severe peanut allergy. any experience?

[sbl]

My nephew has just received his test results back after a very bad allergic reaction.
Turns out he's extremely allergic to peanuts.
They're saying it's an airborne allergy. Meaning he wouldn't have to ingest anything to have a reaction.
Naturally his mum and dad are very worried.
As are all of the family.
We're particularly worried about Christmas.
So many foods contain traces of nuts.
I guess I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice about how we deal with it.
I know no nuts in the house while he visits but should we never have them?
He's only 3.
Just a baby to us.
He's a great eater but now he has to stop eating even things he has no reaction to.
Sorry for the long post but I'm clueless and I never want to put my nephew at risk.

 

[Palestrina]

I'm sorry to hear of this, as far as food allergies go the severe peanut allergy is the worst of its kind. I would focus on supporting his family as they adjust to this lifestyle change. He will have an epi pen with him wherever he goes and probably a wrist band as well.

I don't think this means you have to stop having peanuts though. Definitely get them out of the house before he comes and never eat peanuts on the day you are going to see him. Brush your teeth and wash up before you do just to make sure. If you're used to carrying nuts in your purse like I do you may want to have a separate purse just for visiting him.

If it's any consolation I've been hearing buzz lately that there is some headway into a cure for peanut allergies. It has something to do with gut flora.

 

[jd83]

I'm sorry to hear of this, as far as food allergies go the severe peanut allergy is the worst of its kind. I would focus on supporting his family as they adjust to this lifestyle change. He will have an epi pen with him wherever he goes and probably a wrist band as well.

I don't think this means you have to stop having peanuts though. Definitely get them out of the house before he comes and never eat peanuts on the day you are going to see him. Brush your teeth and wash up before you do just to make sure. If you're used to carrying nuts in your purse like I do you may want to have a separate purse just for visiting him.

If it's any consolation I've been hearing buzz lately that there is some headway into a cure for peanut allergies. It has something to do with gut flora.

This for sure. I'd say even a few days before you see him, stop eating those types of products to make sure its fully out of your system. I have a friend with a shellfish allergy, and if her hubby eats any, its around 48 hours before they can have contact. He doesn't purposefully eat it, but has eaten things unknowingly at first, then questioned it with the taste and found out it contained shellfish and had to avoid her until fully out of his system. So give yourselves a few days to get it out of your systems before seeing him, make sure its out of your house before he visits, check food labels, etc.

Holidays I'm sure will be difficult, but I think you guys will be fine once you learn more about menu changes needed to help support him. maybe it will be just a change in where you buy products for the holiday meal, to ensure they are more fresh, not made in factories that handle nuts, etc.

I think I'd get some books to read up on peanut allergies, common foods to avoid that you may not think contain them, etc so that you are more familiar with it to help prevent any problems.

 

[sbl]

Thank you ladies.
It's not something I've ever dealt with before.
I'm just feeling awful for them.
My brother is taking it badly and is completely wracked with worry.

 

[jd83]

Thank you ladies.
It's not something I've ever dealt with before.
I'm just feeling awful for them.
My brother is taking it badly and is completely wracked with worry.

I'm sure, I can't imagine how hard it will be to change diet completely. There are so many things out there that may potentially contain nuts; I think the beginning will obviously be the hardest. But as they educate themselves, get used to label reading, find out about safe brands to use, etc, it'll get easier and more accustomed to them to shop for him and their household.

School will be a whole other issue when he gets to that point, so they may need to discuss that with the doctor as well about what to do when there will be exposures at school. I remember they tried to remove peanut products from the school my kids will be going to a few years ago due to kids with allergies, and parents of non-allergy kids threw such a fit over it because it takes so much off their "easy" menu. While I can see being annoyed over removal of such an easy lunch item, its not worth another kids life.

 

[_jellybean_]

My son has a deadly peanut allergy. For a while we were allowed (as per drs) to give him food that "may contain traces of nuts," until he reacted with hives all over his face from m&m's (non peanut). Now dr said we can't give him anything that is even cooked in the same facility as nuts. It's VERY difficult dealing with food allergies. He's not just allergic to peanuts/treenuts. He has about 10 other common foods that he's allergic to.

Advice...let's see...

---read, read, re-read labels
---cook things fresh
---if he's in daycare/school, talk to them about having a nut-free classroom
---my son carries an Epi-Pen Jr (two of them), liquid prednisone, and benedryl with him EVERYWHERE he goes.
---don't eat something with nuts and then kiss him

Not really sure what else to say. Dh and I have a very difficult time with this. I'm constantly worrying that something will happen to him, God forbid. It stinks. On Halloween weekend, he had FOUR reactions! Four! Ugh.

Bottom line though is that you're going to be able to give him a very limited amount of processed foods.

We have to cook all desserts when we have family gatherings and since he has other severe allergies we have to always check with people if we're going to someone's house and make sure they're not serving anything with tomatoes or his other allergens.

