Peanut Allergy

[matey]

Allergy verified by blood test today. Anyway, any tips or advice from parents of kids with a peanut allergy? We are already dealing with egg. Just wondering if there is anything I need to know, like are there any foods that secretly have peanut in them and it is surprising? What about peanut oil? I have read that it doesn't bother people with peanut allergies, is this true?

[MariaMadly]

Re peanut oil, the allergist told us the same thing, but was careful to say it depends on how the oil's processed.  Her opinion is that peanut allergic individuals may be able to handle it if it's been processed at a high enough temperature to break down the proteins.  I have a soy allergic son who tolerates soybean oil -- same principle -- but none of us have felt comfortable taking the risk with peanut.  Too counterintuitive?

Labeling in the U.S., Canada, the EU, (Australia and NZ?  IIRC, anyway) requires that peanuts be indicated in layperson's language even if an alternate term (arachis comes to mind) is listed.  Same burden of reporting as eggs.  There's a toolbar on the top third of this page http://www.foodallergy.org/ that gives advice by allergen.

[matey]

Thanks for the info. I will check out the link.

[sbgrace]

Well, with tree nuts (I assume peanut and egg would be the same) we were told to call companies and ask if the item was produced on shared equipment with tree nut. Some label for those but others don't. Similarly we were told no bakery goods were safe because of cross contamination with tree nut containing baked goods. I do think there are dedicated allergen free facilities. I bring cupcakes I make to birthday parties, make their cake for their birthday, etc. I would assume peanut has similar risk but I don't know. Were you given an epi pen? I would want one just in case for peanut.

[matey]

Yes, we already have an epi because of egg and for that same reason, already avoid all bakery items. I too make my own for birthday parties, have a bag of frozen cupcakes year round.

[sbgrace]

You know, I don't think much is likely to change for you. Just like you did for egg, you'll want to be careful for cross contamination now for peanut as well. So you may have to contact some companies. But you're already living an allergy aware life and much of the restricted stuff is the same, the risk of anaphylaxis is the same, etc. Probably this won't be anything like the shocking entry into serious allergies that our foray into tree nut ana was! You're already living with that awareness.

[matey]

Originally Posted by sbgrace 

You know, I don't think much is likely to change for you. Just like you did for egg, you'll want to be careful for cross contamination now for peanut as well. So you may have to contact some companies. But you're already living an allergy aware life and much of the restricted stuff is the same, the risk of anaphylaxis is the same, etc. Probably this won't be anything like the shocking entry into serious allergies that our foray into tree nut ana was! You're already living with that awareness.

That is true. I guess it just feels different because his allergen level is higher with peanuts and because I have seen the reaction to peanuts. He's actually never consumed egg. We never got that far. As an infant he got hives if he was touched with it. My dh is a scooper with his toast and eggs and I noticed that dh was leaving welty finger prints on ds when he was shirtless.

With peanut, he was exposed around 3-4 times. I didn't even realize he was reacting t first. The puking was explained because a friend had the flu. DH and a friend thought I was overreacting when I said his face looked a little poofy. Then on the last exposure, I watched him swell and get hives and he was screaming. So each exposure was worse so I get nervous about what an accidental exposure would do if it happened again. It really has made me so scared.

I am especially nervous about our church situation. I dont feel like the nursery care workers take me very seriously when I talk to them about allergies. The education leader also frequent;y forgets and offers ds things like donuts. Truthfully, his egg allergy number is pretty low, so it may not affect him. But it's the carelessness that makes me fearful. I feel like we can't really mess around with peanut.

[sbgrace]

Ok. That does change things, yes.

With an anaphylactic child I wouldn't leave him alone with someone I couldn't absolutely trust until I knew he was old enough to never eat something offered. It does sound dangerous. I would keep your son with you in church and/or sit in the nursery. That's what I would do. I hate allergies.

[scsigrl]

Will post more late, but wanted to be sure you know that the numbers mean NOTHING.  A high vs. low number aren't really any different.  They are not indicative of how mild or bad a reaction will be in the future.

