Peanut allergy testing, how did you knoe it was necessary?

[Chandra]

Although we have been keeping an eye in what DS eats as he had severe eczema and suspected asthma, yesterday we thought that it won't be that bad to allow him to touch a peanut, or at least that what I was thinking because when I was not looking DH gave him a couple and allow him to eat them, then DS came and spit the peanuts, and started rubing his face. ANyways five minutes later he had half of the face covered in a rash including the eyelids which is something it had barely happen even in the worst episodes of eczema.

Should I worry about this or it may be a coincidence? if I need to worry, could anybody tell me how much aprox these test would cost? I expect the GP would take years to make his mind whether DS needs to be tested or not, but I am willing to pay the bill to err on the safe side.

and by the way, quite often the paed you have been referred to (through your GP) will do private clinics aswell. If you know the name of the person you have been referred to, you can call up the hospital and ask. That way, you should be seen much much quicker.

My gp tested my ds who we knew already to be allergic to eggs, found out with a simple blood test, 2 weeks later the test results confirmed the egg allergy and that he is allergic to nuts and dairy!

with allergies, often the first time you only get a mild reaction and then because youre body becomes exttremely sensitive to the item its the second time around that you can get the severe reaction so please be careful...i know from experience that allergies can get worse or even better with age . i used to be allergic to strawberries and would break out in hives etc bit no i can eat them in products but not raw but im now severely allergic (anaphalactic) to penicillin.. something i found out when my daughter kissed me after shed had penicillin!!!

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are you ok chandra?
i have no experience in allergies but there's lots of good advice for you on this thread,hope you get referred soon,let us know how you are
wm xx

My son was 8 when he had an allergic reaction to a cake containing nuts. It was severe as in itching, rash, sneezing, swelling, vomiting etc. but not life threatening. He was treated in A&E with steroids and Piriton, spent the night in hosp. A couple of months later we had a (free NHS) appointment at the hosp. to confirm his allergy to all nuts. He has to take Piriton everywhere with him and avoid nuts but not "traces of nuts" or "made in a factory which uses nuts" etc.
We also saw a (free NHS) dietician who helped us identify foods where nuts may be hidden.
One year on, we have been vigilant with his food, he has had no further reactions. He keeps Piriton at school and takes it to friends houses etc.
This has been my experience, I hope it helps to allay some of your fears, good luck with the testing.

I have spoken to the nursery about removing food that may contain traces of nuts from his lunch and also got piriton just in case it may be needed. Thanks for the information, in a way I feel a bit more prepared though don't understand yet why the GP didn't give me more information to be better prepared in case of an emergency. In a way it could be that she believes DS is not really allergic which gives me some hope.

I have been thinking all the day how this allergy could be possible, no family history whatsoever and believe me, we all were weaned with egg, nobody cared about wheat, the full nation eats peanuts in a regular basis and I have not yet hear of a single case, though I may start hearing about them now that I am more attentive to this kind of information. But in a way the reaction was so obvious, different and quick that I found difficult that it was not the peanuts.

Anyways, regarding the tests I have been checking for information about where to have them done (BTW thanks for being so kind in explaining me the procedure to go private in this country I was clueless about it . I thought of having the tests done and have them ready to bring them to the pediatrician appointment, though I don't know if that would help or would be a waste of money. The test that seems more reliable and easy to do (from what I have read but if you know otherwise please tell me about it), is the York test which I believe is the only one where they test the allergies from a drop of blood, you can buy it in the internet, they send it to you, you send it back with the blood and they have the results ready in two weeks. They also provide half an hour consultation with a dietician in the test fee which costs only 89 pounds. Has anybody used them?

Thabks again for your kind words,

When my ds1 had his allergic reaction they took blood from which they could test for some nut allergies (sorry can't remember which or if it was specific, but he came out as high risk). To check all nuts they did the scratch test on his arm. Scratch skin, drop in solution containing the nut, wait 10 mins, if it comes up red he's allergic. We were trying to establish which nut in the (very nutty) cake had caused the reaction - slightly different situation to yours but the testing was very effective.