 

[sbl]

Thank you

Most schools/crèches here are nut free so that in its self is something.

They are going to sils for Christmas dinner and tbh I think my mum is glad because she is just so worried.

My brother was actually saying about Halloween jellybean. He is adamant that my nephew won't get to do these things now.

Ah it's going to take time to adjust I guess.

 

[Palestrina]

I would encourage that your brother seeks out a support group of other parents who have children with this type of allergy. You can learn a lot from other parents who deal with these issues and it also may provide a safe environment to socialize as well.

 

[AnneD]

---my son carries an Epi-Pen Jr (two of them), liquid prednisone, and benedryl with him EVERYWHERE he goes.
.

Make sure he always has his epi pen and any other meds with him, and easily accessible - not at the bottom of the bag etc. And make sure everyone who is in charge of him knows how to use it and recognise when to use it.

And I second what jellybean says about eating nuts and kissing. My second date with my husband nearly ended being the last thing he did in his life because I had nuts in the morning. He kissed me and we ended up in A and E.

If you ever take him out to eat, make sure you let the restaurant know that he has a deadly allergy and any contamination with nuts can kill him.

 

[kanga]

I have this including airborne.

My grandad kissed me goodbye once after having eaten nuts. And my face blew up and I had a big reaction.

My mum out Vicks vapourub on my chest when I had a cold. And this brought me out in blisters (contains almond oil)

I was poking the bird feeder hanging on the washing line one day, with a stick. And a nut fell out and bounced off my face before hitting the floor. A another reaction (face swelling up and eyes closing)

Once I was playing cards with people who had eaten nuts earlier that evening in a different room. After half an hour I started reacting because the cards had nut reside on them. And I touched my face a few times which sped up the reaction.

These reactions don't need medical treatment each time. Just time to calm down by themselves. Easy with cool water and get lots of fresh air. Most of the time, by the next morning the swelling has all gone down and subsided. My eyes would often glue shut overnight though with all the puss that my body created to defend itself from the evil of nuts!

If I were to ingest a nut however that is a different story. And why you carry an epipen.

We have a no nut policy in the house. And my friends are happy to put the nuts away when I go round.

 

[kanga]

Overall though I wouldn't say its a massive massive deal or anything to be distraught about. It's very common and people are understanding. You control, along with the child, what goes in their mouth. I knew from a very early age that I didn't eat nuts and to read the packet and to ask In Restaurants and make sensible choices. It's as big a deal as you want to make it really. X

 

[icklemonster]

I'm sorry to hear about your nephew. Please don't be too alarmed though as pp said it is very common and they will learn to live with it. My DH is badly allergic to peanuts and most other nuts, he is also allergic to nearly all fish, pulses, peas and beans. Highly allergic to horse, and dust mites. He also has mild allergies to cats, dogs and rabbits.

When he was diagnosed with this ridiculous list of things around the same age his parents were beside themselves with worry. Age 33 he leads a relatively normal life, as he has learnt to live with his allergies. When we first got together it took a while for me to adjust and I had to change my own diet (I basically haven't eaten a nut since we've been together) but honestly, we eat out all the time and it doesn't stop him doing anything. The main danger is on holiday as people put strange ingredients in things you think are safe and don't always understand. Once there was fish in a salad that he wasn't expecting and while he started to struggle to breath he quickly took an antihistamine and didn't need to resort to his pen.

The good news re foods is that DH is currently taking part in a medical study funded by the Foods Standards Agency as they want to ban manufacturers sticking 'may contain traces of nuts' on literally everything. DH is currently being fed the most minute amounts of nuts until he has a reaction. Obviously when he has a reaction he is in hospital. He was really keen to take part in the study, even though it will cause him some discomfort, he is fed up with the current labelling on products xxx

 

[sbl]

Thanks for all the advice ladies.

 

[Thurinius]

As an adult with a peanut allergy I would advise training up your nephew to always ask if something contains nuts. That what my parents trained me up to do and it has served me well even if you do feel a bit of a tit asking if a salad contains nuts!
Also if he's not sure train him up to not risk it. Your family will soon adjust. Though I'll warn you he'll end up avoiding certain types of cuisine entirely, such as Indonesian because they contain a lot of peanut or cooked in peanut oil.
I'll admit I try things that say 'may contain nuts' I'm kind of lucky that my allergy predates this crazy signing on everything so I was already aware that non peanut m&ms and yorkie bars for instance taste very nutty to me.

 

[sophxx]

I have this including airborne.

My grandad kissed me goodbye once after having eaten nuts. And my face blew up and I had a big reaction.

My mum out Vicks vapourub on my chest when I had a cold. And this brought me out in blisters (contains almond oil)

I was poking the bird feeder hanging on the washing line one day, with a stick. And a nut fell out and bounced off my face before hitting the floor. A another reaction (face swelling up and eyes closing)

Once I was playing cards with people who had eaten nuts earlier that evening in a different room. After half an hour I started reacting because the cards had nut reside on them. And I touched my face a few times which sped up the reaction.

