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Ultimate Dressage :: View topic - UPDATE: DS Peanut Allergy Confirmed

I had an awful day today.

DS went to a bday party, and DH or I ALWAYS stay for the whole party.

A friend from school was turning 5, and the party was at his house.

I stayed for a while, but I had talked to DS about leaving for a while and he was ok with it (he's usually very clingy).

I left for 1 hr, when I came back he was red & crying and said he was tired and wanted to go home.

I figured he was tired or something happened. He was very itchy, and a little short of breath (which I first thought was from crying).

But I checked his skin and he was quite rashy, I grabbed some Benadryl and called the mom from the party.

I asked if he had any snacks 'oh, not much, the kids had some fruit and crackers, oh, and I gave him some peanut butter'.

He has never had PB, so I didn't know if he'd react, but I (FOOLISHLY) assumed that group events with young kids were peanut free.

His preschool doesn't allow peanuts, and all of the school are peanut free. He was breathing ok, and I rushed him to the ER. He was given epinipherine, Zantac, a ventolin mask and a few other medications.

He was wheezy, covered in hives & feverish.

We were there for a few hours, and released with the IV attached 'just in case' I was told to take it out after 9, I had a nurse friend come over and do it. I'm soooo mad at the parents.

I know I didn't specify that he hadn't had peanuts before.

I'm mad at myself for leaving him there.

I'm mad at them for not supervising him (kids were playing on another floor, which only happened after I left). I know this could have been much worse.

My heart is still pounding. What do I do now?

Most foods say 'may contain traces of nuts'.

He's had things like corn flakes, shreddies, soda crackers, goldfish crackers etc for years.

Are they all unsafe for him now?

He loves hummus (chick peas), which are in a similar family, are they off the list now too?

I'll call my DR first thing tomorrow and get him in, he'll need a referral for allergy testing. Is it good that we know about the allergy, or did this exposure make it much worse? I'm so tired & stressed out. Any advice or support would be greatly appreciated. Hug your kids.

Life is so fragile. Last edited by orono on Thu Mar 05, 2009 9:08 pm;

Edited 1 time in total

Oh my God, how scary.

Are you sure it was peanuts?

Peanuts are in so many things I can't believe he's never been exposed to peanuts before. I wouldn't blame the other parents Orono.

I've had quite a few little ones over here and for the couple new ones I've asked if they have any known allergies.

I've never thought twice about feeding peanut butter.

It's a big fav here. I'm glad he's okay.

I'm very sorry you had a scary day with your son.

I'm glad he is doing better! But, I wouldn't think twice about giving a 5-year-old peanut butter unless explicitly told not to.

I can't imagine a child going 5 years without trying peanuts or peanut butter, especially since by not exposing them early you run a greater risk of developing an allergy. I think your next step would be to go to the pediatrician and get him tested for allergies as you really have no idea what he came in contact with that might have caused the reaction.

I agree you need to look into allergy testing.

I don't think you can be mad at the parents since you did not say no PB, we ate it all the time as kids! Kids do often grow out of allergies - my mom had a similar scare with me as a kid when I was stung by a bee.

But as an adult I have only been wasp-stung and at least I am not allergic to those.

I'll have to seek out a story from a few days ago about a group in England who built up immunity in kids by dosing them w/tiny amounts of peanut flour and increasing the dosage over the course of many months until the children were able to ingest 8 or so peanuts and not go into anaphylactic shock.

The gradual habituation was meant to prevent the catastrophic anaphylactic shock of just this type of accidental exposure your son experienced.

I'll go try to find the story for you.

Perhaps you can find American doctors who are willing to perform the same service here in the U.S.

Alex, I just read that study, it's very interesting and I do believe in desensitization can work.

We will be going for allergy testing. snowpony, I also ate it all the time as a child (and still do, well did).

It's just become such a hot button issue the last few years, it's almost unheard of. Zevida, we agreed (along with our pediatrician) that kids shouldn't be given peanut butter until they can tell you what symptoms they are having.

I think all kids in the house should be able to eat the same foods and since we have 2 younger sibs we decided to wait til everyone could have it.

We haven't restricted their diets for the most part, they've tried almost everything else. emmalou, it's the only thing that he ate that was different than usual.

We'll find out when we have allergy testing done.

Do NOT try to build up your child's immunity to a peanut allergy on your own. Okay -got that off my chest. Firstly, HUGS!

I have a daughter with a life-threatening peanut allergy (and asthma) and I know exactly how you feel.

When you discover the allergy it's like you are carrying around a ticking bomb in your pocket.

You never know when it will go off.

It's terrifying. But listen to me - this is do-able.

