Very mild peanut allergy in adult - can it get worse?

[Roomination]

For as long as I remember I get a tickly cough if I eat peanuts. It starts as soon as I eat them. No other symptoms. A year ago I was prescribed naseptin cream for a chronic staph infection in my nostrils. Within a day or two of using it I started sneezing which got worse and worse. After a week of constant violent sneezing and streaming nose I had to stop using it . GP said to leave it a few weeks and try again. Same thing happened. The GP couldn’t think of an alternative treatment and referred me to ENT. Very long wait to see someone, but at the appointment the specialist asked if I was allergic to peanuts as Naseptin contains peanut oil. I said got an annoying cough when I eat them but that’s it. He prescribed a different antibiotic cream without peanut oil, and I’ve been using it for two months with no problem at all.

As things are there’s not really a problem, but could a mild intolerance develop into a proper allergy? Do I need to cut out peanut products?.

Hi yes afraid so. Peanut allergies can be really unpredictable, so you might not react massively one day, but then the next you could go into anaphylactic shock.

You should really be referred by your GP for allergy testing and to get an epi pen just in case. Better to err on the side of caution really.

My daughter has a peanut allergy so I speak from experience and know a lot about allergies!

littlebabycheeses99. Sorry your DD has this. Good to know because ENT guy was understandably just focussed on sorting out the infection I was seeing him about and I didn’t think to ask what to do about a potential peanut allergy. From what you say I think I better ask GP for an allergy test. Thanks for your advice.

I thought allergic reactions got worse with each exposure but intolerances are different... but I would want to know for sure which one I had, because you don't want to find out you've got a peanut allergy when your airways close up!

My DH is allergic to all nuts and his reaction gets progressively worse the more he's exposed, but that's not the case for everyone.

Unfortunately yes, peanut allergies get worse rather than better the more you are exposed to the allergen. So, a relatively mild allergy can develop into a serious one. What you describe sounds quite mild though, perhaps it's a sensitivity? When I was diagnosed I had already had a few anaphylactic shocks. In all honesty I've never heard of a mild peanut allergy, so I'm not much help there, it it's not something to be taken lightly - I've danced with death on a few occasions.

Also you may have to go private for an allergy test. My GP wouldn't refer me as at that time I hadn't ended up in A&E yet

There’s no such thing as a mild allergy, only mild reactions. If you have an IgE allergy to peanuts then yes you could have a severe reaction. Some factors can increase the chance of a severe reaction but the absence of them does not mean you will only have a mild reaction.

Tarantella6. Thanks for replying. That’s what I thought, that allergies got worse with each exposure. But apart from the tickly cough and now this naspetin reaction, I’ve not thought anything of it over the years. And I’m over 60 so it’s been a thing for a long time. I had bad eczema as a baby and in my teens but not since and used to get a severe itchy rash from old fashioned zinc oxide tape. Oh and my entire hand swelled after a wasp sting (I’ve run like hell whenever a wasp is within range so luckily have avoided further stings), but there is lots of hayfever, medication induced rashes and eczema throughout my DFs side of the family.

I agree it must be an intolerance not a true allergy. I agree there’d probably be a very very long wait for an NHS referral as I’ve had no severe reaction and I’ve got past 60.