Could this be a peanut allergy or intolerance?

[luckymamaoftwo]

Hi there,

DS is 2 1/2 and from the time that he was born until around 12 months, I suspected food allergies and intolerances because every single diaper he ever had looked full of mucus, he had eczema, terrible gas and bloating and was generally grumpy.  Nothing was ever confirmed though (I did do ED for PB, dairy and soy). Things seemed to mellow out and I also laid off of my suspicions. 

Fast forward to now, when he is 2 1/2 and still has pretty awful poop. In the past several months DH and I recall seeing only a few solid poops. I am again suspecting PB and peanuts. I've noticed when we've skipped his favorite PB sandwich, he tends to have more normal poop for a day. This morning, he had PB on his waffle and two awful poops in the past hour have occurred. 

Also, he has had several random vomiting episodes and the last three I realized happened immediately after he ate either a cashew or a Lara bar with a cashew in it. Like immediate vomiting, then he is fine. 

Could these be signs of an allergy? I guess I always assumed a nut and peanut allergy would cause breathing issues, not poop and vomiting issues. 

Please share your thoughts with me so I can determine whether or not we should do some allergy testing once and for all. Our dr wasn't a big fan of testing back when DS was a baby, but now he may be more likely to refer us. 

Thanks!

[SweetSilver]

Yes, immediate vomiting can be a sign of allergy.  Not all allergic serious allergic responses involve swelling, hives, etc.

I would immediately take your son off the cashews.  That sounds serious, IMO.  And I would lay off the peanuts, too.  It will not affect the allergy test to have him off these foods.  And yes, time for tests.

Doctors often forgo allergy testing in babies for various reasons, some iffy, IMO, some not.  But one thing is for sure-- allergies in kids this age come and go.  You might not have a positive result for things that months later become severe allergies.  And he might test positive to an allergy that fades a year or two later.

However, this new reaction to cashews should alert his ped to give you that referral ASAP.  You might not get any new information from his allergy tests, but you can get a Rx for an EpiPenJr., and the referral allows you to contact the allergist's office and nursing staff directly when you need help.

[luckymamaoftwo]

Thanks, SweetSilver. Sounds like I should schedule an appointment with our doctor.

Regarding the cashews, I was wondering if I should "test" my theory one time before making the appointment (with Benadryl on hand) but perhaps a bad idea? Just was considering it because my suspicion is based on memory from those most recent three vomiting episodes post-cashew.

I also wonder if 2.5 years of abnormal stooling could be causing damage to my poor guy's system? Yikes, I'm feeling guilty.  :(

[SweetSilver]

Benadryl is not going to help if your son is vomiting.

No, I think the immediacy of the reaction is enough that you should take this quite seriously.  And your doctor should take it quite seriously as well.

You have good information on your side.  I don't think you need to test this again at home.

[scsigrl]

Originally Posted by luckymamaoftwo 

Regarding the cashews, I was wondering if I should "test" my theory one time before making the appointment (with Benadryl on hand) but perhaps a bad idea? 

Very very very bad idea.  Nothing stops anaphylaxis.  Benadryl will not stop it. DO NOT MESS WITH THIS.

Get to an allergist. A good one will only test for things you have seen a reaction to (cashews). The GI issues may be an intolerance which won't show up in an allergy test. I would be more inclined to do an elimination on it to see if symptoms continue when it's removed.  There are other sub for peanut butter (soy butter or sunbutter perhaps? That's what we use).  

Again, don't try it. It really isn't worth it.When they do oral challenges at the Dr. there is ALWAYD epinephrin on hand. 

[luckymamaoftwo]

Okay, many thanks.

I thought I should also add that although DS's eczema cleared around 12 months, he has always had very "bumpy" skin on his upper thighs and all over arms. Nowhere else though. These tiny little bumps look almost like teeny pimples. Could be another symptom?

[luckymamaoftwo]

Thanks, scsigrl.

We did sunbutter until he was 2 and he liked it, so I'm going back to that for sure. 

Really appreciate your advice. When I was knee-deep in all of my concerns/suspicions years ago, I often felt like I was making everything up..imagining his symptoms. But I never shook the feeling that things just weren't right. Like his diapers full of mucus...nobody would confirm that this wasn't "right" but I felt like something was wrong and now I'm kicking myself for not doing the darn testing years ago. 

Live and learn, I guess. 

[luckymamaoftwo]

A grand total of 4 mucousy, awful poops today. Poor babe. Gotta get this figured out ASAP.

[SweetSilver]

If he's only been a couple of days without peanuts this could still be the problem.  You might find some immediate affects of problem foods, but some problems persist.  Of course, after a few days if you don't see improvement or it gets worse, there  is something else.

I disagree a bit with scsgirl about the extent of testing.  Our allergist (a perfectly good one, I think) does test for a *limited* range of foods in addition to the known allergens.  If your eliminations don't eliminate the mucous, I would test for the common allergens (dd's first test was 8 foods).  I do agree that at some point "fishing" for allergies when there are no indications is not advisable.  Certainly, there is nothing wrong with just looking to confirm the suspected allergens.

Of course, if the cause of the mucous is an intolerance, it will not show up on the test.  Just because you only see the digestive troubles doesn't mean this isn't an allergy.  And sometimes the swelling is there and not easy to see, but can be felt by the allergy sufferer.  For me I can feel peanut swelling in my eyelids, and feel my lungs swell just enough that I cough when I take a breath.  But anyone looking at me isn't going to see this.

[scsigrl]

Originally Posted by SweetSilver 

I disagree a bit with scsgirl about the extent of testing.  Our allergist (a perfectly good one, I think) does test for a *limited* range of foods in addition to the known allergens.  If your eliminations don't eliminate the mucous, I would test for the common allergens (dd's first test was 8 foods).  I do agree that at some point "fishing" for allergies when there are no indications is not advisable.  Certainly, there is nothing wrong with just looking to confirm the suspected allergens.

Allergists have recently been told not to "fish" for allergies as it leads to limiting a diet unnecessarily in may cases. With a 50% false positive rate, testing for only things there have been known reactions to means you pinpoint the problem while not limiting things you don't need to. This isn't the way were were dx and I am not happy about that. We were put on a very limited diet based only on testing to many things. My DS has "outgrown" things that I and his current allergist think may never have been a problem to begin with. So this isn't just "my" idea. This is what allergists are being taught and retaught now.

Again, every family must do what they see fit. I just hate to see anyone severely limit a kids diet unnecessarily.