You will learn what you need to know and things will be okay.

Of course you will start reading labels and of course you need to think about how to talk to your son about this as he needs to be aware.

My daughter was diagnosed much younger then your son and for many years we had a family rule that no one but my husband or myself gave food to her at family events.

Even grandmas forget about these things.

(Or don't have the eagle eye vision necessary to read the teeny-tiny warnings on labels.) You will need to make up emergency kits to take with you.

In our kits, I have an epi-pen, Benedryl, and an emergency asthma inhaler.

I also have all of my and my husband's telephone numbers and her allergist's phone number, and Children's Hospital.

I keep one in the house, and one in my purse.

My daughter is in first grade and she also has one in her classroom and one in the school nurse's office.

When I drop my daughter off for playdates, I leave the kit with her just in case.

And I make sure the moms know how to use the epi-pen.

It's a pain, but oh well.

It's not cancer - it could be worse.

Truly. You will figure out which foods she can eat.

Snack foods are the hardest and we never go to Thai restaurants anymore.

We are comfortable with Goldfish crackers, Sun Chips, plain Ritz Crackers, Special K Bars (not the pecan ones, clearly), Fig Newtons, Pirates Booty - those are just a few.

For holidays Vermont Nut Free Chocolates on line has been a God-send.

If you live near a Trader Joe's, you are in luck.

They make a Sunflower Seed Butter that is BETTER than peanut butter and also makes delicious "Sunny Butter" cookies.

I read the label of everything I buy every single time as manufacturing practices change.

In doing this I have discovered that some, but not all Oreos are made with peanut flour.

And those refrigerated sugar cookie dough packs are weird, too.

Some have the warning and some do not, depending on where they are manufactured. The biggest pain in the ass are birthday parties.

My daughter cannot eat any bakery made cakes.

Commercial bakeries do not usually clean the equipement between batches - they just wipe it down.

So no grocery store cakes, cookies, muffins etc.

However, our local Krispy Kreme does not use peanut products.

We often stop by there on the way to a birthday party and pick up a donut, so she has something 'cake-ish' to eat when the other kids are eating cake. Halloween is another potential pain in the rear.

I let my daughter trick-or-treat to her heart's content.

Then we go through her candy and she gives me all the candy she can't have and I give her an equal number of candies back that she CAN have.

We just trade and it all works out. School parties are also hard.

Despite how hard the teachers try to protect our students (and they DO try hard in my experience) stuff slips through.

The choice is either to instruct our children not to eat ANYTHING that they didn't bring from home or to go to the party yourself and really supervise.

I always go to the parties as I don't want my daughter to miss out any more then she has to.

And again - you have to ALWAYS check the labels.

Last year conversation hearts were okay.

This year they have the nut warning on them.

It's maddening. You just have to be vigilant and really - you get used to it.

It's okay - it works out. Big hugs to you and please feel free to email me privately if you wish.

I so remember what it felt like when I first found out about my daughter's allergy.

It was so scary. The good news is that there is hope on the horizon.

My daughter's allergist is taking part in a study that he claims is very promising.

He believes that in the next five years or so, there will be a monthly shot that peanut allergy sufferers can take that will reduce fatalities in accidental exposure.

They are similar to the allergy shots that people with environmental allergies currently take. More good news is that in the five years that my daughter has dealt with food allergies I have seen HUGE improvements in labeling practices.

It is much easier now to make a decision about a food while you are standing in the aisle.

It used to be that you did separate research on line, called the companies, relied on word of mouth, etc.

Now most companies are labeling common allergens.

It isn't perfect yet, but far better then it used to be. Hang in there... Susan

You know, the fact that they gave it to him doesn't tick me off nearly as much as the fact that the didn't notice he was having a reaction.

It wasn't til I got there & he was red, puffy and crying that they said 'oh what's wrong, is he ok?'.

No one was checking on them.

I would feel differently if they had called or at least noticed and told me that he wasn't feeling well. Susan, I would NEVER try it on my own.

I have asthma, and am aware of the life threatening aspect of airway restriction.

So when did all this start? I'm 25 and don't remember a single kid in any of my classes having a peanut allergy.

I'm not THAT old! it's just unfathomable to me that kids don't eat peanut butter and bananas or peanut butter and celery (remember ants on a log?) for snack.

Probably the last 10 years or so...

Things are changing, that's for sure and I don't know why.

Peanut allergies are quite scary.

My daughter is only in first grade, but she did go to preschool for two years before Kindergarten and has yet to be the only child with a food allergy in her class.

I think we are all mystified about this. The fact that Mom has asthma is possibly linked to this.

Asthma, eczema and food allergies often go hand in hand.

