Help - just had real scare and not sure what to do next?

[maviscrewit]

I just gave my 1 year old a peanut butter sandwich for lunch and within seconds, no joke, her face came up in big red patches with white bumps - all round her mouth, eyes, neck and cheeks. Then she started to dribble and seemed to have trouble swallowing. I panicked and rushed her down to the local hospital after giving her a dose of piriton. They checked her over and we waited for a while by which time her face had much improved.

I was so frightened she was having a severe allergic reaction, still shaking now. The hospital was only minor injuries so she was only seen by a nurse who said if it happened again to ring 999. I am confused now as to what to do. Is there any way to get her allergy tested to confirm if its just peanuts, could the next reaction be worse, do I have to check everything for any nut? Does anyone else have experience of this? Is this the start of a full blown peanut allergy?

She's fast asleep now and I'm checking her every 5mins.

go to GP, get an appointment ASAP and ask to be referred to allergy clinic as urgent case, if its a peanut allergy then it could severe, and you may need epipens. for now take care with nuts and legumes (lentils i think are under this catorgary) as peanuts arent actually nuts. carry piriton with you as well.

what a scare. poor you and dd

I would take your dd to GP to get the ball rolling with allergy testing. Be aware that lots of PCTS dont offer testing as it is expensive. Depends on your area.
Look on web for Allergy UK. Excellent links and advice.
I have allergies which I have been battling with for 7 years. Medical profession is crap as no money or glamour in allergies even though millions of children and adults suffer with them.

Good luck and make sure no more peanut sandwiches. Stick to marmite..
Hope that helps a little.

you must get her to the gp. She should be referred to the outpatient allergy clinic at your local hospital. You may need an epipen for her.

I sympathise-the same happened with my ds at age 2 when he had a peanut butter sandwhich. I called 999 and was taken to casualty and so the the referral to allergy clinic was automatic. Poor poor you-it is so traumatic.

Agree with the other posts-appt with your GP for referral. Peanut allergy affects about 20% of kids now. Cross reaction possible with other nuts and also sesame(humus etc).And yes, it could be worse next time so epipen should be considered and you will need to learn how to use it.
Also, check anything you put on her skin as it is thought that some sensitization to nuts occurs as a result of oils and cfreams containing things such as almond oil etc.

Good luck hope she's ok now!

Thanks for the advice everyone. i've got her an appointment for this afternoon with the dr. Am feeling calmer now but its horrible to think she might be in danger from now on from any sort of nut. All I kept thinking was, I gave you the sandwich I've done this to you, just because I had run out of cheese!

Having read other posts on peanut allergies there is alot of it about so my heart goes out to you all, feeling like you can never relax and worrying once they are at school and not under your constant supervision. I feel now like the worry will never go - maybe a bit melodramatic but thats how it feels .

mavis, my dd2 (then4) had a bad reaction to her first ever peanut. She vomitted and had similar reaction to you dc. She was seen very quickly and I was advised to get an Epi-pen immediately (I am in Canada so much more used to that here).

I felt the same, like she was a ticking time bomb and could be in danger at any moment.

It sounds like she is allergic to peanuts and If I would you, I would avoid all nuts untill she's been tested. Subsequent reactions are likely to be worse that the first. Insist on a test ASAP.

You should also avoid any product that 'may contain traces of nut or peaunut' (sometimes labelled separately.

Things like desserts and ice cream can be very tricky as they are often produced in factories which also handle nuts.

It was a very worrying time for me BUT now(one year on) we have all got used to it and she's fine, carries her epipen everywhere and I am much calmer about the whole thing

Good luck with the appointments.

It took me a while to come to terms with my dd's peanut allergy. She has to have an epipen. She is also allergic to almond and has to avoid treenuts in case an allergy developed but peanuts is the dangerous one.
She has just started school and they are great. Two epipens stay in school, the teachers are about to get training to use one.
Have to say, my dd took her bad reaction two years ago and we haven't had an accident so haven't used the epipen. Have taken her to Pakistan twice, it is managable.

Someone on here just posted that their child has outgrown the allergy which can happen, I am also hoping that a vaccine or something will be found and that it will get easier..

Hey Mavis, what a shock for you . If its any consolation to you, there are a lot of us out here in the same boat.

Getting some allergy testing is a priority for your daughter now (as the others have said). In the meantime I suggest you avoid peanuts (obviously), other nuts (though you may be able to reintroduce these later) and anything that says 'may contain traces of nuts' (this is the real pain). I'd also start carrying a bottle of piriton around with you, in case of any accidental exposure - you can give a dose of this and obviously call an ambulance if needs be.

As for whether your daughter's next reaction would be more serious - I'm afraid no-one can tell you that - its part of what make nut allergies so worrying. Most people with nut allergy don't have life-threatening reactions but there is no way of knowing who will and who won't. That's why they are all treated as potentially very serious.

Another good website with lots of helpful information is www.anaphylaxis.org.uk.

Good luck!

Hi mavis. One of my children is allergic to peanuts, there are several of us around. You did just the right thing in going to the hospital - if it happens again phone 999 unless you can get there quicker under your own steam. It was also right to keep checking her because secondary reactions can occur a number of hours later - bet the nurse didn't warn you. You do also need a referral for testing because you're unlikely to get epipens for a young child without that and it sounds as though you should have some.

