Quality of life with a peanut allergy

[Perdida]

My DS (13 months old) was just diagnosed with a peanut allergy via skin prick test. We suspected the allergy after he got some small, flat red marks around his mouth when we tried introducing peanut butter at 7 months and were waiting for the allergist appt since April.

I am devastated. I had convinced myself that the marks were just a contact rash. Even the allergists were surprised when the skin prick test was positive, since his initial reaction didn’t appear to be hives. We are due to come back in a year to test again and they said that the allergy could improve by then, and possibly disappear (though I know this is rare), or it could get worse. He doesn’t have any tree nut allergies, so they suggested regularly feeding him other nut butters.

I was hoping to hear from mums who have or know kids with peanut allergies. Is it possible to have a relatively mild peanut allergy? My DP has a prawn allergy and it doesn’t affect his daily life very much. Beyond the risk to DS’s safety, what really breaks my heart is the thought of him having a lower quality of life, feeling left out and different, and developing anxiety and low self-confidence. How have your children coped with having an allergy?

Any insights would be much appreciated! I am feeling very unsupported and anxious. We waited ages for our allergist appt, my GP has not been helpful and I’m not sure where to turn.

He will be fine. My brother has lived with his allergy for decades, never had a serious reaction. Just needs to ask about ingredients in restaurants and check labels when food shopping - you'll soon learn what he can/can't have. He will carry Piriton and an Epi Pen if the allergy is serious, and you'll be told how to use both of those. Schools will be trained when necessary.

There are treatments as well now, where they're given small amounts of peanut (starting with dust) in a controlled environment and it's built up, and there are really positive results with getting rid of the allergy, but that's for him to decide when he's older. My brother never did it, as the thought of eating nuts doesn't appeal to him at all.

There are about 5/6 kids with peanut allergies in each of my DCs’ years at school - which is nearly 10%. It is now normal to have nut free everything at school, on playdates, at parties and restaurants all ask about allergies. Your DS will not feel different or left out!

20 years ago, that might have been an issue. These days, if you're going to have an allergy, nut allergy is the one to have as people in general seem to accept it as being a genuine allergy whereas they can be quite dismissive of others and say that you're just saying you're allergic to kiwi or whatever as you don't like it. Many schools are nut free environments as are various other places.
My Dd is now a teen. Amongst DD's group of friends at nursery, one had a nut allergy, one was dairy free & one was halal. It was just one of those things and, when they came over or when we met up, we just made sure that there were things they could eat. DD has grown up with these friends so sees that as completely normal, will automatically ask new friends what their dietary requirements are and is very good at remembering them and also coming up with food options which accommodate all of the various requirements.

Definitely the allergy to have if you have to have one - people automatically assume it's serious and peanuts aren't really in many products at all if you can have may contains.

My 5 yo is allergic to peanuts. We only found out when she was 4 so it's recent enough for us but honestly it's been fine. She went trick or treating last week for the first time (delays related to covid/illness/weather, not allergies), came home with a massive bag of crap and she'll be able to eat all of it.

We went on an a AI holiday to Spain and she ate from the buffet. She has school dinners, goes to after school club, various summer camps, a million birthday parties. All fine.

My dc has a mild peanut allergy. Similarly we noticed a reaction after eating a little peanut butter on toast. The skin prick test has varied from 3-5mm over the years and we are waiting for an appointment to try peanut in a controlled environment. We only need antihistamine as it's not serious enough for an EpiPen. Also we only have to avoid foods where peanut is a listed ingredient. "May contain nuts" is fine for my dc but obviously follow the advice you were given. It's been 8 years and we've only used the antihistamine twice and it has very little impact on our lives really. We see the same allergy nurse every couple of years who is really great and gives us an allergy plan for school/ childcare. I know other people with more serious allergies who also manage fine. Try not to worry!

Hi fruitpastille - can I ask whereabouts in the country you are and whether you are seeing an NHS allergy specialist? I didn’t think that they would allow a food challenge for peanuts if there had been a previously reaction and positive skin prick test?

My 20 year old daughter has a life threatening peanut allergy. She has a happy full life. She doesn’t feel left out. She has great self esteem.

She’s had one ER trip after having to use her epipen, and yes, it is frightening knowing it could happen again. But there are risks in all our lives, and part of enjoying life is about learning to live with those risks.

Also DD eats foods labeled ‘May contain nuts’ and has never reacted to them. She has learnt never to buy home made biscuits and cakes from cake sales, and also that curry and Thai restaurants are too risky.

De-sensitisation sessions might be an option to look into, to eventually reduce/exclude the reaction altogether.

I'm 44 and go into anaphylaxis with peanuts. I carry 2 epipens as my reactions have gotten worse as I've got older.

That being said, I have a great quality of life and neither of my kids are allergic which is a relief to me.
I'll admit to being pretty laissez faire about carrying my epipen until a couple of life threatening reactions that landed me in hospital. Now it goes everywhere with me!

You baby will be fine. Our kids were very careful with nuts/sweets being offered, and from an early age knew they couldn't take or eat anything with peanuts (before I had them tested, but they still can't eat peanuts as I'll react to it on their breath etc).

