Skin Testing Prep

Hi guys,

I've done allergy testing twice - at 13 & 16. I'm now 26 & my new allergist wants to do them again. I take Zyrtec, Patanol & Nasonex daily & he thinks I could benefit from injections. I did them when I was 16, for about a year, but saw no improvement so I stopped.

I haven't taken any meds since last Friday getting ready for the testing on Saturday & I'm MISERABLE. I don't say that lightly, I have quite a few health issues, but this is crazy. I didn't realize how much my allergy med cocktail was helping, but I'm an itchy mess. I have a call into the nurse, b/c my Thanksgiving isn't going to be pleasant, but do you guys know if you can take anything before testing? Benadryl, something?

The nurse just returned my call & said I can take Benadryl up to 48 hours before the test. I'll take what I can get :)

I've tried the Aveeno baths but it hasn't helped.

My thoughts exactly :)

Thanks Chartreux :)

testing by skin method is the only way to find out what the problem is, however hard it may seem, its worth it!!. blood tests dont work, they often give a negative when in fact the patient is very allergic. hope your test was bearable. in my case, i have to stay away from so many allergens that its a minefield: weirdest one is lambs lettuce (which is actually a grass, hence i am allergic) which makes me come up in itchy hives all over my body that take weeks to disappear; most normal one is pollen which reduces me to a snivelling flu-like wreck; cant eat any sea food as i vomit for days; nuts make me swell up; if someone has a peanut butter sandwich in the car, i cant breathe, same goes for cooked beetroot; horse hair makes me wheeze and eyes blow up; dust mite triggers wheezing; and so it goes on. I even was wrongly diagnosed with IBS in my 20s, turned out i had parasites in my intestines that had been living inside of me for years, they found out i had amoebas only cos i started being allergic to the parasites and was having asthma attacks!!! mystery how my gene pool made it this far :)

good luck narrowing down what makes you react. i too had the injections as a child, no idea if they helped. the strangest things are connected, so if you are allergic to an apple, then you'll be sensitive to something very different on the other side of the spectrum. i have to check all soaps, shampoos etc to make sure i dont use something which could make me react, always have to read the food labels on grocery shopping really carefully, eating out in restaurants is a nervy experience. carry my antihistamines and cortisone with me, epi-pen at home, do all my own cooking, keep away from airline food or street vendors. Its a learning curve, but once you know what to stay away from, then you can at least control that small part of your allergy.

good luck finding out what it is! fantastic you have a doctor who is helpful.