ALCAT Allergy Testing

Unfortunately, I don't know much about the ALCAT testing. But, I do have a close friend whose daughter has severe exczema. Both of my friend's sisters also have milder cases. One of the things that has been consistent between all three is that they are allergic to nickel. If they avoid any contact with it they are much better. Unfortunately, it is in nearly everything; jewelry, zippers, the little studs on jeans, etc. If you haven't tried that already, maybe it will help your daughter until you get any further results.

Have you ever heard of EVA testing? There's a place in Orland Park called Vital Health that I took my daughter to after she struggled for months and months with all kinds of symptoms and the allergist didn't help us much. They have a pretty long wait (about 6 months) but it's relatively cheap and gave us a lot of answers. www.vitalhealth.org

I have 3 kids with allergy issues (nuts and dogs). Here is a safe and healthy option to try that has worked miracles on my kids eczema. The cream is called Egyptian Magic and sold at Whole Foods. Not sure how close to her eyes it is but it is all natural (honey, olive oil, bees wax and other natural ingredients) and a wonder cream. I use it for everyone for everything.

On the subject of other things to consider, we see Dr. Guo in Chinatown - he is a Chinese Herbal Medicine practitioner and has done wonders for my son with asthma. His website is liferising.com. My daughter with allergies is doing so much better thanks to him. Good luck.

what is this type of testing you could try path testing that works for my kids. also you should take out milk and wheat out fo erh diet and that should help soem too.
J.

Yeah I had it done for my daughter. I didn't realized the expense until I got the EOB from our insurance. It did help determine what was wrong. Because everything they tested for came out negative, except for a moderate reaction to milk.

Her blood was drawn at Edwards and they did a excellent job!

Just make sure they add panels for anything you are concerned about especially. I asked them to include a panel for citrus as well as cats because I thought she may had been allergic to our pets.

Good luck.

I googled the ALCAT test to see what it is because I have had allergy tests done when I was about your daughter's age. But this consisted of a graph of skin pricks on my back injected with one allegen per prick...not fun. I found a place where you can order an ALCAT at home test for $8.99. I didn't look into the details too much, but it's probably worth reading:
http://www.air-purifiers-superstore.com/alcat_food_allerg...
Good luck!! :)

I highly recommend Drs Rentea~husband & wife on Peterson in Chicago for alternatives to traditional medicine.

Pfeiffer Treatment Center, located in Warrenville, does great things with food allergies. They are typicall used for kids that have behavior issues associated with the allergies. However, I know that they do great screening and have helped many kids. They are a not-for-profit agency. I don't know expenses, but it's worth checking into.

Personally, I believe in allergy testing. It can be expensive, depending on your insurance, but consider the costs of health problems: missing work, missing school, miserable kid...Both emotionally and financially it should pay to know what your daughter is allergic to.

I sent my bloods to a place called ImmunoLabs, they take a blood sample and compare it to common pathogens. It diagnosed my gluten intolerance (I did request that panel) at moderate, which was enough to affect my health greatly but not strong enough to show up at my local MD office (that doc had the nerve to tell me to go ahead, eat wheat! I was negative for her simple, not as in-depth test).
Note that some allergies will come and go as you age, and as you avoid the bigger ones, your immune system can often start handling the minor ones. For example, in taking out gluten for the past 4 years, I haven't gotten strep throat that I used to get about 5 times a year--as an adult! I also believe that the other 12 foods I tested against would likely be less of a problem now.

good luck, find a good nutritionalist, do your research. Eczema can indicate other systemic problems, or may be superficial, but you won't know until you do the testing.

Hi Melissa ,
I am a work at home mom that has partnered up with Melaleuca the Wellness company . We promote safe and healthy products for your home and well being . Normally you have to be a customer to receive the products monthly for you home but I can send you a sample of a great product called Renew lotion it has been a great help with my daughters skin issues . If you are interested I can send you a brochure detailing the product itself . It contains a product called Melaleuca oil that is known for its medicinal purposes . Why put your child thru testing if you do not need to . email me ____@____.com if you would like to hear more about the product or just working from home .

Shay Snyder

My 3yo DS has eczema too, since 1 mo. I take him to a homeoapthic Dr. in Naperville and it's better. on our way to cure. i did not hv him tested for allergens b/c a child's immune system is immature until the age of 3, at the earliest (some studies indicate as late as age 6). so, of course the baby will come up allergic to most things. my son is allergic to peanuts, cashews (will vomit), and sensitive to tomatoes, but this was all discovered 'naturally.' we are able to control any outbreaks or reactions w/ his remedy, so no benedryl! all these other treatments just suppress the symptoms/reactions. homeopathy helps the body to try to heal itself. it's amazing how well it works if he accidentally has a peanut something-or-other. hives start going away in 2 minutes. his reactions are less severe than they were the first time and his body rejects the allergen now (as opposed to just keeping it in and breaking out all over in hives). We do more natural soaps and detergents to help keep the allergens at bay in the home.
Dr. Polich's website is www.dupagehomeopathic.com. She's giving a free seminar on chronic illnesses (like eczema) on May 22nd (it w/b on her homepage soon). Read her newsletter on eczema. it explains a lot about how homeopathy works for it. www.dupagehomeopathic.com/newsletters/eczema.pdf
Email me offlist if you want to know more about it. Best of luck.

Hi M., Anyway I don't know anything about the test but I have eczema also and have gone to doctors with no results. I googled eczema and found this product called freederm. It dosen't cure it because I believe its really an auto immune disease but it keeps it at bay. I hope this helps so google FreeDerm. Good Luck A.