HelleBelle, did your son went into developing allergies to other nuts or just the one of the cake? Can you have a lifetime of mild ractions or is it more likely to have a very bad one after the first?

I'm starting to think of it as a sort of diabetes, some people can't eat sugar others can't eat nuts.I supose that if we can teach him not to drink cleaning products we could also teach him to identify problem foods.THough, how do you help him when he is at least 3 yrs away from reading? Probably, I should wait for the results before asking these questions....

ds1 was eating nuts quite happily until that day, he had hazelnut biscuits, handfuls of peanuts whenever he wanted. The cake contained about 4 different nuts, it could have been any or all of these that set him off. It seems to be a very inexact science and the information I've had is all quite vague. I asked lots of questions like yours but the general answer was "we can't really say". Apparently any of us can develop such an allergy at any time, even when we're 80. My ds1 could grow out of it by the time he is a teenager. If he has another reaction the likelihood is that it would be similar to the last. If there was a real risk of him having a life threatening reaction they would have given me an epipen.
It's much easier for me because my ds1 is older. He is very sensible and asks an adult or refrains from eating if in any doubt.

Hi Chandra & other MNers concerned with peanut allergies. I was born in the early 60's in Vancouver, Canada. At the age of 2, I was given a peanut-butter cookie & had a surprising reaction... hives, wheezing & vomiting. In those days, food allergies were extremely rare, almost unheard of. Fortunately, my father is mildly allergic to peaches & strawberries and so guessed what was happening. Over the years, my case has been used as a study in medical conferences, in Europe & North America & possibly elsewhere. I have always lived with this problem & it hasn't hindered me in any way. I keep my meds with me at all times. The only time I was slightly nervous was the week I visited Bangkok but all went well, espcially since I learned to ask "are there peanuts in this?" at any restaurant. If I am unsure of the ingredients of any dish, I simply don't eat it. It's easier now because others are becoming increasingly aware of life-threatening food allergies and will not take you for a madwoman if you tell them you are about to go into anaphalactic shock & will require immediate medical attention. The symptoms are so immediate & unmistakable that you know exactly what to do & how much time you have as the symptoms progress. This is why it is absolutely essential to have at least an epipen with you at all times and know how to use it. I don't wear one, but a medic-alert bracelet is an excellent idea.

It's a good idea to be as knowledgeable as possible on allergies in general & food allergies in particular. There are some good UK-based websites and publications. I will look them up for you later today. (it is now almost 2am for me!) Take care and sleep well.

Chandra, personally I think it would be far better to go and see the paediatrician first rather than have those York tests. I have no idea how reliable they are (or not) but I imagine the paediatrician himself will want to do the tests.

There are different ways of testing - the definitive test (and the one they regard as a 'true' allergy) is when they take the blood and test it for a certain antibodies (to the allergen, or something like that ). It's also the first test they do because sometimes they don't like to do the skin test first in case there's a risk of having an anaphylactic reation to the pinprick (if you or they suspect the reaction may be severe). The blood test comes back with a rating as to how severe the reaction is to the allergen (for example, my dd came back with a moderate reaction to egg in her bloods).

After that, they may do the skin prick tests (where they prick the skin with the culprit allergen) and see what reaction they get (if the blood test result wasn't on the severe level).

To be honest, for peace of mind, I would really recommend getting it all done properly by a paediatrician. Some clinics advertise allergy testing but they aren't necessary trusted by the medical profession. I'm not sure if York falls in that category but as your first point of call, I would be calling the doctor you've been referred to and seeing how quickly you could be seen.

Hope that helps.

Thanks Sansouci, I understand what you say about Bangkok as I will be equally worried when going back to my country or DH's, I have realised that it is a privilege to be in a country were most restaurants have a "nut alert" in the menu, but I just remember the big discussion with my mum and mil about not giving DS egg that I can picture what is going to happen. If before I was an overprotective mother now they are going to think I'm nuts! (never used in a better context)

oh Chandra! I can feel how worried you are & send you an enormous hug of encouragement. You don't even know for a fact that your ds has a peanut allergy, so cross that bridge if & when you come to it.

