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.
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:
- Is this the immediate type of allergy that can cause life threatening reactions / anaphlyaxis in some people? If so, when do we get a test?
- What exactly are they allergic to? Is there any other allergens we don’t know about?
- Do these allergies always get highlighted on ingredient labels? What does “May contain” mean?
- How do I deal with restaurants / takeaways / parties / Halloween?
- How do I deal with school or nursery? How do they get training?
- Could we be referred to a dietician?
- What allergy medicines do I need? Antihistamine or Epipen?
- What do we do if they have another reaction? When do we need to phone for an ambulance?
- Can we have a written plan with a copy for school or nursery?
- Can we have a travel letter for going abroad?
- Is this something they are likely to outgrow?
If your doctor can’t answer these questions to your satisfaction, you should ask to see a specialist allergy clinic.