2sensitivekids

Thank-you everyone for your help! Angelschick, I agree with you about the inaccuracy of the scratch tests. My son scored a 3+ for cat hair (we have 3 cats) and he doesn't seem to have any symptoms! I'm hoping to get more answers when we go to the pediatrician.

Is anyone here familiar with the older scratch test scoring? The scoring system of 1-4. My kids recently had allergy testing via the scratch test and both scored a 2+ for wheat. Is that high enough (4 being the highest score possible) to warrant a diet change? Some research I did is conflicting and says that a score of 2 or under is negative or only mildly sensitive. The doctor who performed the test is not an allergist but a family doctor (I live in Canada). I don't think the older scratch test scoring is used much anymore.

Any advice?

My 6 year old has ADHD symptoms although she can't be officially tested until closer to 7 (I live in Canada). Since birth we had major problems with her. She only ate 2oz of milk at a time and NEVER slept. My husband and I took turns holding her from around midnight to 6am every night. She wasn't the classic colic but just very irritable. She also had bad rashes, severe cradle cap and diaper rash. Turns out she is allergic to everything under the sun like dairy, wheat, soy, msg, perfume, cat hair and the list goes on.

When she was around 2 she would routinely take 2 hour temper tantrums and everyone thought we had an out-of-control child. She literally bounced off the walls from the time she got up until the time she went to be. She always slept way less than most children, regardless of our efforts to get her to sleep. We once tried the cry-it-out method and she cried for over two hours and fell asleep for half and hour and was back up for another round. She still doesn't sleep through the night at age 6 and we are now trying a gluten-free diet (just recently had scratch tests done). However, we had scratch-testing done and she scored a 2+ so I don't know if this might be the culprit as she did improve some after we took out the dairy so there could be multiple foods that are contributing to the behavior.

I would definitely have your daughter tested as I too always thought mine was way different than most kids. WAY more energy. I always caught myself wishing she was more "normal", whatever that is I never knew that foods could cause such changes in behavior until a Naturopath informed me.

I live in New Brunswick, Canada and my two children (ages 6 and 1) were recently tested for allergies using the scratch test. They both scored a 2+ for wheat and I was wondering if this score is even high enough to warrant a change in diet? My 6 year old has had ADHD behaviours since birth, has never slept through the night - EVER, and has bowel and skin problems. They both tested positive for many things - dairy, wheat, yeast, soy, msg, cat hair, dust mites, perfume and the list goes on. I just don't know where to begin. I have had severe psoriasis since I was 13 (now 31) and nothing I ever did has helped it. I have used heavy steriod creams for years. I am begining to suspect it may be linked to food allergy, particularly wheat/gluten. Both kids have skin problems too, although not psoriasis. Our family has alot of autoimmune diseases like psoriasis (both sides of my family), rhematoid arthritis, lupus, lymphoma, allergies - just to name a few.

Does anyone know if a score of 2 or higher is valid on a scratch test? I have already done a gluten free diet with them but I find it very hard to stick to as there isn't alot of products available here. I have seen some improvements, but not drastic as there has still be small amounts of wheat in their diet here and there. We have been referred to a pedatrician who will probably do further tests (I hope) but it takes a while here to get an appointment (a few months).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.