We know that ensuring food allergy is taken seriously can sometimes be difficult. “Just avoid it”, “Just try again in a few months’ time”, “You’re too young for a test”, “Testing doesn’t really help” are but a few unhelpful responses that can be seen as if they are dismissing concerns, or simply making it up.
In some areas there is difficulty getting to see an allergy specialist, with long wait lists and sometimes issues in training. To help we have drafted a list of questions you might like to put to your doctor when you go with concerns about your child having food allergies (even if you’re not entirely sure what your child is allergic to!):
- Is this the immediate type of allergy that can cause life threatening reactions in some people? If so, when do we get a test?
- What exactly are they allergic to? Is it everything with egg? Is it all nuts, or just some?
- Is there anything else they might be allergic to that we don’t know about?
- Does this or do these allergies always get highlighted on ingredient labels? What does “May contain” etc mean? Do you have any written advice on what foods we might need to avoid or be careful of?
- How do I deal with restaurants /takeaways/parties/Halloween?
- How do I deal with school/nursery? How do they get training?
- Could we be referred to a dietician?
- What allergy medicines do I need? Do we need an adrenaline autoinjector pen? How do you use it.
- What is anaphylaxis and is my child at risk?
- What do we do if they have another reaction? When do we need to phone for an ambulance or advice?
- Can we have a written plan with a copy for school/nursery? [Eg from BSACI website].
- Can we have a travel letter for going abroad?
- Is this something they are likely to grow out?
If your doctor can’t answer these questions to your satisfaction, you should ask to see a specialist allergy clinic.