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.

Blonde, I know and thanks for posting on the other thread last week too. The GP who said this to me is a very experienced and senior GP at my practice which is why I am so confused about it. My DH and I have spoken about it and decided I will avoid peanuts and I am thinking about consulting a specialist privately for some advice. I need a crystal ball urgently!

www.eatwell.gov.uk/agesandstages/pregnancy/whenyrpregnant/

www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?articleId=405&sectionId=22143

www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/health_professionals/midwives_visitors.html

Some links - although there is apparently no research to back up avoiding nuts in preg as yet

My DH has nut allergy and I have been told to avoid them when pg and bf

I don't agree Chandra. The safest thing once your child is regularly with other people is to know whether they have a problem with nuts or not. Avoiding nuts is not easy and there is always the risk of contamination. So if a child does have a problem they need to know.

If a child has had a facial rash they need a referral to a consultant and if they are hoarse they should have had the referral already. It's easier to find an allergy clinic in London than in some parts of England, gps are just rubbish with allergies.

There is some research going on, or about to start, deliberately giving children with allergies traces of nut to test the idea that exposure is safer than avoidance. Obviously these are children who aren't anaphylactic and have brave parents.

My craving during my pregnancy 12 years ago was
peanut butter on toast. This was before warnings were given to pregnant women about eating peanuts.There was a news report when my son was about 8 months about the relationship. I did ask the doctor but they said don't worry. W
We have a history of nut allergy in the family

he is now allergic to treenuts, peanuts and several seeds

From Car25's opening post "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."

If you are telling me that every child with no symptoms should be tested anyway, at the risk of exposing them to peanuts at an unrecommeded age, then I believe we need to agree to disagree

Thanks for all this advice. My daughter does have eczema, as I do. There is no family history of nut allergies.

However I did eat peanuts during pregnancy so would this mean that my daughter would definately not have an allergy?

I will put on the nursery form under allergies - unknown, so treat as if allergy present. As someone said, she probably will coming into contact with nuts somewhere along the line, be it at birthday parties, restaurants, or even touching bird seed/nuts I suppose, so I would really like to find out one way or another and would be prepared to pay for private allergy testing, but would not be keen on blood tests.

Eczema, hmm, that changes the things a bit. I remember someone told me that from every 4 children with eczema, 1 would go into developing asthma, from 4 developing asthma, one would go into developing nut allergy and from those 4 developing nut allergy only one will not outgrow it. So there's still plenty of oportunities for her not to have it but, before I start with the proverbial list of options... how old is your child and where are you located?

(no need for details in location, something like NW would do )

Child is 2 years old, we are in the south east.

There are several tests available and as far as I'm aware every doctor has a preferred type. However, at 2 years old, it may be the case that the allergician/inmunologist decides to wait until she is older for a skin prick test, as she may not stay still for long enough. Although in some countries they test at the back in younger children to make it easier.

RASTs can be ordered by a GP without the need for a referal to an allergician (info kindly provided by Tatt). They cost about 8 pounds per allergen tested that you will have to pay for if you don't want to wait for a referal. However, many GPs preffer to refer you, mainly because they have only a very general allergy training and in many cases they are not sure about what to do with the results. RASTs need a sample of blood to be taken, DS cried for the lenght of it but, so did he cried with his vaccines but was something that had to be done.

Problem with NHS referals is that sometimes the apointment for skin prick testing can take ages to materialise (in DS's case 18m even when he had had a reaction to peanuts), we opted to go the private route but found that some allergicians preffer to wait until the child is 3 years old. If you have Bupa, ring them, there was a mumsneter here that managed to get an apointment with an inmunologist in less than a week.

There are other tests like the York Test, which is available from the Internet, they also need a blood sample and it's somewhat expensive. Unfortunately, is far from being as reliable as a RAST or Skin Prick test. Although I doubt they will agree to test your child at her age, they didn't with mine. So we opted for an intolerance test from them which gave us some grounds to convince GP to get a referal for us.

nut allergies are not inherited. However you can inherit the tendency to be allergic. Eczema can be an allergic condition so if your child has eczema it's best not to test until 3. However Chandra and I will disagree on what you do then - I would make sure they had a test. Blood testing at that age is traumatic and if you see a doctor they will probably only do a skin prick test.

Eating peanuts during pregnancy may make your child more likely to have an allergy. That is what government advice suggests but it isn't supported by much study.

I hate to link to the Daily Mail but this is the first report that came up when I googled for the research study looking at whether early exposure to peanut is actually beneficial

www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=421895&in_page_id=1774&ito=1490

ahh, and in the mean time, check your child's bath oils and creams, some products prescribed for eczema can contain peanut oil (arachis oil), just found this from the Anaphylaxis Campaign:

A few researchers have suggested that there may be a link between the use of these creams and the development of peanut allergy in some children. This may be because tiny residues of peanut protein are present: not enough to cause allergic reactions but enough, in some cases, to ?set up? an allergy to peanuts if the cream is applied to damaged skin (e.g. to alleviate eczema). Research is under way to resolve this issue, but meanwhile skin preparations and cosmetics known to contain arachis oil (peanut oil) are best avoided by families in which there is a history of allergy.

