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Allergies and intolerances

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Original poster

peanut allergy advice please

8 replies

zookeeper · 28/12/2011 08:52

Hello

My dd (6) was diagnosed with a peanut allergy (as well as dogs and cats) earlier this year. It's only peanuts - eg she has nutella on toast a few times a week and is fine.

Does the "may contain nuts" include peanuts as over Christmas I've noticed a few "may contain peanuts " signs?

I know that she eats "may contain traces of nuts at her father's house (ex dp) without problem- should I be insisting he stops giving her such foods? It seems odd to suddenly ban stuff she regularly eats without problems but then maybe she's been lucky and has eaten products which may contain traces but don't IYSWIM.

Are there any guidelines someone can refer me to?

OP posts:

Ilovejellysweets · 28/12/2011 10:29

Please go to allergyni.co.uk. Maureen Paul will gladly answer any questions. You need to be very careful. My son is allergic to brazil nuts and hazelnuts. I wouldnt give him nutella because (as he's already nut allergic) he could take a reaction to the nuts in the nutella at any time. I'm not sure but I think it's hazelnuts in nutella. Best to avoid all nuts. Also insist that you have 2 epipens at home/for you to carry and 2 for school. Insist on 2 in case one doesnt work. I was told to do this by an allergy nurse. Don't forget about pesto, marzipan and things that are not immediately obvious to contain nuts but please contact Maureen.

Original poster

zookeeper · 28/12/2011 12:51

Thanks I will - bit confused that I haven't been told to avoid all nuts by her conultant! I have the two epipens though.

OP posts:

Lilpickle08 · 28/12/2011 16:57

Hiya Zookeeper, the whole thing is a minefield to be honest. My daughter was diagnosed as peanut and shellfish allergic a few months ago, her first consultant told us to keep giving her Nutella etc as she wasn't allergic to tree nuts and hadn't shown signs of being allergic to any - just peanuts. The 2nd consultant we saw however told us to ban ALL nuts as he said the chances of her becoming allergic to tree nuts stood at 40%, so best to avoid!! Arrgghhh! Tis so confusing and conflicting all this information...

We take the line of giving her 'may contain' products when we are with her, but at pre-school etc there is a total 'may contain' ban and we just don't go there at all. It's up to you to make those decisions though.... it's a tough call. We are also avoiding all nuts at the moment but I'm in two minds about it to be honest as I don't want her to become sensitive to other nuts.

Sorry, I know that's no help, but you will probably receive more conflicting information along the way!

dontletthebellsend · 28/12/2011 17:07

Dd's consultant told us not to bother avoiding other nuts but she isn't that keen on them anyway. I think most things these days have separate nut and peanut warning labels. I let her have may contain traces of nuts but not may contain traces of peanuts but tbh a lot of this allergy stuff is the blind leading the blind.

Original poster

zookeeper · 28/12/2011 18:15

Thanks for your replies - I feel better to think other mums out there are struggling with it all. It all seems such a minefield at the moment. I still wake up shaking from her reaction to peanuts - I really thought she was going to die in front of me. And yet before then I'm sure she'd eaten peanuts - well peanut butter) without problems. It's all a bit baffling.

OP posts:

Daftapath · 28/12/2011 18:35

My ds (10) is allergic to peanuts and hazelnuts (as well as other non food things).

We obviously avoid anything that lists these in the ingredients. He does eat many things that 'may contain nuts' if he has always had them. Tend to avoid anything that 'may contain hazelnuts/peanuts' specifically.

Ds has reacted to chocolate which had 'may contain traces of nut' on two different occasions, as a consequence, we avoid unfamiliar brands of chocolate that states this.

We try to get ds to only eat food that he is sure of when not with us and always say 'no' if no sure about something. However, when at home, with all his meds available, he is allowed to be more adventurous(!)

LiveYourBestLife · 29/12/2011 16:13

My DD (8) is allergic to all nuts, fish, egg & kiwi and was allergic to most foods from birth. I suggest your GP refers her to a specialist consultant who can perform an skin allergy test. Avoid at all costs 'may contain traces of nuts'. If you have medicine at home my consultant told me I can test a food item no bigger than a grain of rice, by brushing it lightly on her bottom lip, within seconds a reaction will occur then you will know before the matter becomes life threatening. Teaching my daughter to reject the food that makes her mouth tingle by spitting it out immediately has been a life saver. Good luck.

eragon · 29/12/2011 22:57

liveyourbestlife,

just out of interest did your doc ask that home testing should only be done if your child was perfectly healthy with good asthma control before carrying out test?

When i gave mango to my son for the first time, when he was young, we didnt even go for the lip first, we did the dab on arm, then on face, before we tried on lip. in the end was a safe food, and loves mango juice!

its very difficult to try new foods when you have a multiple food allergic child!

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