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ladybug1211
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Peanut Allergy Anyone?
Hi Everyone,
Does anyone on here have a peanut allergy or a child with a peanut allergy? We just found out my daugher has one and I was hoping I could talk to someone who has some experience with this.
Thanks.
Re: Peanut Allergy Anyone?
Hi,
Sorry to hear you're dealing with these allergies. They're scary. We are not yet dealing with this issue, as far as we know. I wanted to let you know the Bump has a food allergy board for kids and babies with FAs.
Link here: http://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/11848064/ShowForum.aspx
GL.
Thanks Heatherwain. We saw an allergist yesterday and he gave me alot of good information. My questions right now are really general as I am just trying to gather as much information as I possibly can and I'm sure they will evolve as we move on.
At this point, I think my main question/concern is what are the biggest hidden dangers outside of the home? Obviously, we will be very diligent at home. At restaurants, I will always make them aware of the allergy, ask lots of questions, etc. But, in your experience are there places/foods that tend to be riskier than others? Was/is your son in daycare or school? How did you/ do you work with them to manage the allergy?
Larrysdarling, thanks so much for the link. I will definitely check it out.
Outside of the home is restaurants and any type of food place in general. I always have to be careful of brownies with nuts, ice cream with nuts, etc. A lot of times I have to watch out for places who fry their food items in peanut oil. For example, if we get Five Guys burgers, I have to get the burgers there and then drive down to McDonalds for the fries. I think the main rule I go by is that if you don't know what's in it, don't even take the chance. Always be on the lookout for cross contamination. For example, I won't get a Blizzard at DQ because I know they don't clean the machines after each use and they don't have a dedicated Reeces Pieces blender. Some places have the plastic spoons for the blenders but I just stay away from it. Also with ice cream at shops, places will just dunk the scoopers in a bucket of water. But that water still has the peanut butter on it, so it's no good. The oils are still left on the scooper as well.
Our son is 9 and he's in school. We pack him lunch most days because he is really picky. Since he's a picky eater, it's been pretty easy so far to keep him away from nuts. He doesn't really like to try new things and if things aren't plain, he won't touch it. When he does want to try something new, he'll always ask if there are nuts in it. I think the best thing we ever did for him was to teach him while he was really young that he could not eat anything without us seeing or knowing first. We always told him that he was allergic to nuts/peanuts and if he ate them, he would have to go to the hospital. Another really great thing we did was educate his friends as well. I can't tell you how many times that they have looked out for our son at school and at parties. They are very conscious of it as well. It was also a lot easier for us when he was little because we do not have peanuts or peanut butter in our house at all.
Our son carries an EpiPen in his school bag and the school nurse has one as well. If you don't have one yet (I'm sure your allergist gave you an rx for one though) you should get it ASAP.
How did you find out about the allergy? My parents found out that I was allergic to peanuts when I was 13 months old. My mom gave me a PB&J for the first time and I had a reaction instantly. I got rashes and hives all over, my eyes were swollen shut and my throat was almost closed by the time I was rushed to the hospital. My hands legs were turning purple and they said if my parents were a few minutes slower getting me there, I would be in danger of brain damage from the lack of oxygen.
I found out that I was allergic to chick peas when I was 18. I ate a pasta salad that had them in there and had anaphylaxis all over again. Peanuts are in the legume family and so be on the lookout for allergies to chick peas, beans and even string beans as well.
Heather, thank you. This is some great information and I hope you don't mind if I use you as a resource. We do have some epipens already, and I have lots of benadryl on hand, at daycare, at the grandparents, etc. As soon as she is old enough to even slightly understand, we plan on starting to teach her about the allergy.
A few days after her first birthday we were headed to the pediatrician and I figured it was a good time to try peanut butter since we were on our way to the doctor anyway. I gave her a tiny bit on some ritz crackers. Within 10 minutes or so started to break out in hives. They started at the corner of her mouth, wrapped around her neck and over the top of her chest. Luckily, that was the only reaction and within about an hour the hives were gone. I realize that next time we might not be so lucky.
Has your son ever been exposed/had a reaction? I plan on being as prepared as possible, but it does scare me a little bit.
Again, thank you so much. I really appreciate your sharing your experiences.
No, my son has never been exposed or had a reaction probably because I'm so allergic that he hasn't really had a chance to be exposed.
Since I am so allergic, we just assumed when he was born that he would be allergic, too. My allergist would not test him until he was over 5 years old because of a possible major reaction. I took him to get tested with a simple prick test when he was 6 and here he was so allergic to just the prick test, they had to wipe it off early and give him benadryl in the office. We're assuming the same with our daughter who is ~4.5 months old and are not even going to try it with her.
I feel like a lot of schools and day cares are very conscious of peanut allergies now. I know many schools will not allow outside/home made items (cupcakes and things of that nature) to be brought into school. I don't really worry about it at school at all but I do worry when my son is at a friends house for the first time. I always tell the parents when I drop him off but many times parents don't even realize about the cross contamination issue. For example, people probably make PB&J all the time with the same one knife. They probably put the PB on first and then use the same knife for the jelly. Well that's bad news bears because now the jelly has been exposed. So the parents may think they are safe by just giving him a plain jelly sandwich but it's really not safe because it's been contaminated by the PB. My FIL's girlfriend did this once at our house. She brought her own PB but then used our jelly. Before I could say it, she stuck the PB knife right in the jelly and I ended up having to throw the entire jar of jelly out.
