Allergist

Some time after Elisha began displaying symptoms of Autism, I noticed he would break out in a rash all over his body whenever he took a bath. It started mild. I tried different types of soaps thinking that he was sensitive to whatever I was using on him. Then one day I gave him a bath with just water. I did not clean him with soap, just let him play in the water. He still broke out. With each bath it seemed to get worse and he would cry and scratch his whole body.

I had someone from the water company come out and test our water. According the regulations it is safe. So I made an appointment with an allergist to see if he was allergic to something in the water. After all, I can't continue to bath him in something that produces a painful rash nor can he stop bathing altogether.

The allergist was nice, but gave minimal effort to help me. I told him what was happening. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring this picture to show what it looked like. It's not hives. So his belief is that Elisha has Urticaria. Urticaria is a "disorder characterized by the rapid onset of itchiness, redness, and swelling of the skin within minutes after exposure to a cold stimulus." So he did a test where we put an ice cube on Elisha's arm for 7 minutes to see the effect it would have. Nothing happened. However, he maintained that Elisha has Urticaria. I assured him that his baths are a 95 degree temperature . He was not persuaded. His advise was to give Elisha Claritin before taking a bath. I just wonder, is that the common advise an allergist gives to patients who might be allergic to something. I guess than anyone allergic to peanuts should continue to eat peanuts, but just take Claritin or Benedryl before they eat it. Grrr... The allergist would not do an allergy test on Elisha and the other day I received my glorious bill for a half effort job.

I installed a filter in the bath tub. It has helped. I don't know what is in the water that does this to Elisha's skin. I am just glad that something helped.