She may grow out of it, about 20% do. They may not want to do many tests on such a young child so its best to avoid all nuts, anything that contains nuts and sesame as that can go with nut allergy. She should have tests later on for those.

The first reaction is terrifying but you'll learn to cope with it. Even if she doesn't outgrow it there are various possibilities for different treatments that hold out hope.

Hi all, mavis you've probably seen my post on the other thread,...anyway please don't panic,...seems mad to say this now and I can so remember how I felt,..but it is managable! We haven't had a single episode since! In fact I don't even think about it that much...! I would never have thought that in the beginning. Ds1 is allergic to legumes (sesame, peanut and soya) but schools can't provide meals that have any peanut trace or product, all our friends know nuts are out, and we cook from scratch at home anyway...I promise it is fine..poor you..it's such a shock

agree with all the others-at the time you think life will never be the same again-that you will always be worried-but you do get used to checking ingredients on everything.

Thanks everyone, the GP has prescribed an epipen for her but wasn't very helpful about allergy testing. They didn't think it was necessary and just said she should avoid peanuts for life. The dr was a locum at the end of a long day so I may try another appointment with another one soon, its so hard to get appointments. I would feel more relaxed if she could be tested so I know exactly what she should avoid IYSWIM.

Anyway as an aside I am trying to win an award for being bad mother of the year as the poor lamb was back in hospital today with a squashed finger . She's not crawling yet but decided to today when I was in the loo and pulled the front of our gas fire onto her finger. I'm waiting for a visit from a social worker any minute . I just hope these things won't happen in threes.

good for you managing to get an epipen. TBH I wouldn't fuss about testing with such a young child as you've managed to get the pen (did someone explain how to use it?) At best the tests can be itchy and at worst you may sensitise her to something she hasn't eaten yet. But when she's 3 I would press for tests, in the hope she's outgrowing the allergy. That means asking for the referral no later than 2 1/2 . Meanwhile an anaphylaxis campaign meet up would give you lots of helpful information, possibly including what doctor you want to see.

Hi Tatt, I am much happier now I have an epipen, its nice to know I have something in case of an emergency. The pharmacist was the best at explaining how to use it, much more than the doctor! I think I will wait until she's older and then ask for testing as while she's at home with me avoiding peanuts will be easier, its when she's at nursery I'll be worrying so it makes sense to test her nearer the time. Fingers crossed she might grow out of it.

How do I find out about the anaphylaxis campaign meet ups? It would be nice to meet people in the same boat for a bit of moral support and guidance.

PS we managed to stay out of hospital this weekend!!

webpage listing the events - if there is none nearby you may want to talk to a regional organiser.

www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/events/events.shtml

We got a trainer pen from the anaphylaxis meet up - very useful thing to have. It's liek an epipen but with no needle so you (and anyone else caring for your child) can practise. Out of date epiepens are good for practise on something like an orange or apple.

Problem areas with food tend to be ice cream, chocolate and birthday cake. Milky bar and galaxy are currently OK as are smarties and maltesers, although those would be a choking risk anyway. Some carte d'or ice cream, some walls and vienetta are OK. Luckily she's too young to want mince pies . You may want to make birhday cake, although Tesco did one last time I checked.

Hi Mavis, just wondered if you were prescribed more than one epipen. Understand that two should be on hand in case the first one doesn't work

DS has 4. When he was at primary school, two were kept in the office. Now at secondary, 1 in office, 1 in his school bag, 1 in blazer and 1 at home. (not something you have to worry about yet.)

On a positive note - I was told the younger you are when a reaction takes place, the more likelihood you can outgrow it

DS wasn't diagnosed unitl 8, so we have been told very unlikely

Hello, my 16 month old son has a peanut allergy (diagnosed at 1 yr) which I found so scary at first and was very upset about it all. We have 4 epipens. 2 for nursery and 2 to be carried with us at all times. He has never had a reaction specifically to peanuts but has various other allergies that lead us to take part in the LEAP study at St Thomas's hospital, (it is a study to find out if avoidance vs consumption of peanuts in children with egg allergy and/or eczema helps prevent the development of peanut allergy) if it wasn't for the monitoring we had there I don?t think we would have found out through our usual allergy clinic the extent of his nut allergies. He had 2 skin pricks for peanuts at 1 yr and one of the two came up positive, they repeated it again on the other arm and that came up as a weak positive which was then confirmed by a blood test that showed he was also allergic to almonds, brazil nuts and hazelnuts. He is also allergic to lentils and we avoid peas as he came out in hives last time he had them and green beans because they make him sick (all in the legume family as are peanuts). I have never had to use the epipens and of all his allergies I do find that nuts are the easiest to avoid but also make me the most worried probably because of all the media hype.

I am now a member of the anaphylaxis campaign and if there are any product warnings specific to the allergies my ds has or events in our areas that come up I get sent a notification, it is well worth the money. Also go to the epipen site and you can order trainer pens, packs to carry your pens in and register the serial numbers of your pens so that they also send you a reminder when they are coming up to their expiry date www.epipen.co.uk/

Sorry I have a tendency to waffle but I hope that helps.