Jumping in - Heather gave great advice. My cousin has a fatal nut/sesame seed allergy. They learned about it when she was 18m and they gave her a PBJ sandwich to try - instant hives, throat started to close, etc. She has had an epi-pen for as long as I can remember.
Her parents have a rule that they established when she was very young - at least 2 people must check the ingredients to make sure they are safe. Things like ice cream, crackers, chips/pretzels, breadcrumbs, chocolate chips, baking mixes, etc. are what she really has to be careful with.
Anytime I cook for her, I check with my aunt for safe brands if it's a food I am unsure of - I also tend to shop for ingredients in the natural foods section of the grocery store since they tend to cater to all kinds of food allergies and have great labelling. But again, I still have to read the ingredients to make sure there are no traces of anything sesame...and then when they arrive to my house, I will have my aunt, uncle or cousin double check the ingredients before she eats anything. My cousin is 15 and well-aware of her allergy now and is learning to become an advocate for herself, but this wasn't always the case. She is very leery of eating at certain houses in our family because some aren't as good about checking labels - often she will eat before she goes somewhere or bring food with her. Since my mom, aunt, and SIL are gluten-free, I am used to cooking for someone with dietary restrictions, so adding nut-free to the mix is typically not a huge deal for me.
You know, I never really thought about the jelly jar issue until a few weeks ago when I was talking to someone else. I can definitely understand how someone might think they are being diligent and aware, but really, are missing something.
That's part of the reason why I am trying to gather so much information. I am sure there are things I am missing or not thinking about.
This sort of came out of the blue. My husband and I both love peanut butter and would eat it all the time. No history of peanut allergy on either side of the family. I was pretty surprised when Claire had a reaction.
What is your experience on packaged foods (crackers, cereals, etc.) that have the disclaimer that says 'processed in a facility that may contain peanuts or tree nuts.' Have those foods ever triggered a reaction?
Thanks, Tracy. I really do like the rule of having 2 people double check ingredients.
.
::sigh:: Ok so remember how I was all "I'm deathly allergic"? Well, I also live life on the edge a little bit. I'll eat M&M's no problem without even being worried about it even though it says "processed in a facility that also processes peanuts & tree nuts" on the bag. I probably shouldn't because I suppose there is always a chance a pb one made its way into my plain bag but I eat them anyway. Now, I won't eat granola bars that say they are peanut free but have that peanut processing disclaimer for some reason. I kind of judge product by product and it's been working so far. I obviously won't eat something that blatantly has nuts in it but if I eat something new that has the disclaimer and don't die, I assume that I hopefully won't die the next time.
I learned from my allergist that peanut allergies are not genetic so there doesn't have to be a reason why your daughter is allergic with no family history.
Just be careful if you or your husband make PB&J for yourselves. The oils from the pb can stay on your hands (and lips if you give her a kiss) so just be sure you wash up really well. Or make and eat your PB&J in a full body suit...
This stuff scares the crap out of me.
Our pedi says no PB til 2. That seems counter intuitive to me. I don't really get it as there's no solid evidence that delaying exposure prevents allergies, right?
LD, from what my allergist told me (and I do trust him... usually I take what dr's say with a grain of salt bc they are good at scaring you) if you're going to be allergic to peanuts, you're going to be allergic to peanuts. Whether you try pb at 14 months or 24 months, it's already decided.
I think a good way to test it out is to first NOT have the child digest it on the first try. Since a peanut allergy is not genetic, any child could potentially be at risk (not trying to scar you, but just saying.). I would first take a little bit of PB and rub a small amount on their forearm. If no redness or hives become present, you can most likely move on to the next step of actually digesting it. I'd start slow though with a little bit and then go from there.
ETA: I also have seen that pregnant women should not eat PB because it could present the allergy in the baby after birth. Well, I'm proof that's a bunch of BS because I obviously didn't eat PB while pregnant and my son is allergic as well. I think it all really depends who you talk to and honestly you're best just going with your own gut feelings most times.
Yeah, I trust my pedi but I am questioning his advice on this one.
I like the idea of the skin test. I was thinking along those lines.
What I've gathered from people that I've spoken too, is it seems like the allergists are telling parents that there is no reason to wait. There is no evidence showing that waiting can help to avoid an allergy. However, different pediatricians seem to be giving different advice about when it is okay to introduce peanuts (or other highly allergenic foods).
I was a little bit blase about the whole thing, b/c I never in a million years thought that peanut butter would be an issue. I've learned my lesson. However, I am glad that we know about the allergy sooner rather than later and we can be as careful as possible.
I was so worried about giving the kid peanut butter that I told my friend I was contemplating giving it to him in the hospital parking lot lol. For the record, she thought I was crazy. The kid isn't a huge meat eater so at his 12 month checkup the ped said start him on peanut butter.
I do not have a peanut allergy but we were very careful with introducing foods because when I was a baby I had severe food allergies and colitis. I couldn't have dairy at all. My allergy was so bad that I couldn't even eat chicken because I was sensitive to the hormones the chicken had from laying eggs. (I know I'm a freak) So we were extra careful in making sure he didn't have food too early.
I just made sure the first time he tried peanut butter that I was fully dressed and ready to jump in the car if need be and I also gave it to him when DH was home so there would be someone else here if we had to run to the hospital. My last precaution was giving it to him no where near nap time. I had this fear he would fall asleep and suffocate and I wouldn't know. (Did I mention I'm a freak?) He was fine and he loves PB&J. Which makes me happy because it's an easy meal to make!
I feel for those with the food allergies. It's no fun.