allergies in identicals.....

[lissyds]

I'm curious...how many out there have identical twins, and one has an allergy that the other doesn't??

Matthew has a serious allergy to bee stings, but Isaac hasn't been stung by a bee yet (both have had wasp stings, but had no reaction. When Matty was stung by a bee, he reacted, and now also reacts more seriously to wasps.)

The doctor I saw for Matty after the wasp reactions told me it wasn't likely that the previous bee sting caused an increased reaction to the wasps (being diff species etc. that didn't happen). Matthew DID NOT react severely to wasp stings previous to the bee sting though. Since we are coming back around to bee season again, my concerns have fired up again.

[DBG]

I wonder about this too but I don't know a clear answer..

Rachel had a reaction to a medication once (Bactrim; in the sulpha drug class).. not terrible; she just had a bit of a red, itchy rash. But the docs have basically marked her file as allergic and there are plenty of other choices of antibx..

Nicole has never tried these drugs, so I don't know and always wonder if she would have the same reaction. When asked, I will tell people that her ID twin is allergic but we really don't know..

[Kim-mom2MnEm]

My best friend has ident twin boys and one has allergies and the other doesn't. :shrug: It's more common to see if one ident twin has it, chances are the other might. But the severity of it may differ. It is hard to know w/o exposing them to that allergen.

Here's a link I found for her on it, cuz she had the same question: Twins & Allergies by the NY Times. (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=990CE2D6113BF936A15752C1A9659C8B63)

[MomtoA&S]

My boys are BOTH allergic to eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, dogs. They seem to both be pretty severe too.

Aidan is allergic to cats, dust, and shellfish also but Sam is not.

We're seeing a specialist at Childrens Hospital next month so this is one of my questions. I wondered about bee stings too, is there a test they can do or do you just find out when they get stung?

[lissyds]

We just found out when he was stung. I don't know about testing for it. Matthew didn't react at all (he had been stung by wasps), until that darn bee. Now it's any sting. I guess we'll just be extra careful!! Thanks all.

[DBG]

Interesting article Kim - thanks.

so basically, I still don't know and never will unless we test Nicole..