How do I test for nut allergy

[car25]

I have no reason to believe my LO has an allergy, but my child will be starting nursery soon so I would like to know either way.

Is there any way to test myself (ie I'm thinking maybe put a small amount of peanut butter on child's arm?).

A friend's child had a severe reaction to peanut butter and now has to carry an epipen, so I'd like to know if there is a "controlled" way to test.

Thanks.

Allergies can come at any time, my son's nut allergy didn't start until he was nearly 5 and had been at nursery for over 2 years. There were no warnings in those days and he had been eating things like peanut butter and chocolate spread (ground hazlenuts in it) for years before with no problem.

Allergies never appear until the 2nd or subsequent exposure, so if your child has never eaten peanuts then there will be no reaction the first time anyway.

My DD had a reaction to peanuts with her first exposure when she was 7 months old. I tested by dabbing some peanut butter on her cheek. I really ought not to have done, because I already knew she had a cows milk protein allergy.

Had to get anti-histhamine down her quickly. She now carries an epipen just in case, because the next reaction could be much worse.

So, the moral to the story is, dont test yourself. Go to the GP if you have concerns.

You cannot get a reaction on the first exposure, your daughter must have had another exposure first even through breast milk or something else

The body needs to recognise it to then have a reaction to it.
www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000812.ht

www.palmbeachpost.com/health/healthfd/shared/health/adam/ency/article/000812.html

thats right, I have heard that too. I had never fed my daughter peanuts,she had her first reaction after eating it for the first time to my knowledge but she had fed squirels peanuts and been around exposure to us eating them ect prevously.

It would have been through b/milk, albeit v small quantities. Point being, they dont have to have physically eaten it to facilitate a severe reaction. Quite scary to think about.

In my case I think it was in pregnancy. I had cravings for peanut butter on toast which i had every day for breakfast during my pregnancy.
Son is 11, they didn't start giving warnings to pregnant women until after he was born. Hubby is allergic to brazil nuts so he was high risk anyway.We both have hayfever & eczema
Daughter (9) shows no signs of allegies at all.

my GP recommended touching a small amount of new food on their lip or cheek before feeding it to them. The other day I kissed my 6 month old on the cheek after I had peabut butter and he got welts! very scary and of course I blame myself

The thing is that is very difficult to know if your child has been totally peanut free. I was extremely careful about nuts about the misery of eczema during his first years and he had a reaction to the first peanut he put on his mouth. Seeing things in retrospective and with the knowledge I have knwo, I think the first exposure could have been through Kamilosan which at the time had arachis oil, or, the bath oil prescribed for eczmea which we used every day for month on end and which had a 10% of peanut oil.

Having said all that, if your child has never had a reaction before, he is likely to be part of the great and huge majority of people who don't and won't suffer from peanut allergy, so I wouldn't worry for that. Besides, the allergy testing services in the country are very very reduced, many children who have already had serious reactions have to wait months if not years to confirm an allergy they have clear indications to have. So I would beg to you not to take the place of a child who might be in more real need for such resources if you have no clear indications of a propensity to food allergies.

Avoid nuts until he is 3 years old if this worries you, that would be enough to protect him.

Sleepisfortheweek, shocked at the ignorant suggestion of your GP , actually I'm not quite sure why I am so surprised if there's one thing I have learned in these years of food allegies is that the great majority of GPs don't have a clue about food allergies.

The last thing you would suggest to a child with suspected peanut allergy is to get him near peanuts

Also don't go to anyone like Kinesiology, Vega Testers, hair tests sold etc in health food shops etc.
They cannot diagnose allergies, blind tests prove this as fact.

I don't think sleepisfortheweak's child was suspected of nut allergy and it isn't bad advice for the vast majority of children with no family history of allergies. You'd be doing well to get a referral out of a gp without any clinical reason to suspect an allergy.

However the advice we got

Don't carry out any tests until the child is at last 12 months and wait until 3 if there is any history of allergy, asthma or eczema. Then

1. Put a small amount of peanut butter on the skin of back or arm (either arm). The back means they don't see if it goes red.

1. If there is no sign or redness or a rash after 15 minutes put a little on the skin of the face.

1. If there is still no sign of a problem after 15 minutes wipe a trace on their lip

1. If all these tests are passed with no sign of redness or swelling let them eat a tiny amount.

Keep an antihistamine like pirtion by you and at the first sign or rash or redness give 5 ml. Then take a picture because you'll need it to get your gp to refer you for testing.

Wait until at least 5 before letting them eat an actual nut because of the choking risk.

By the time children get to nursery age they have usually been exposed to traces of peanut protein. This is possibly from cheap icecream or chocolate or eczema creams. Some children's vitamins have peanut oil although it isn't supposed to be a problem.

Peanut protein is difficult to remove with just water so a child feeding peanuts to squirrels may well have got a trace in their mouth next time they ate something.

Any parent of a nut allergic child going to secondary may want to check if the healthy eating policy including selling nuts. It's always wise with a new school to check when the staff last had epipen training.

Tatt, are you aware that one of the concerns in the research of peanut allergy is that that elusive first contact with peanuts is through contact with the skin? The NHS published something about this more than 3 years ago. So... no fiddling with peanuts if a peanut allergy is suspected, especially when you are not in a controlled environment where help may arrive too late.

If your child has a propensity for peanut allergy, rubbing peanuts on the skin could end up having the same effect as eating them, some people don't have to eat them to get an allergic reaction, even skin contact with the allergen is enough.