And if you have asthma, you are at a higher risk for having an anaphylactic reaction to peanut - as opposed to just, say...

Getting a skin rash. Orono, I'm glad you won't be tinkering around with nut flours on your own.

I didn't think you would, but the idea admittedly freaked me out a little.

And I don't blame you for being upset that the parents didn't notice your child in distress.

I guess we can all just be thankful that you arrived when you did. Susan

Quote: : I can't imagine a child going 5 years without trying peanuts or peanut butter, especially since by not exposing them early you run a greater risk of developing an allergy. I think your next step would be to go to the pediatrician and get him tested for allergies as you really have no idea what he came in contact with that might have caused the reaction. I was told by the mom what he had eaten (fruit, cheese, a bun and peanut butter), it's the ONLY thing he hasn't had before.

The ER Dr said that they now think the sensitivity/allergy is caused in utero if the mother eats PB (which I did), or via breastmilk (I also ate it while nursing).

He thought it was good that he I waited, since he is older & bigger and his body can cope with the reaction better.

Also, he said that to have a reaction this severe he must have been exposed before. I suspect that the quality of nuts and types or roasting practices has changed (for the worse) over the years and is contributing to the increase in allergies. He will be fully tested as soon as we get in to see an allergist, which will be ASAP. Last edited by orono on Mon Feb 23, 2009 12:21 pm;

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I heard something about mold in the nuts possibly being a culprit.

But I don't know.

I think it may be more linked to our immune systems.

My daughter started out in life allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, white fish, and egg.

Thankfully she could have wheat and soy!

I always feel sorry for those kids.

Anyway, she has now outgrown all the allergies except for peanut/tree nut.

That one seems more likely to stay until adulthood, but I still get her tested every year just in case. Susan

Oh god, orono., how scary for you!!

Hugs to you and ds. I'm glad he is okay.

I haven't been in your shoes, but you can bet I'd be mad about the parents not noticing a reaction. And it makes me cautious about what I offer kids in MY home. Last edited by Shay84 on Mon Feb 23, 2009 1:25 pm;

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Jingles and hugs for the little guy.

Very scary!!!

Quote: : especially since by not exposing them early you run a greater risk of developing an allergy. Hey Zevida - not to be critical, just to clarify...

This is actually not true.

Pediatricians are now recommending that parents refrain from giving their child peanut products until they are three years old.

When my kids were little, it was one year old - but now they are being more cautious in response to the numerous peanut allergies that are surfacing. Susan

That's really scary.

I'm so glad you got him to the ER and that he's okay now, but sheesh, that was certainly a scary situation!

I'm so sorry you had to go through that.

My sympathies: my dd is allergic to peanuts and we had a close call a year ago.

We really dodged a bullet.

My mistake was not realizing that the reaction can worsen over time--even with no exposure.

So, while she hadn't had contact with peanuts in years--and all previous contact resulted in a mild reaction, this time, it was a full on BAD reaction.

Very scary. Through allergy testing we learned that she is also allergic to all legumes (peanuts are actually legumes, not tree nuts).

Orono, how are you all holding up this morning?

Quote: : Hey Zevida - not to be critical, just to clarify...

This is actually not true.

Pediatricians are now recommending that parents refrain from giving their child peanut products until they are three years old.

When my kids were little, it was one year old - but now they are being more cautious in response to the numerous peanut allergies that are surfacing. Unfortunately this article references a recent study showing that early exposure reduces, rather than increases, risk of reaction.

However, they do not cite the article, so I don't know which they are referring to: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7773210.stm

Never assume group events will be peanut free.

Ionly make my kids parties peanut free if i know allergic friends are coming.

(IE dd has 2 friends at school who are both bad peanut allergies- but DS has no friends) I"m so glad your son is OK

I went to high school with a girl who's at the time 9 year old sister had a peanut allergy, that was 10 years ago, so the girl was born in 1990 or so. I did read a study claiming that the U.S.

And England have more peanut allergies because women are less likely to eat those things while pregnant...and now even avoid them because they are told it wil prevent the likelihood of the baby having allergies, whereas countries like Thailand there are few peanut allergies because the pregnant women continue to eat peanuts throughout the pregnancy, and the babies are exposed early to peanuts.

So it seems like research is mixed even now. I'm glad your son is doing better, I can't imagine how scary it would be to have something like this to worry about whenever your child leaves the home.

Well, I know you can't really make assumptions based on only your experience.

That said, one of the things I craved during my pregnancy with my daughter was peanut butter.

My favorite snack was a Honey Crisp apple, sliced, with peanut butter spread on it.

