I took Rylee to the allergist today to get her skin tested. She had 25 little pricks on her back and we narrowed her allergies down. She is allergic to dogs, cats, dust mites, and some molds. Her allergist does not want us to get rid of our dog since he has never bothered her. He wants to wait until May when he will see her again and see how she is doing on her medicines before he makes a final decision. He really doesn’t like to take pets away from children because of what it does to them emotionally, so that made me happy. Hopefully the medicines that she is on will help her out. We’ll find out in a couple months how everything is going.

By Debbie on Friday, March 21, 2008 - 10:19 pm:

I will keep my fingers crossed that the new medication works!! What about keeping your dog out of her room?? My brother is allergic to dogs. We had a dog growing up, he just wasn't, allowed upstairs in the bedrooms. He was so funny, he knew he wasn't allowed upstairs, and he would just sit on the top step when one or all of us were upstairs.

By Karen~admin on Saturday, March 22, 2008 - 10:47 am:

Crossing my fingers too!!!! I hope Rylee's meds work - I'd hate to see you have to get rid of your dog. Good luck! And keep us posted!

By Trina~moderator on Saturday, March 22, 2008 - 11:04 am:

It's nice to finally have answers, isn't it?! What meds is Rylee on? DS takes Claritin and DD takes Allegra. They were both on Pulmicort, but DS has been off it since August and is doing great.

FWIW, my DS is allergic to cats, but with meds and precautions (HEPA air cleaner in his room, cats not allowed in there, etc.), we have been able to keep our two.

Allergy pillow and mattress covers will help a great deal with the dust mite allergy.

By Shellyg on Saturday, March 22, 2008 - 12:47 pm:

Rayanne, I have horrible allergies and believe or not I am allergic to DOGS. I run a dog rescue! My allergist as an adult said that the best thing my parents did was not to get rid of our dog growing up. It helped build my immunity to the allergy.
Good luck!

By Tunnia on Saturday, March 22, 2008 - 02:33 pm:

Poor baby to have to go through all that! It sounds like you have a great doctor for her though.

By Ginny~moderator on Saturday, March 22, 2008 - 02:52 pm:

Glad to know the allergist knows he is treating a child, not just an allergy. You're getting good advice on how to keep the allergic reactions down, and I hope things work out well. From what you've said, your daughter would much rather be having allergy problems than lose her dog.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Saturday, March 22, 2008 - 04:11 pm:

I am so glad he is treating her and not her allergies too.

From someone that suffers from allergies I can tell you it is better to teach her how to deal with the exposures and not limit her life. Especially if her reactions are not life threatening.

Of all things I am allergic to pine and cut grass. I couldn't imagine not being aloud to enter the woods because it would make me sick. Or how hurt my friends would be if I wouldn't attend winter funerals or parties because there is likely going to be cut pine in the house. Or missing all the cool summer nights of running through the fresh cut grass catching fire flies... I am thankful that my dad was raised by a woman that suffered from severe allergies because she taught him that your life can't be lived in a bubble. If it wasn't for her, I would have missed out on church camp (pine forest)... I would have spent my summers locked up in the house.. But because my dad knew, a runny nose, sore throat etc wouldn't kill me I got to be a kid.. Something many kids miss out on...


(((BIG HUGS TO YOU BOTH)))

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, March 22, 2008 - 06:03 pm:

I'm glad she doesn't have to get rid of her dog!

By Rayanne on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 - 10:54 am:

Sorry it has taken me a little bit to get back to you all, but we have been busy. Thanks for all of your responses...they always mean so much

Rylee is doing really well. She is on Zyrtec, Singulair (New For Her), Nasonex, & Flovent. The Singulair seems to have really help her out a lot *knock on wood*.

Our dog NEVER goes in her room, so we don't have to worry about that. She doesn't really hold him all that often either.

I am glad that things are looking up so far. I actually think that she might be outgrowing some of her allergies, because when she was 2, she got trsted for allergies and she had the same allergies then, but she was also allergic to cockroaches and pollens, but those didn't show up this time, so hopefully things will keep getting better for her.

By Karen~admin on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 - 12:03 pm:

Rayanne, I hope the new medication combo works for her. I have asthma, and use Advair twice daily, and last year my pulmonary doc put me on Singulair during *allergy* season. It seems to work better than anything else I've ever taken. Hopefully this will be the case for Rylee.

Crossing my fingers for you!!

By Colette on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 - 02:53 pm:

Glad she is doing well, and I hope things continue to look good as far as the dog goes.

By Rayanne on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 - 07:34 pm:

Thanks girls...me too

By Debbie on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 - 07:49 pm:

Rayanne,

Josh takes Singulair. It was prescribed for his asthma, but it works really great for his allergies too!

By Reds9298 on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 - 08:12 pm:

I'm so glad she's doing well, and that you know specifics. Natalie had terrible reactions to Singulair, Claritin, and Allegra. She's on Flonase only now and so far this year it has really helped her without all the side effects.

Great news about your dog and I hope it continues!