Chandra I've seen the resarch suggesting that peanut allergy is higher in those who had skin contact with eczema cream or who had soya milk. I assume that is what you mean.

An anaphylactic reaction to skin contact is very rare, even in those with serious peanut allergies. Skin reactions often respond well to antihistamine. In a child with no reason to suspect peanut allergy a skin challenge is very unlikely to cause a serious reaction. You will not get a better test unless you are prepared to pay quite a lot of money.

In a child with a strong family history you may be able to get a test but it is still extremely unlikely unless you pay for it. If you're really worried you can take your child into a hospital waiting area and test them in the way I've described there or you pay for a test. Car25 has no reason to believe her child has a nut allergy she is just, quite sensibly, wanting to test in as safe a way as possible.

Getting an NHS test without clinical symptoms is virtually impossible. The usual problem is that people with obvious clinical symptoms, even with breathing being affected, can't get a referral. On some message boards people without epipens have suggested the only way to get one is to go into a&e and eat a peanut! I'm not sure which is worse - doing that or being without an epipen when your reaction is that bad.

Not a serious reaction tatt, but another contact that can increase the child sensitivity to it. Although...

I know 2 cases of allergic children where another person touched milk or peanut and then touched the child and that was enough to cause a reaction, which involved lots of vomiting and a puffed face for the former and an anaphylactic reaction for the later. These were not first out of the blue reactions, but the more contact the child have with an allergen the more likely he may become more sensitive to it.

In the absence of the oportunity for safe tests, the safest route is simple avoidance.

I think that if a child has not shown sensitivity to other foods, other allergies like asthma and eczema, he is more likely to join the ranks of the thousands of people who don't suffer from peanut allergy. If Car's child had shown any signs, I would be the first one here telling her to have the child tested whatever that takes (you know me well Tatt ), but this is, from what Car said in the OP, the case.

sorry, not the case.

A good nursery (or any nursery come to that) should not be serving food that contains nuts. My dd, who has a grade 2 allergy to peanuts and nuts, attends nursery and they have stressed this to me.

You don't say how old your LO is. If there is a risk of nut allergy i.e. you, your DH, other children have a nut allergy, you or DH have asthma and/or excema, you should not give nuts until your child reaches 3.

The only way to test (according to my GP) a child under 5 is the RAST test which is a blood test, and having been through it with my dd I would not recommend you do this without good reason as this was nearly as traumatic as her allergic reaction to peanut butter.

I have a child with peanut allergy and its a bit of a nightmare. I am in NI and we have had no problem with getting loads of really good and regular care, 4 epipens etc which I am realising is far better than in England

so if my son got wealts on his face when I kissed him does that make it a very bad allergy?

Yeah, the next time he is exposed to peanut he could be really bad. You need to treat it seriously.

My dd had welts on one or two occasions and then she was fed peanuts age 2 and a half by her cousin and she became so swollen her eyes closed over, she was covered in welts she vomitted and coughed, wet herself went all floppy it was horrendous.

As I said earlier my dd has grade 2 allergy (grade 1 being mildest and grade 6 most severe). She had peanut butter at 18 months and was instantly covered in hives (this is what GP called it but I assume it is the same as the welts others describe) eyes swelled up, she went hoarse and I wouldn't say floppy but was unwell if you know what I mean.

The medical professionals don;t know if she will have the same reaction next time, or if the reaction will become worse. Hopefully she will grow out of it (there is a 25% chance). They just do not know and the only safe thing to do is avoid nuts.

Babbit I think the allergy clinic I go to would treat your dd's allergy more seriously than grade 2 if she went hoarse because that suggests that her throat was affected and is really dangerous.
we were in Cork when dd took her bad reaction and at hospital she was given medicine and observed for a few hours but at the Ulster hospital where we now go every 4 -6 months now, they said they would have administered the epipen and kept her in hospital for a couple of days

The GPs (1st with symptoms and 2nd for blood test results) I saw had little experience with allergies and both had to make phone calls to colleagues about the issue when I was there. I have been told there is no allergy clinic available (I am in London!!). I haven't been provided with an Epipen, just a prescription for Piriton Syrup. The grade 2 result was provided with the results of the RAST test and wasn't the GPs interpretation of results / symptoms.

Anyway, to add to my confusion on the whole subject, I am currently pregnant with no 2 and have been advised by my GP (a 3rd one in same practice) to eat nuts and peanuts as the latest evidence suggests we are too sterile and the reason for my dd's allergy is that I avoided peanuts during pregnancy and bfing last time. I have gone as far as buying peanut butter but it remains unopened in the cupboard. I just don't think GPs take this sort of thing seriously enough. I genuinely thought my dd was dying when she reacted to peanuts last time and admit I was very surprised when they told me it was Grade 2, but you can't argue with science!!!

Gosh Babbit, I think you should have an epipen because it could be a worse reaction next time and even though we avoid peanuts, accidents can happen. I think peanut allergy can be particularly bad because my ds2 is allergic to sesame and egg but doesn't need an epipen.

Also my lo's had excema up to age 2 but I do not have a sterile home! but I did find giving them friendly bacteria helpfull....I am pregnant now too and I'm avoiding peanut like the plague, there is so much I don't understand about all this......

Babbit - your GP's advice to eat peanuts goes against DOH advice to preg women with family history of nut allergy