I probably ate peanut butter almost every day during my pregnancy.

And now my daughter is severely allergic to peanuts. Susan

This 'allergy' stuff is all so scary.

I am stuck between a rock and a hard place myself.

I'll tell you what happened to me so that you don't assume that it was peanuts to blame. I had been feeling really awful for over a year, flu like symptoms, etc.

I went on an elimination diet on my own, all grains, dairy, etc.

Eventually figured out that grain was making me really ill, but I haven't been diagnosed with ciliac disease....symptoms are not right for it.

???? I was sitting on a load of wheat straw last fall, and after ten minutes I became extremely ill...vomiting, rash, problems breathing, etc.

I spent the next six hours in the ER on IVs.

Up till then I'd never had a problem with 'touching' or breathing in wheat dust, just eating anything containing wheat. An allergist spent hours doing skin tests on me, and the only thing he came up with was mold.

No wheat, peanuts, nada.

He thinks it could have been a mold or pesticide in the straw, but who knows. All I can say is that I cannot eat any grain, including liquid corn sugar or frozen kernel corn, but popcorn is OK.

I do not have a valid opinion as to what caused this reaction, but I do carry two epi-pens with me now.

This is the second anaphylactic reaction from 'unknown' causes.

The third was from medication.

Two doctors have said I cannot be allergic to both ingesting and inhaling/touching wheat...it isn't an allergy. No one is giving me any answers.

What I'm trying to say is to not assume that it was peanuts that were the culprit.

I never would have thought that wheat, which I've had all my life, would put me in the ER.

And maybe it wasn't really that...that's what's so scary. Good luck.

It is a long journey, but thankfully with precautions, your child can live a fairly normal life.

Like someone else said, much better than cancer.

Thanks for the support.

We are having some blood tests done which should be able to confirm if it's a peanut allergy. jesterjigger, I also ate PB regularly when pregnant, probably 1-3 times a week.

I don't know if that caused it, or helped it.

Like most things I'm sure it depends on the individual. whip, thanks for sharing your story.

It's scary when you don't have answers.

It's good that you know what you can & can't have, even if it doesn't 'make sense' to the medical community.

A close friends DD always reacts when eating certain things, but the allergist insists that it's not possible! The scary thing with allergies (or even sensitivities) is that you never know how severe the NEXT reaction will be.

Quote: : The scary thing with allergies (or even sensitivities) is that you never know how severe the NEXT reaction will be. Exactly. We have no idea if I really am allergic to Penecillan, but I'm not anxious to confirm, ya' know?

If you THINK you are highly allergic to something, why don't you get tested instead of not knowing??

Because if your uneducated guess is wrong and it's not penicillin you are allergic to but say amoxicillin, or the procaine in the antibiotic, you are playing just as fast and loose as if you didn't know anything. I recently read an article (which I will try to find and post the link to) about one of the issues with allergies is 'self-diagnosis'.

Someone has a reaction to something and decides "well it must be peanuts and I must have an allergy".

This is counterproductive on all counts. My allergies to animals and plants produce hives, wheezing - all that stuff Orono described her child as having.

The child had a reaction to something - but it could have been a dog, a plant, latex from the balloons, a mold on the floor.

To assume what it was before testing may throw off finding the real culprit.

Here is the article: http://www.salon.com/env/vital index.html Maybe he's a quack, but it sounded plausible to me.

Quote: : My allergies to animals and plants produce hives, wheezing - all that stuff Orono described her child as having.

The child had a reaction to something - but it could have been a dog, a plant, latex from the balloons, a mold on the floor.

To assume what it was before testing may throw off finding the real culprit. You're right, which is why he has been tested and we're awaiting results.

It's just highly coincidental that the first time he was given peanut butter he ended up in the ER.

We know he had a serious allergic reaction (first time in his life), and we will pinpoint exactly what the cause is.

Both DH & I are in scientific/technical fields, and want firm facts on health matters. Last edited by orono on Tue Feb 24, 2009 1:24 pm;

Edited 1 time in total

Quote: : If you THINK you are highly allergic to something, why don't you get tested instead of not knowing??

Because if your uneducated guess is wrong and it's not penicillin you are allergic to but say amoxicillin, or the procaine in the antibiotic, you are playing just as fast and loose as if you didn't know anything. Per MY DOCTORS over the years, testing me is not necessary, as I have had no other reactions to other ABs and simply avoiding Penecillan is easy. So it's not MY 'uneducated guess' but what my physicians have advised. Call me crazy for listening to several MDs.

But I didn't know that - all I had to go on was what Quote: : "We have no idea if I really am allergic to Penecillan" See?

