Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Allergies

Poor little B has been suffering from some unknown allergen for a long time now. Our usual remedy would be to give him Benadryl just before bedtime. However, when he began getting terrible, itchy hives all over his body each and every night, we decided we had better get him checked out by an allergist. Afterall, I myself suffer from a vast array of allergies, most of which are so severe, I can suffer from anaphylaxis, and must carry an Epi-pen with me.

Here is a not-so-good picture of the hives poor B was experiencing...




While we were at the allergist, B did such a good job! He was so brave, and didn't fidget at all while the nurses were poking him all over the place.




The diagnosis was that B is allergic to cats (which we have), dust (which we also have), and mold. The mold was his most severe allergy, and it confused us, because we couldn't figure out where there would be any mold in the house.

We finally found the culprit, hiding at the top of our vaulted ceiling.

This small area started as a teeny damp spot. We thought it was from an old leak. However, since we are now in the rainy season, that teeny spot has been getting bigger and bigger, and it is now looking to be growing some mold in it as well. This does not bode well for B, whose bedroom is on the other side of the leak on this wall, and his bed is up against it.

Looks like we are going to have to look into getting this one fixed sooner than we had anticipated! Good thing we're just renting! :o)

6 comments:

Nichole Bodnar said...

Wow! I understand exactly what Ben went through (except at a much older age). I was just tested for allergies and came up empty handed. All the scratch tests and injections didn't work and I was sad that I didn't know what I was allergic to. Found out much later on my own that I'm allergic to sunscreen (oh the horror!)

I'm glad you found out what he was allergic too and where the culprit was.

Nichole Bodnar said...

HAHAHA I meant 'to' and not 'too'

Stagnant Life said...

Hi. I often see you over at jessica's blog. my son had to have that exact test done too and came up positive for dust mites too. be sure to get those dust mite covers for all mattresses and box springs. i noticed they really helped a lot. well, glad to hear you found the culprit. praying he feels better quickly

RichFam said...

Hello! Yes, I have seen your comments on Jessica's blog as well.

Thanks for the advice about the mattress covers. I just hope we can get his scary reactions over with soon! :o)

Stagnant Life said...

Did the doctor put him on any meds? Zyrtec has done wonders for my little guy.

RichFam said...

Yes, the doc put him on meds. He is taking a nasal spray, a strong antihistamine called "Xyzal", and Singulair (for his asthma). These have seemed to work great for him, and he has not had a single episode since taking them! The doc did say, however, that Zyrtec was an acceptable substitute if the prescriptions got to be too costly. :o)