Tatt, in my ideal world, DS would had been tested for all the things he was going to become allergic in the future before we left the hospital after birth but unfortunately, and as you are aware, appointments are not normally given in a preventive basis.

But it is pointless testing for allergies unless there is originally a reaction.People can become allergic to something they have eaten a hundred or a thousand times before with no problem.
I have eaten persimmons lots of times with no problems, then the last time my lips swelled up.
My son was not allergic to nuts until he was 4.He had eaten peanut butter and chocolate spread with no problems whatsoever, then one weekend he had reaction to seseme seeds and pecans, then he couldn't eat chocolate spread or peanut butter.

Yes, I agree. Don't think it is necessary unless there is some sort of reaction.

Didn't find out ds was allergic to nuts until 8. At first reaction (eye closing up) after making peanut biscuits at school, GP treated him for eye infection . He has eczema and asthma, so you would have thought he would have been sent for RAST then. Had to wait for a second reaction before he was tested. Test came back as grade 5 and gp wanted to leave it at that.

I wanted him to be referred to Guys. GP wouldn't hear of it (out of area blah blah)Looked up DR Foster and found there was a paed. allergist at hosp. in my area (after gp telling me there wasn't one) Was eventually referred.

He has had skin prick tests there.

So, if he had had tests when he was younger, they would have probably been negative. Allergist told me "the older you are, the less likely you will outgrow them"

In my case, it was diffcult to get tests when he had a reaction (coupled with asthma and eczema). I wouldn't have stood a chance if there was no reaction.

I agree there is little point in testing before a reaction and meant to say this earlier. As long as your child's first exposure is 'controlled' i.e. you are there to take action if necessary. I would wait until 3 given your particular circumstances.

I am interested in what you say Tatt about a referral to a Consultant. When I went to GP for results of RAST test she simply said avoid nuts and test again at 5+ (oh yes, and if lips swell dial 999). There was no suggestion of a referral. When I see the GP again I will ask for a referral (although to be honest am not sure on what grounds as if pea/nuts are being avoided then there is no problem).

Picky Picky 2.9 ds with milk, egg and nut allergies. I have some pork steaks and want to try him on these. He used to LOVE pork but is getting increasingly picky. Was going to cook them in Rice Cream with onions and sweetcorn and some rice on the side. Has anyone got any ideas if there is anything else I can add that would get him to eat it? Obviously apart from his much loved Dairy/Egg free chocolate cake .

Oh god, sorry got it wrong - forget last post

PMSL!

Babbit sorry I wasn't around to reply. If you see an allergy consultant you'll probably be given an epipen if a previous reaction has involved facial swelling. That is safer than trusting to avoiding nuts. Government advice is that anyone suspected of nut allergy should have a referral.

Avoiding nuts isn't easy. People make mistakes and you can get cross contamination of food that should be fine. Children eat peanut butter, don't wash their hands afterwards and pass peanut protein on. We avoid any product that says may contain nuts and my child refuses any food they are doubtful about. Despite that we've had several scares and once had to use an epipen. You can not keep your child away from all traces of peanut, you can only ensure that you/they have adequate means to treat a problem if it occurs.

Depending on where you are you may wait up to 2 years to see a consultant. Once you've had the first appointment you'll probably get an annual test to see if your child looks like outgrowing the problem. You will also have the opportunity to ask for tests for things like sesame, lupin flour and pine nuts.

I hope your child outgrows her allergy and you never need an epipen. However if she does have an anaphylactic reaction the average time to death is about half an hour. That doesn't give you long to realise its a serious problem, get an ambulance there, get adrenalin into her and for it to work. Your gp should also have told you to keep her sitting still while you wait for the ambulance - exercise speeds the reaction.

Thank you Tatt. I have been giving this subject a lot of thought over the last few days thanks to this thread and I am going to see my GP to insist my dd is referred. In the meantime I am asking for a referral letter to see a consultant privately for advice about eating nuts during pregnancy. I saw the midwife on Wednesday and she is also aware of very recent research which suggests exposure in the womb may reduce / eliminate risk of pea/nut allergy.

Babbit I forgot to pass on the most important message. Take probiotics for several weeks before your baby is born and give them probiotics after birth and you can probably reduce their risk of allergy. You'll be glad to know that second children are much less likely to be allergic anyway. Google probiotic pregnancy allergy and you'll find the references.

Tatt - what form of probiotics should you take? & when should you give them to the baby assuming baby is breastfed?

don't actually know - I'm past needing the details personally. I remember seeing the research a while back and wishing I'd known about it. I'd probably look for one that is dairy free and in drops but there is a lot more information on the net. Sorry can't loo for it now as I need to search out some other stuff for a relative. But babbit could ask that when she sees her expert.