Lack of information, once again, leads to problems! My original point, though, still holds.

People DO make assumptions and then don't follow through.

We all do it for all kinds of things, not just food allergies.

How scary. Glad your DS is okay.

The parents are REALLY ticking me off.

I saw the dad and he asked how things were.

He should have stopped there!

I realize that giving him PB was an honest mistake, but they're kind of joking about it!

Like I said before I'm more upset that the kids were left in another part of the house without being checked on for 30 mins 'because they were being quiet'.

Anyhow, I did talk a bit about how overwhelming it is now, and I said that we are awaiting blood results and that to get into see an allergy specialist (who does skin tests) can take up to a year. He actually said 'Why don't you put some peanut butter on his arm and poke him with a needle' He also said 'It can't be that serious or he would have reacted immediately' (full reaction took 30-60 mins to develop) I tried to get some actual worthwhile info on when they ate, he didn't know.

He said they had put pizza toppings on the buns and the kid next to DS said 'can I have PB instead'.

Since DS wasn't eating they asked if he wanted some too.

He insists that DS only licked it, the mom said he had a few bites.

I don't know if it's important to know the difference. 'Sorry it happened' would have been enough. Thanks for letting me vent.

Unbelievable. Dad clearly doesn't understand how upset you are.

As far as the amount of peanut butter he had, my understanding is it only takes about 1/8th of a single peanut to cause a reaction in allergy sufferers. Susan

UPDATE: The blood results are in, and the peanut allergy is confirmed.

At least we know for sure now.

I am very uncomfortable about being angry with the parents. Unless they had the information they would not have known to avoid PB and face it, the whole world is not peanut allergic. I do feel so badly for your son's experience and you are a good mother to have taken it seriously and getting him help so soon. But I think you are unfair to blame the parents.

Peanut free is not the norm in private homes, nor should it be unless advised otherwise.

Quote: : You know, the fact that they gave it to him doesn't tick me off nearly as much as the fact that the didn't notice he was having a reaction.

It wasn't til I got there & he was red, puffy and crying that they said 'oh what's wrong, is he ok?'.

No one was checking on them.

I would feel differently if they had called or at least noticed and told me that he wasn't feeling well. Did you read my post?

I was more upset that they didn't know he was having an anaphylactic reaction than the fact that they served PB.

Still, I would never give something like that without parent permission.

Maybe my anger is misplaced, but I AM still mad that something someone else did cause a life threatening reaction that landed us in the ER.

You must be completely overwhelmed.

I imagine only time and an established routine will help. Mother to Mother Hugs orono

Definitely scary.

Just try to slow your anger at the parents, though...

I would never think twice about serving peanut products unless otherwise told.

Plus, you yourself said that you didn't know it was a reaction at the time you picked him up...

So I would really doubt people who aren't his parents would. But the dad's reaction was a little off-base...

Then again, a lot of folks don't know how serious peanut allergies can be. Glad your son is diagnosed now and you can make sure he'll be safe in the future!

I understand your anger.

It's hard to imagine a parent who currently has small children that doesn't know the seriousness of a peanut allergy.

It's all over the news, pediatricians talk about it all the time.

The information is out there for parents to hear at every opportunity.

Now, if you didn't have small children, I can understand that you might not know.

In their defense, these parents may have assumed that by the age your son is now any peanut allergy would have already surfaced, and I suppose that would be understandable.

Missing his anaphylactic reaction is harder to forgive.

In any case, it is in the past and you now know what you have to work with.

I'm so sorry. Big hugs...

Email me anytime. Susan

Thanks for your reply Susan, I will keep in touch.

A friend of mine who doesn't have kids emailed me this: Quote: : "I had no idea that you couldn't give PB to young kids, however I don't have any and I stay out of the loop.

Any parent should make it a priority to know and CARE about such things." I should have mentioned that he hadn't had it before, but didn't think to.

I did ask what the kids were going to eat, and they didn't mention PB 'because it was a last minute thing'.

I know it didn't cause the allergy, and it is better that we know, it's just overwhelming.

I'd try to get the school to form a support group for families w/kids w/severe food allergies.

That would help w/both designing school faciliities to be peanut-aware and for parents to know they've got fellow sufferers who are coping w/the same issue even if from a different trigger food.

That would also help get the word out to parents of kids w/whom your kids are friends so there's no doubt in Sammy's mom's mind about what to serve at a birthday party.

Maybe you should think about forming a neighborhood group as well.

So glad your son was OK....

Discussion Title: UPDATE: DS Peanut Allergy Confirmed
Title Keywords: Ultimate  Dressage  View  topic  UPDATE:  Peanut  Allergy  Confirmed 



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