Alcat or Pediatric Allergist? Please Help Me Decide..

Updated on April 25, 2012
D.K. asks from Bellevue, WA
5 answers

My son has been having chronic severe allergic cough since some time. It seems to flair up while eating and sleeping and he's fine most of the other times. His homeopath advised taking a food allergy test from ALCAT. However it seems to create a lot of false positives and negatives based on my online research.

Does anyone have any experience with ALCAT? Is it helpful?

I don't even know if its really allergies but that's what it looks like. Would it make sense to take him to a pediatric allergist instead of doing ALCAT myself? If so, who would you recommend in Dallas?

Appreciate any advice as i am about to set my panic button..

Thanks in advance!

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K.B.

answers from San Francisco on

I would see a pediatric allergist. I don't know what ALCAT is. I'd recommend either a blood test (RAST is the one I've heard of) or a skin prick test. A blood test can test for a lot of allergens at once, but takes a couple days to get results. A skin prick test requires testing each allergen on the back of the child with each thing you want to test, but the results are read within 15 minutes or so of doing the test. Or, since it seems triggered by food, you could do a skin prick test for the common food allergens and then get the blood test for a more extensive testing of other allergens. That way you'd know right away which foods you should be avoiding. And you can also get an epi-pen prescription if it is a food (like nuts) that could be really bad.

The sleeping flair ups could be delayed reactions to the foods or it could be a dust mite type allergy, particularly if you don't have a pillow or mattress cover designed to reduce allergens. Or having lots of stuffed animals can cause issues with dust if sleeping with them. The sleeping flair ups could also be related to post nasal drip if he has other allergies since he would likely drain down the back of his throat when he went to sleep.

I have one kid with food allergies and the reaction that prompted us to see a doctor was wheezing and coughing that occurred 3 hours after ingesting the food. It also turns out he has asthma that is primarily triggered with illness. But having him seen and treated has resulted in incredible gains in reducing his coughing when sick. Before we knew he had asthma, he would cough a lot at every cold and the cough would linger. Now, when he has a cold, he is hardly phased by it and really hasn't had any lingering coughs.

It's definitely worth seeing a pediatric allergist and at least finding out if allergies is an issue. I recommend calling up your pediatrician and asking for a referral to a pediatric allergist if you cannot find one otherwise.

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M.K.

answers from Dallas on

I don;t have any experience with ALCAT but Dr. Sugarman is the BEST paediatric allergist. He has an office in Frisco and one in Dallas.........I would go to him before making any decisions........we thought our son had allergies and so did his paediatrician but Dr .Sugarman correctly diagnosed him with reflux.

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H.G.

answers from New York on

I honestly don't even know what ALCAT is, but I'd always start by testing for allergies first. My daughter's allergist has been a God-send in treating her allergies and asthma - way more help than her pediatrician. Best of luck to you.

1 mom found this helpful

D.M.

answers from Savannah on

Honestly, get the test done by a professional. Allergies can be serious, indeed, life threatening, and shouldn't be an at home thing. If your online research is saying it's not a reliable test, then definitely go to a professional for this.

Make an appointment for this yesterday, especially since it's triggered by food, and keeping him up at night.

Wish I could recommend someone, but I have no clue on that front.

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J.T.

answers from New York on

Definitely go the doctor route... not only will you know without the false positives / negatives, but if it appears to be something else entirely then the doctor will tell you that as well.

We thought my daughter had allergies, but it would up being a sinus problem. 2 weeks on Nasonex and she was fine - no more coughing!

Good luck!

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