I am allergic to peanuts. I eat “May contain” food, and have only had a reaction to actual peanuts. probably less than 5 times in my life (I’m 38. Found out when I was around 10 I think). Fortunately my symptoms have been pretty much instant vomiting, rather than airway issues. I don’t find peanuts hard to avoid in the Uk. Mostly Thai or Chinese food and I’m suspicious of home made cakes etc if no ingredients listed. Honestly it has very little impact on my life.

8 year old DS is also allergic to peanuts plus some other things. Seems similar to myself in sensitivity. I don’t think it affects him too much. School are over cautious (in my opinion, but I don’t blame them and I’m definitely not complaining) with food he can have in the classroom and won’t give anything that’s not been pre checked by me so I just provide treats, oreos, which he loves, if there’s anything in his class like cake or whatever. He seems fine with that. He has school dinners and that’s never been a problem, we get a special allergy menu, but there’s no peanuts anyway. A few other kids have special food too for various reasons so I don’t think it’s a big issue. He knows to ask if he can eat something he’s unsure about.

Of course I’d prefer not to be allergic, especially for DS, but the impact is pretty minimal. We got a huge Halloween haul and I did check it and remove a few snickers (DH takes them to eat at work) but DS didn’t even notice

Thank you so much for your responses!! This has really put me at ease. Our family will have to learn how to manage the allergy, but we will get there. Thanks again to everyone who posted 😊

My 13 year old has a peanut allergy. We found out the hard way when he was 11 months old.

Frankly- everyone knows about peanut allergies- it has got to be the best one out there in terms of food labelling and cafes and restaurants etc knowing what is what. Just make sure you never get complacent about things you think are allergy free- we have gone to a pub for years and had a certain pudding- its a chain pub and in the last 3 months they changed the recipe - for example.

Just make sure you say always 'my child has a peanut allergy... ' etc wherever you go.

Also- link into Allergy UK a charity that is really hot on this. We travel alot and get their allergy cards in a range of languages which specify what allergies DS has.

In terms of quality of life- well we will not go to Indian or Chinese or thai restaurants unless DS is not with us and we are not going to be in contact with him immediately (his is contact allergy so if i eat a pad thai then kiss him it will be an issue).

Basically just learn as much as you can.

https://www.allergyuk.org/living-with-an-allergy/traveling/

Only only under the advice of your consultant. Ds is not a candiate as his skin prick tests are too extreme. But what they do for kids who can do this is actually admit them to hospital before administering the test so it can be done under proper supervised conditions.

I have a severe peanut allergy. I work in the nhs, haven't had a reaction in decades. I'm fairly blasé about living with it now. It's just a part of who I am

I buy a peanut butter substitute called wow butter from Holland and Barrett. My brain panics everytime I open the jar but it's nut free. Smells, looks like and taste just like peanut butter.

OK for older kids who wouldn't be confused about it. It really is that close to the real thing

My daughter had a full body rash on introducing peanuts when weaning and the allergy was confirmed on skin prick testing. We avoided peanuts until a peanut challenge and by 2 she’d grown out of it!

My best friend has a life threatening peanut allergy and carries an epi pen and apart from not eating food such as cakes and ice cream from counters where all the food is open together I can’t say her life is any different to mine and she would agree.

I am allergic to nuts, if I eat them I get very itchy (especially my tongue) and might be sick. I don't often eat them... it has only been a few times when I haven't read the package properly! I don't feel like it has ever effected the quality of my life and have known no different and so to me the thought of nuts is totally unappealing!
My son os allergic to a lot! He had a bad reaction that ended up in hospital as a baby and then we have learnt to deal with it since then. He had an epi pen until he was about 4. He no longer has an epi pen but does still have a list of allergies (we regularly visit the allergy clinic). We have learnt to manage it and people always just ask us lots of questions when we go over for dinner (sometimes I might take his own food with us). He just cracks on, is getting really on it with telling people he has an allergy if they are handing out food. We've had times where all the children have ice creams and he can't have anything as no other option... he just gets on with it. I think the big thing is that he knows no different and so it really doesn't bother him at all. At Halloween his sister is great and they swap out any food he can't eat with her.

I hope it gets better

That was meant to be a smile!!

That’s amazing! Congrats to your daughter 😊When did you do the peanut challenge? Was it at a private clinic or through the NHS?

Oops meant to reply here!

That’s amazing! Congrats to your daughter 😊 When did you do the peanut challenge? Was it at a private clinic or through the NHS?

My DH, MIL, BIL and Dniece all have nut allergies. I can't say we even really think about it as a family we just deal with it. We still go out to restaurants and these days most of the time get asked before ordering about allergies. We do cook mainly from scratch as a family though as we know what has gone in it. I guess it makes us a bit healthier than we otherwise might be!

It was all through the NHS - a GP referral to allergy clinic at our local children’s hospital. She had the challenge in hospital just before she was 2 I think and passed. If she hadn’t they’d have re challenged at a later date.

You definitely can have a good quality of life with a peanut allergy. Did the hospital advise you how careful to be? Dd has a severe peanut allergy and moderate asthma, she’s also allergic to cashews and pistachios.

Dd’s allergies do affect our lives but not hugely. We can’t go to certain restaurants and buffets on holiday are tricky. The hospital advised us to avoid ‘May contain’ or at least rub it on her skin first.

Dd is waiting for a challenge test to cashews at the moment. It might improve things a little as a cashews are in lots of things.

Try not to worry. I used to work with a little boy with a peanut allergy and it was managed with piriton. He grew out of it