[shnitzel]

Have you used the words "he will die" when telling the nursery workers about his allergy?

My DH and his brother are both nut allergic (BIL also fish and dairy and dairy has put him in the hospital a couple of times) and people pay much more attention when you use the word die than when you merely say he is allergic and this is his epi-pen. I work as youth director at a synagogue (the parents of allergic kids love us because DH is allergic) and all the kids carry "emergency bags" with their epi pens. I think using terms like that make it more serious and reminding at each drop off and personally checking any snacks that are given are really important. 

Can you work on making the space a nut free zone. Our synagogue was even before we came there.

[matey]

I do tend to say things like "he could die" because that would certainly get my attention. Even after telling them about his egg allergy and using words like die and epi pen, I would walk in to the nursery and see a doughnut laying on the table. I have been trying to decide how I will handle the situation at church. Like, I know I should show them the epi pen again and tell them, once again, that it is very serious and could lead to death. It conerns me a lot that they don't have a way to contact me. I have a cell phone, so I can give them the number and say call it and I guess I can just clutch it the whole service. But then maybe it would be better just to keep him with me until I feel more like I can trust them. Maybe I need to sit down with the education leader and attempt to have a real conversation about it. She's a real flighy lady, always chatting and buzzing about. Maybe I should go in during a non-service time and have a serious sit down with her. Find out if he would ever have access to peanuts and maybe voice my concerns about the doughnuts sitting out. Maybe even talk about a paging system. The nurdery setting is seriously lacking. They dont even have us sign in. It's weird. It is my one problem with this church, the nursery, but it is turning out to be a pretty big problem.

I only mention the number for egg because we are actually on the waiting list for a food challenge in the dr.'s office, so I know they feel he has hit a safer point. But I do know that his reaction to peanuts could happen worse the next time. Ughh, I really REALLY didn't want a peanut allergy.

The good thing is that DS seems to really be getting it. He had already known that eggs were dangerous and so we have just been telling him that peanuts were too. In fact, the other day at a late Valentine's Day party, one of the mom's brought a bunch of candy. Among the candy were baby ruth's and butterfinger. This mom was actually in the room when I found out the peanut allergy was official, which I guess didn't phase her, since she brought death traps to the party. I am going to have to get a little more proactive and say, this food makes me uncomfortable, can we put it up. But anyway, one of the little boys was eating a baby ruth and shoved it in Jack's direction. I had been telling him all along that he cou;d'nt have the candy because it had nuts in it. And he told the little boy that he could eat peanuts. We praised him for that.

I also ordered a bunch of stickers that say "no peanut" and some buttons that say, " I have a food allergy please don't feed me"

[mbbinsc]

My DD is allergic to egg, dairy, peanut, tree nuts and shellfish.  I find the peanut easier to deal with as there is more awareness regarding the severity of peanut allergies.  After one trip to the ER,  a couple years ago, due to a small amount of accidental peanut in our home, I tried to make our church a safer environment for her.  I tried to get paging system, increased education, safe snacks,...but the response of the church was not fast enough to make it safe for my DD.  She remains with me during services and attends her Sunday school class (she is 5) where no food is offered.  Leaving her somewhere that posed a risk and another trip to the ER was not an option for me.  Now, she is better able to protect herself and won't take food from someone if it is not OK.

[matey]

I talked to my DH all about this last night and he is in total agreement with working on changes. In fact, he started talking about himself talking and emailing people. Probably for now, we will keep him with us and then start trying to make it a safer place.

[purplepaperclip]

Originally Posted by matey 

I talked to my DH all about this last night and he is in total agreement with working on changes. In fact, he started talking about himself talking and emailing people. Probably for now, we will keep him with us and then start trying to make it a safer place.

I think that sounds like a good plan. I wouldn't feel comfortable with leaving my daughter in a situation where she may not be kept safe or leaving her there while working on it. I would try to fix it before leaving her. I don't mess around with people not understanding or 'getting' it because for her, it is a life or death situation if they screw up.