DS to avoid nuts - I need your advice

[trigger2]

Hi

My son is 11 & has asthma, eczema and recently diagnosed with hayfever. After telling me his throat felt funny, described as if something stuck in it & feeling tingly and itchy, after eating a couple of chocolates containing what we think were hazlenuts, the GP is arranging a Rast test to check for various things. (He also felt similar after having a little nutella and some crunchy nut cornflakes - not together !)

I've been told to avoid anything with nuts possibly in them, so I am looking for advice as there are so many warnings on products, some say may contain traces of nuts. Now I appreciate he may have had nuts in other products such as cooking sauces, cakes, biscuits. But I'm just wondering how far do I go to avoid them ?

My second question is that his is getting tested next week, should he then consume the nuts before the test or will it work even though he's been avoiding them ? I'm unsure how the Rast test works.
I would appreciate any advice

regards

trigger

The anaphylaxis campaign gives good advice about but allergies and allergies in general. They advise avoiding "may contain" foods as ultimately they could contain a trace of the allergen, and this could trigger a serious reaction.

My dd is allergic to milk, eggs and nuts and we avoid anything that says "produced in a factory" and "may contain" nuts. Other people are not so cautious but we are not willing to take the risk at the moment.

Thank you Haverina, I've just been looking at their site. I've also been looking at the supermarket sites and other food manufacturers, I've found Sainsburys to be the best so far. The GP said in her opinion it is unusual for a tree nut allergy to start suddenly at his age but she did say he needed tested quickly. I'm really hoping it's not, it must be such a huge thing to live with, my heart goes out to your DD, that must be hard for you x

It probably is unusual but it does happen - you can develop allergies at any time I'm afraid.

The initial shock of having a child with a nut allergy is scary - it does limit you when out socially and in the shops but, at the same time, it shouldn't limit his diet much either - he and you will just need to become good at reading labels.

Hope the tests go ok. I have no experience of rast tests, my dd had skin price tests instead.

you dont have to eat the allergen for the allergy to show in the blood.
the rast test is a blood test which will measure the reacton to an allergen and blood. also measure the ige rating to indicate allergy etc.

avoid nuts until given all clear.

test will take 2 weeks for results usually.

fingers crossed he is allergy free!

Thanks everyone, I am keeping my fingers crossed that results will be clear. In a way I hope it shows something as it might give us some answers, but I really hope it's not nuts.
I have been scouring Sainsburys nut free list from their website, all 91 pages of it, well worth a look. Their website seems to have much more info than any of the other supermarkets.
Thanks again :-)

yes as others have suggested avoid all nuts and may contains. Also carry some piriton or cetirizine with him at all times until tests are done and medical advice given re medication required.

Dd was diagnosed with an allergy to hazelnuts when she was 7. It does change your life a bit as you have to be super careful where you eat but with time you become used to it. We always have cetirizine with us plus 2 jext pens, and you need to make school aware.

Kids parties are a pita as we avoid all packaged confectionry. I send her with her own food as you cannot be too carefully.

She had a similar reaction to a chocolate coin as your son.

My ds2 appeared to have no problems with nuts until last year when he suddenly had an anaphylactic reaction to a food that contained a trace of a peanut. He has just tested positive for all nuts as well as peanuts even though he used to eat hazelnuts and almonds without any problem when he was younger. Because he reacted to a trace, we have to avoid them but I don't know how many nut allergic people generally do avoid traces. Some people don't seem to so maybe not everybody reacts to traces, I don't know.
It does get easier to manage practically as you learn what to buy and not to buy. I have found it very hard though and even after 8 months, I sometimes find it hard to get my head round and wonder if the test was wrong! Not that I'd ever risk it, just wishful thinking I think! :(

Thank you all. We've been for the tests this morning so it's just waiting now. The doc said they'll ring if anything shows up, but unsure how long it may take and we're to continue avoiding nuts in the meantime.
I should say I've found Walls Calippo and Mini Twisters are both nut free - useful in this weather !
We're off to a bbq on Saturday so I guess I'll be hitting Sainsburys again beforehand and taking safe stuff. I haven't even thought about things like rolls, crisps, nibbles, sauces at these things, but hopefully he'll be busy enough to not feel as if he's missing out on anything.

also check with bbq host that they wont b putting out bowls of nuts etc.