DS is now in the 'down-dosing' phase of this ie it's 2 years since he started the original treatment and he is about to go onto 1 dose a week for the foreseeable future.
The maintenance dose (which he's been on for the past 18 months or so) before down dosing is equivalent to 2 peanuts a day.
He isn't able to pro-actively eat peanuts - that isn't what the treatment is aimed at, it's designed so that if he accidentally eats some he won't go into anaphylaxis. Think of it as being able to go into a Chinese restaurant - he can't order the chicken satay but if there is a bit of cross contamination or a peanut in the special fried rice he won't die. Whilst on the 2 peanuts a day maintenance dose he had one accidental eating of peanuts - he knew immediately as he felt 'funny' but a standard dose of antihistamine sorted him out - prior to the treatment there was every chance he would have gone into anaphylaxis so we've already seen the benefits.
The main benefit is the 'peace of mind' in terms of accidental eating of peanuts through cross contamination, mislabelling, or more likely as he gets on his teens (but hopefully not) being a dick and not checking something properly. In all seriousness this was the huge benefit in my eyes - it's fine (or at least manageable) when they are small but the idea of him in his late teens, drunk, going for a curry and either forgetting to check/not wanting to make a scene and eating peanuts terrified me!
In terms of the treatment itself the initial treatment before you go onto the maintenance dose is intensive - it's every other week and you are at hospital for pretty much half a day by the time they've done the checks, given you the dose and then you have to wait under observation for two hours. It's a huge commitment in terms of time for a parent and the child and you will need to work around the missed school etc. Depending on how far from Addenbrookes you are you are looking at missing 10% of their schooling for pretty much a whole term if you have to take the full day for appointments.
DS was reasonably ok with the updosing every time. It used to make him feel a bit rough for a couple of hours whenever the dose increased and for a few days afterwards. You also have to work out how to fit the dose into your daily routine as they have to be observed for a couple of hours afterwards and can't be too tired etc or run around for those 2 hours. You also become masters at mixing it into different yoghurts etc as the kids really cannot stand the taste of peanuts (which is a great thing).
For us though the benefits are amazing, at DS recent skin tests it was gobsmacking how much smaller the hive was (he still does react to peanuts but at a much lower level). He's also not allergic to any other nuts so can now eat Nutella, walnuts etc whenever he likes.
It's not cheap and it's such a shame it isn't available to everyone as it truly is life changing. I'm eternally grateful we've been in a position to do it both in terms of the money and the initial time commitment.