Need Advice ~Son Is Allergic To Something, Not Sure What

[smiles01]

Hi everyone, I feel so overwhelmed I don't know where to begin. I am the mom of a 23 yr. old son and I think he might be allergic to wheat but it could be celiac too. I am just now figuring this out tonight, but I could be wrong. I will call an allergist Monday. Anyhow, he has had so many different issues that we (me and his grandmother) have really gotten confused over the years. When he was just a few years old, he was diagnosed with atopic dermatitis and that continued on through to the age of about 5 and then it went away and he hasn't had it since. Through his teen years he would have some allergies that usually benadryl would handle. It is only in the last few years that he has had some problems that have been very scary. One day he gets sick feeling like he has the flu and goes to the dr. and they diagnose asthmatic bronchitis, they give him an antibiotic, steroid (that he hated and would never take) and an inhaler. He get's better and several months later, same thing, to the dr., diagnosed with the same, same meds and he gets better again. This went on for probably a year and a half. I kept trying to tell my son to remind the durn drs. how many times he has been sick and is there another issue here but he alway's came home with the same diagnosis (asthmatic bronchitis) and the same meds except for one time they changed his antibiotic and later that night his throat closed and we had to rush him to the ER. The dr. there said he was allergic to the antibiotic (I want to say this was the Zpack but am not sure since he was on so many antibiotics) It even seems like there were 2 antibiotics that did this to him. I do know he does well on the sulfa drugs and can take stuff like amoxicillin.

Ok, so that is some back history. He has the two times with his throat closing up due to antibiotics and then there were two times that the Uvula in his throat got so enlarged that he felt like his throat was closing up. Back to the dr. This time he say's "it's his allergies." Have him take zyrtec and here is a script for albuterol. So, it seemed to work. My son takes the 1 pill per day Zyrtec and he will be fine except if he misses he can't breathe, nose running, sneezing, etc.

The latest - several nights ago, he goes to play cards with the guys and has a few beers. He rarely drinks and this was the first time in over a year. He wakes Weds. morning and say's his throat is closing, can't breathe, takes 4 ibuprophen and his zyrtec and a while later he feels better. He wouldn't go to the dr. like I wanted him too. (The reason I mention the beer is because of the wheat and barley) He hates wheat bread and thinking of his diet, he doesn't have alot of wheat per se, but of course I am finding out it is in everything.

Tonight, he tells me like he has before over the past few years that he has been having a miserable time with digestive issues, mainly he will go poop at least 5 times a day for about 4 or 5 days out of the week and then for the other 2 or 3 he will not go at all. He has some internal hemorrhoids and he had some rectal bleeding tonight. Most of the time he keeps all of this to his self because I guess he is embarrassed but it's getting to him so he really confided in me tonight. I had no idea that the digestive issues were this bad.

So, what to do I thought? I went and read up about hemorrhoids at one of the medical help places and there was a guy on the message board that mentioned allergies to wheat and that he had been diagnosed with celiac disease. I googled celiac and saw that celiac disease has the digestive issues too.

To sum it up, the throat closing, the constant asthmatic bronchitis (that did slow way down with the zyrtec and flu shots) the atopic dermatis as a child, the uvula in the throat swelling and the digestive issues. Do you all think this could be celiac or maybe just a wheat allergy? I guess what I am wondering is all these various problems, could they all be tied together and making my dear son miserable? Sorry this is so longwinded, just wanting to give as much information as possible.

Thanks in advance for any info!

[Dixiebell]

Hi!

It seems anything is possible with celiac and gluten intolerance. Some people have an additional allergy to wheat as well.

The blood tests are pretty easy, so I would say to start with those.

Total Iga serum

Tissue Transglutamas Iga & Igg

Antigliadin Iga & Igg

Endomysial Antibodies

[smiles01]

  On 12/4/2010 at 2:02 PM, Dixiebell said:

Hi!

It seems anything is possible with celiac and gluten intolerance. Some people have an additional allergy to wheat as well.

The blood tests are pretty easy, so I would say to start with those.

Total Iga serum

Tissue Transglutamas Iga & Igg

Antigliadin Iga & Igg

Endomysial Antibodies

Thank you for listing what to ask the allergist for Dixiebell, I really appreciate it. He has Blue Cross Blue Shield which pays 80%. Do you happen to know if the tests will be covered under his insurance? I am also wondering if what he would have to pay on this visit would be alot. Regardless, I have to find a way to figure out what is wrong. The main concern for me is his throat closing up. I am so afraid this could happen somewhere and if it got bad he couldn't get to the hospital if needed and obviously, there is something causing this. The Uvula swelling up is another big concern. If you open your mouth and look at the size of yours for example and then picture that triple the size covering most of the throat. In all my years, I had never heard of anyone having a problem with that so it is new to me.

Thanks for listening, K.

[Dixiebell]

We just have a co-pay and what ins. doesn't cover they usually just send us a bill, usually not very much. Since there are so many different ins. plans, I would have him call the Dr office and ask for the cost of the tests or they could at least lead him in the right direction.

These are not allergy test, so not sure the allergist would run them but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

He definately needs to find out about his throat. Hopefully the allergist will find the answer for that.

[smiles01]

  On 12/4/2010 at 7:24 PM, Dixiebell said:

We just have a co-pay and what ins. doesn't cover they usually just send us a bill, usually not very much. Since there are so many different ins. plans, I would have him call the Dr office and ask for the cost of the tests or they could at least lead him in the right direction.

These are not allergy test, so not sure the allergist would run them but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

He definately needs to find out about his throat. Hopefully the allergist will find the answer for that.

Ok, will call allergist Monday and go from there. Will post back as I find out what's up. Thanks for the support! K