Meanwhile, I'll look up the websites as promised!

As far as I know, the York test is endorsed by Allergy UK , they also test from a blood sample so no contact with the ofending substance is required so, it shouldn't be that bad. As soon as I get the referral letter I will contact the paediatrician to go private, I know going sooner won't change the things if DS is allergic but at least it will save us some misery.

Sansouci, you are very much right, we don't know for sure, however until it is diagnosed we are expected to take the same precautions just in case he is, and I'm to some extent clueless about what thoses precautions are. I took a Pirityn syrup to the nursery this morning and told them to use it in case DS seemed to be having a reaction to food but I didn't know if I should be specifying rashes, wheezing or what, at the end the nursery director explained me how did they used it in other childrren

Chandra, have a look at:
{http://www.ich.ucl.ac.uk/factsheets/families/F000279/}

I'm pants at getting a neat little "link" to appear so just copy the above address & paste it.

Chandra - our DS1 was diagnosed with a nut allergy last year (not severe but peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts etc so across the board). I told our GP that I wanted a private apt asap and was referred to a paediatric immunologist (so rather than paed and then immunologist this saved time). I'm in NI but think his consultation fee was around £100 or so and then whilst we were there he did the skin prick tests - maybe added another 50/60 to the bill but well worth it. If you can manage to go private, why not ring your GP and ask for an urgent private referral. (sorry haven't read this full tread so maybe that's been suggested and you're going to do that anyway!)

DS had a skin reaction to something he ate - rash, has no allergy of asthma/eczema etc. Between his reaction and apt I simply ensured he didn't eat any nuts or anything which obviously contained nuts but I didn't actually cut out anything which he'd already eaten, possibly containing nut traces, to which he hadn't had a reaction.

Good luck and I hope you find out soon. If he does have an allergy, it's inconvenient and a lot of responsibility for a little set of shoulders but not the end of the world.

Have just spoke to a paediatric allergist's secretary and have been told they don't do tests to children under five as they are highly unreliable. Has anybody have a child under five tested? DS will be two tomorrow and if we have followed a similar advice that was given to us for eczema he would still be covered in weeping flares top to toe. Am I right in thinking than a not-so-accurate diagnose could be better than not having a diagnostic at all? or am I starting to talk peanuts?

BTW I'm fine it's just that there are so many new things to learn and you are always a wonderful source of info Thanks

bump

Not read other posts so sorry if repeating. We picked ds up from nursery when he was 3 and his eyes began to swell. We took him to the doctors and they did a urine test. I was bf and had been eating peanut butter sandwiches and we were told he most probably had a nut allergy. The gp said we should never give him food with a possibility of traces and he was too young for testing.

We have lots of allergies in our family (hence extended bf) and this includes nut allergy.

I did lots of research and found out that they can do a blood test in hospital by a specialist. It didnt seem a good idea to try any other test apart from by a specialist.
I had to change gp's for this and was happy to pay the £100 for private test but we were lucky and got a quick appointment anyway.

The test was a blood test which checked to see how likely it was ds would be allergic. IT turned out he was 95% unlikely to be allergic to nuts.

Whilst we were waiting for the results it was difficult to keep to a strict diet. It was a few years ago and his nursery said they were free from food with traces. I checked the cereal though and it had the warning on it. It seems they thought the food had to contain nuts to be a no no but of course this isnt the case.

hth

I found out about the specialist by speaking to an allergy nut organisiation and my local hospital.

hi chandra
i bought a magazine today and this book was recomended "asthma and allergies" it says that the book offers impartial advice about the latest research and treatments both conventional and complementary for asthma,eczema and food allergies;might be worth a look
it's in bookshops now or order direct from wich? on 0800252100 or at www.wich.net
HTH

chandra, dd was tested at 2 and at 3 years of age.

Have never heard they don't test for the under 5s though they do tell you when they test that it is still possible at this young age to outgrow the allergy.