications increased, and increased again - the medications helped, but were clearly never going to fix it all - we were fairly sure that whatever-it-was, he had it for life.

I think the concept years ago was that yes, most kids DID grow out of it. We've also met people who were given a diagnosis of ADHD and whose parents chose to not medicate them. These people have all said that they have adapted, they are the result of learning to cope, without medications, during their adolescence. They don't need medications now, they say, because they understand themselves as they are; medications would rock the boat.

Maybe is someone has supports in place or is not too severe, they CAN cope that way. I shudder to think what difficult child 1 would be like if we hadn't medicated him. I doubt he'd have got any school qualifications. And difficult child 3 - he would probably be in a Special Education placement or in an institution, barely verbal.

I think the understanding these days is that people were wrong when they said kids would outgrow it. Sorry.

Shari, the allergy testing - there are so many people out there calling themselves allergists, some of whom have the qualifications, but other allergists don't recognise what they do as medically valid.
I've encountered similar things here - my specialist was a top immunologist in the world. He was amazing. But he was very scathing about a lot of medical practices that made claims that could not be substantiated. Through him I met other immunologists and allergists and talked with them (interviewed some of them too) and heard their arguments.
For balance, I also dealt with immunologists who did all the arcane things like blood tests, hair analysis, radionics etc. It can be very confusing. My (now former) GP arranged for some of these "weird" tests to be done on me, by a colleague of his. I showed the results to my immunologist who then pointed out which bits of the testing were valid, and which were not.

What I'm saying - I don't know what sort of tests were done, or what they were looking for - but they may not be as definitive as you have been told.

Scratch tests - these will not pick up all allergies. They will ONLY pick up allergies mediated through the IgE/mast cell pathway. Some allergies are slower to develop because they use a different pathway. I have allergic reactions to most antibiotics and sensitivity reactions to the rest. But the scratch tests do not show this, with me.

Blood tests - these are only valid if they are looking for a specific antibody (such as the test for coeliac). You cannot take a sample of a person's blood and then declare what they are allergic to, as a general rule - unless you are testing for antibodies. There are blood tests that some allergists do, which are pretty much useless.

Not all reactions are allergies. An allergy is quite specific - you get a rash, or some other immune response mediated through the B lymphoctes.
Sensitivity reactions can be complex and usually involve reactions such as vomiting, diarrhoea, nausea, abdominal pain - or behaviour changes, headache, or other signs of illness OTHER than rash.
Sensitivity reactions will not show up in a skin test or a blood test. Sadly, the only way to be sure with sensitivity reactions, is to first exclude the offending item for a period of time, and then to take it and see what happens. difficult child 3 attended an allergy clinic in Sydney run by one of the reputable immunologists I mentioned earlier. THis immunologist was heavily campaigning against doctors who made false claims and false promises to patients and as a result was also a target for a lot of angry people whose doctors sooled them onto him (my 'stalker' was one such patient, so I heard the whole issue thoroughly, back when he & I were still friends).
difficult child 3 had to go through the elimination diet to exclude the food chemicals were were checking for, and then we were to challenge these food items once symptoms subsided. In difficult child 3's case however, the cause of the problem was independently identified during this process, as not being food-related. We met a lot of other people, though, in this process. It was not a money-making exercise in any way - it was, in fact, a research project and as such, they were not permitted to charge us a cent for being involved.

I don't know if you could get your hands on this book, but I suggest you try if you can - it should inform you about what is reputable and what is not, in this field. It's also very readable.
The book is "The Body At War" by Professor John Dwyer. It was published a while ago but has since been updated. However, I am no longer in touch with the author who has now retired form clinical practice. I found that reading that book gave me a very thorough understanding of the immune system and how it works, which helped me cut through a great deal of cr*p in my own health management as well as my kids'.
[I just checked and did a Google search - the book is like a rash all over the 'Net, you'd have no trouble finding it].

It also showed me how the allergist my GP organised was in some ways practicing medicine about as effectively as if he had waved a stick, hoping it would morph into a magic wand.

My mother had a lot of allergies but I had none for years, then they started developing after I married. My siblings - some have had allergies (such as to seafood - which my mother was never allergic to) since childhood, but most of them have no allergies. Family history only indicates a predisposition to developing allergies. You're not born with them; you have to be exposed to the allergen first. Your son may just be lucky, for now. Or he may never develop them. Heres hoping!

Social skills - there are other ways you can work on these without having to pay a fortune for a special group. Look around, see what is available in your area. See what you can work on with him yourself. Drama classes can be really good, because in learning to play a role, he is also learning about people and how they interact. Having a pet can be good; going on outings such as shopping trips has helped difficult child 3 immensely.

You don't HAVE to use only the special services. Sometimes you can invent something yourself which can work just as well, if not better.

He's your kid. You know him. That gives you a head start.

Anxiety can be dealt with in numerous ways. Sometimes you can develop your own ongoing response program.

Marg
 

Shari

IsItFridayYet?
Thanks.
***
You're right, there is plenty we can do without the therapist's help; heck, we did social stories on horseback around our pasture twice a week for a long time... Its just a shame that services are available but we can't even TRY them, yet medications flow freely...
***
The allergist is just one of many, and actually seems to be interested in truly trying to help difficult child, tho he doesn't think he himself in his own practice can offer very much, which is a positive thing to me. If he said he had the fix-all for difficult child, I'd probably have run away, not walked.
 
Top