These reactions don't need medical treatment each time. Just time to calm down by themselves. Easy with cool water and get lots of fresh air. Most of the time, by the next morning the swelling has all gone down and subsided. My eyes would often glue shut overnight though with all the puss that my body created to defend itself from the evil of nuts!

If I were to ingest a nut however that is a different story. And why you carry an epipen.

We have a no nut policy in the house. And my friends are happy to put the nuts away when I go round.

Just curious Vicks doesn't contain almond oil now did it use to?

 

[_jellybean_]

Yes--I agree with a pp about training. My son and I both have deadly nut allergies (and toooooo many other ones too) and when we found out about them, we explained them to him (over and over again). He can name what he's allergic to (well, most things) and although right now he's not under anyone's care who would give him something that he can't eat, we will teach him to ask if something has nuts/fruit, etc., in it when he begins school (not daycare).

He knows what his Epi-Pen is too. Make sure that everyone is trained in using an Epi-pen (but they are easy to use).

Oh, and when he got welts all over his face or on his belly, we had him look in the mirror at them so he understands better what happens when he eats something he shouldn't.

Most of the tragic reactions I've read about have been when the person did't have access to epinephrin.

 

[kanga]

I have this including airborne.

My grandad kissed me goodbye once after having eaten nuts. And my face blew up and I had a big reaction.

My mum out Vicks vapourub on my chest when I had a cold. And this brought me out in blisters (contains almond oil)

I was poking the bird feeder hanging on the washing line one day, with a stick. And a nut fell out and bounced off my face before hitting the floor. A another reaction (face swelling up and eyes closing)

Once I was playing cards with people who had eaten nuts earlier that evening in a different room. After half an hour I started reacting because the cards had nut reside on them. And I touched my face a few times which sped up the reaction.

These reactions don't need medical treatment each time. Just time to calm down by themselves. Easy with cool water and get lots of fresh air. Most of the time, by the next morning the swelling has all gone down and subsided. My eyes would often glue shut overnight though with all the puss that my body created to defend itself from the evil of nuts!

If I were to ingest a nut however that is a different story. And why you carry an epipen.

We have a no nut policy in the house. And my friends are happy to put the nuts away when I go round.

Just curious Vicks doesn't contain almond oil now did it use to?

I guess so

 

[DaisyAnne]

This is probably the most overwhelming time, right when you find out and have to make some major changes. My son is thankfully not allergic to peanuts or tree nuts, but he is in a very, very small percentage of children who has a life-threatening allergy to dairy (like he's actually had an anaphylactic reaction from accidentally ingesting milk before we knew how bad it was and gone to the ER for drinking water after someone who'd had dairy on their lips- he'll even react if he's been kissed hours after you've eaten dairy, etc.). I'm so grateful, though, that we do not have to worry about the airborne side of an allergy.

Now, we do have a child in our playgroup with a severe peanut allergy and another allergic child that comes over for play dates. I typically forbid anyone in the house to get the peanut butter/peanuts out for 3 days before they come over, take the time to sanitize surfaces/kitchen, etc. from peanuts (use normal household cleaners, but not dish soap). Also, when we do eat peanut butter in our house the rest of the time they're not coming over, it's now our general house rule that a) it must be eaten up at a table and b) we wash up from the peanut butter immediately before moving about the house/touching toys, etc. This just makes me feel more at ease about keeping it cleaned up in general between their visits.

In general, his parents will likely end up providing most of his food when they come over (I think most food allergy parents that have to be that strict end up getting used to that), but if you do make something for him to eat make sure to discuss with the parents beforehand to see if they're comfortable with it and any special instructions they want you to follow. If I'm making something for our peanut- allergic friends to eat, I use a fresh sponge and wash all the bowls and utensils again that I'm going to use and make sure to keep all the food labels (or take pictures of them on my phone) so the parents can read them for themselves. I also open new containers of certain things (like a new jar of jelly, for example, or a new tub of our [vegan] butter since knives often get dipped back into those things from other foods, etc.).

Something you could do that could help them out is to start reading labels in the grocery store and look for things that are advertised as made in a peanut-free facility- even try out a thing or two for them if you like- and let them know what you've found. It took us a little bit to discover things we could buy for our son, we always appreciated others recommending things for us to try- it opened up a lot more possibilities!

 

[DaisyAnne]

Oh! Another helpful thing you can do is advocate for safe food items when you're together with your family over the holidays. Being such a young age is a little different than an older child or an adult dealing with it. Whenever a family member or a friend advocates to the group for having safe food and safe practices for our child, it means a lot to us. Sometimes from my point of view it can feel like people don't think we have the right to ask for anyone else to change anything just for one person. But the truth is that dealing with allergies this dangerous (esp. the airborne part) with a child that young means his whole circle does need to pay attention to it. It takes a load off if someone else helps us advocate