Mommyof4ks Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 I know there are alot of smart people here who are knowledgeable about chemical issues, so please share your knowledge with me. My son has swollen up twice now after being exposed to pesticides. Nothing else was different the first time, and we had been to that same park many times before it was sprayed with no issues. The second time happened on vacation, and after washing the sheets and cleaning the walls the reaction stayed away for the rest of the trip. Fast forward to today. I got a call from the peds office with news that there is no way to test for chemical issues like this unless we want to purposely expose him to the chemical that is triggering it (if we can pin point it of course) which he was not advocating and I don't want to do anyway. My question is does anyone know who might have more info on this sort of issue? Are there some pesticides that tend to cause this kind of trouble more than others? Obviously we try to keep him away from these sorts of things, but it is impossible to know what is being sprayed everywhere we go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 So sorry you're having trouble. What do you mean by swollen up - everywhere, extremities, where? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted October 8, 2009 Author Share Posted October 8, 2009 His face and chest were swollen. His eyes were nearly swollen shut the second time. He had huge cheeks. The first time his oncologist moved his steroid week (he takes them 5 days every 4 weeks) up too counteract the swelling. It did work, but obviously that is not a great long term approach. The second time we just gave a few doses of steroids and bendaryl which worked fine, but again not ideal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perry Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Did you call the park to find out what they sprayed with? How do you know it had recently been treated? Any chance it was an allergy to some plant that was producing a lot of pollen at the time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted October 8, 2009 Author Share Posted October 8, 2009 The city did not know what was sprayed on the park according to the parks & wildlife guy I talked to. Not sure I believe that, but anyway. He did say that the park was sprayed the week before the soccer camp that my son attended. It was June in Tx, so nothing was growing lol. We had been to that same soccer field just a few weeks before that incident for the regular soccer season and many times before with no problems. I have not been able to get the name of the pesticide from the second time either, because we stayed at a beach house that was managed by a company so it takes time to talk to the 'right person'. It was the same thing that time. We had been to that beach before with no problems, and he was fine until he slept in a bedroom that was sprayed. The house has an ant problem, so they sprayed the day before we arrived despite knowing that cancer kids would be staying there (another story). He was HUGE when he woke up, so we rewashed bedding in the same detergent that it was washed in previously (so that was not the problem), opened windows, and I washed down the walls (he slept against the wall). He continued to play in the same areas and everything, the only difference was the cleaned room. He was fine the rest of the week despite discontinuing steroids and benadryl after 2 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted October 8, 2009 Author Share Posted October 8, 2009 Take a look here: http://www.aaemonline.org/ and here: http://www.americanboardofenvironmentalmedicine.org/for a doctor who works with things like toxins. Some allergists do this, but not all do. One of the leaders in working to get rid of the problem is Dr Schrader in Albuquerque. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 my husband , who has chemical sensitivities, go this tests done by an allergist. not just any allergist, but one that deals with chemical sensitivities. my husband doesn't respond to the pin prick tests at all, because he doesn't have a histamine reaction. he doesn't have allergies as such. he had the tests where they put minute amounts of chemicals with a dropper, under his tongue. they also put placebo tests under his tongue , and he didn't know when he was going to have the real thing or a placebo. that way they got a better result. for chemical sensitivities, the only cure is avoidance. my husband can hardly go anywhere. or see anyone . If he stays on our own property, then he has a reaction about 2 times a day. if he goes out into a crowd, like watch our sons play basketball, or shopping, he will be ill for 3 days afterwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted October 8, 2009 Author Share Posted October 8, 2009 Wow Melissa, what a confining thing for your dh. I am worried about severe reactions due to the harsh nature of my son's last reaction compared to the first, but it never occurred to me that he could have more episodes closer together. I was afraid that avoidance was the only option, but like your dh it is hard to know what is out there when we leave the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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