Does my child have a nut allergy or not??

[TamTam29]

Just wondering how you managed to get yourselves/DC diagnosed as I have hit a blank wall.

my DS now 19 months has reacted to different foodstuffs since I started weaning him. He has had various rashes/hives some instant, some delayed, puffy eyes/swollen lips and face, and diarroah. sometimes we have been able to work out what he had eaten and sometimes not.

The worst reactions were when his dad gave him the crust of his sandwich - peanut butter made with tiger bread. instantly he cmae out in a rash all over his hands and face, had puffy steaming eyes and slightly swollen, red lips. He also reacted a few days later to just the tiger bread so I cant be certain it was the peanut butter. I asked in Asda what they use for tiger bread and they said seaseme oil, so we have been avoiding sesame and nut produts.

However, a few months later, my DH was again eating a peanut butter sandwich (normal bread) when he put it down to answer the phone and DS helped himself to some of the crust. He had all the symptoms as before and was distressed as I picked him up he was violently sick over me and then started coughing.

We finally got a referel to the local hospital who did a blood test, said it didnt show any allergies but that didnt mean he didnt have any????? and that unless he had a serieos reaction there wasnt really anything that they could do except maybe admit him and feed him nut products but they (nor me) were keen to do that. my DS was then discharged with an epipen "for my piece of mind" as the DR put it!! and instructions to avoid nut products and that he may or may not "grow out of it".

By the way we live in surrey/London borders so would welcome any reccomendations if you have had better expereinces.

Apologies for my spelling & typos! I am expecting no2 in 4 weeks!

You're right cuppachar, normally you get very good advice on here, not people insisting that allergies are the result of parent's paranoia.

it sounds very much to me as if he has a allergy to peanuts i had all the same symptoms as a child i think the doctors are wrong take him back again and get another test done as it can be life threating for some

Ummm, some high emotions on this thread!

I will stick with my original points. When I was a kid, very few kids had allergies.

I think part of the modern problem is an early introduction to foods that are unsuitable.

ds is now 4.5, but I cut the crusts off his bread because he finds them unpalatable.

I don't give him whole tomatoes, because tomatoes with pips bring almost every small child out in a rash.

If the OP's child had a genuine allergy to peanuts, it would be immediately life-threatening. 99 times out of 100, however, it is the gritty, cloying texture in young throats which makes them vomit.

My step-daughter is a GP. When I ask her the most annoying aspect of her job, she always tells me 'allergies.'

Of course, some are very real, and very life-threatening. My next door neighbour dropped dead at a BBQ ten years ago. He was stung by a bee. He managed 45 years without meeting one, but died instantly on introduction.

But I'm sorry. I see no rational correlation between life thirty years ago and life today. Hardly anyone had allergies when I was a kid, and that's a fact .. which I'm sure you'll discuss amongst yourselves

I agree allergies are on the increase for whatever reason. However for a parent of a newly diagnosed child this is not a comfort. Do you not think by telling a parent that their childs potential allergy may be down to the fact they have weaned them 'incorrectly' and thus rubbing salt in the proverbial wound? Do you not think we would take the allergy ourselves each and every day if it meant the kids were free from symptoms? Most parents of newly diagnosed children are angry, scared and feel the have no where to turn with all this conflicting information.

GPs don't need to care of they choose that line of medical management, just refer and get us pesky allergic paranoid mothers out if primary care and into the hands of an allergy specialist who's vocation is to find new ways to help these children, re-educate eating patterns, give support etc etc.

All I know is prior to desensitzation (under stringent hospital conditions) if sdd had touched a nut she would

have had a horrific anaphylactic attack which could have been fatal. No discussion needed.

Your perception that there weren?t as many allergies years ago is probably correct but most allergists also acknowledge that diagnosis of allergy was very poor until relatively recently. The fact is that cases of genuine allergy have risen enormously and lots of research as to why this is has been done in recent times.
It really isn?t true to say that a life-threatening allergy would appear immediately. First contact with a substance is what triggers the IgE response which leads to an allergic reaction the second or any subsequent times exposure happens.
I also think that the reason emotions run high on this issue is because allergic reactions are very scary and living with the potential of one happening is a big source of stress. My DD had an anaphylactic reaction a couple of years ago and I?ve never in my life been more terrified.

what's the crusts of bread got to do with anything?

Fussy parenting is that

Desiderata - you say "If the OP's child had a genuine allergy to peanuts, it would be immediately life-threatening" but my understanding is that it's pretty unusual for the first reaction to be life-threatening - allergies tend to get progressively more serious with each exposure. It's also relatively unusual for peanut allergy to be life-threatening in young children, but it generally gets worse by their teens and current belief is that only 20% will ever grow out of it (whereas the majority will grow out of some other allergies such as milk and egg).

I have a fairly serious allergy myself. From childhood to teens it just made me throw up which didn't seem that bad but finally when I was 24 it led to a severe reaction which had me in hospital overnight being given adrenalin, steroids and on oxygen and a drip. Is this because my parents gave me crusts and tomato seeds? Maybe... who knows... Anyway, given my own experience I am understandably cautious with my daughter who has been diagnosed with milk, egg and peanut allergy (though she seems fine with crusts and tomato pips).

It's true there has been a massive increase in allergies but that doesn't mean they're not real. If your children don't have allergies (real or "imagined") then just be thankful as it's not fun.

Desiderata, is it any wonder that emotions are high when children are at risk, and potentially life threatening statements are being made by ignorant individuals.

So because you think no-one had allergies 30 years ago that means that they don't exist today?!?!? That's like saying Cancer doesn't exist because it didn't in Victorian times.

Diagnosis and awareness have improved in recent times so cases that would have been attributed to something else in the past are now being correctly diagnosed. Scientists also think there has been a true increase in allergies recently, but they are not sure what the cause is.

Recent studies have actually shown that earlier introduction of foods can lead to less allergies.

Tomatoes contain high levels of histamine which can cause a skin rash, but are not true allergic reactions. That doesn't mean that allergies don't exist.

An allergic response does not happen the first time you are introduced to an allergen. It is only on second or subsequent exposure that the body recognises the allergen as a threat. People can eat foods for years with no effect and then have an allergic reaction. Allergic ractions can increase in severity with each further exposure so saying that if you had an allergy to something then it would be immediately life threatening is incorrect.

I dont see what the relevance of your step-daughters comment is, or your mollycoddling your DS by cutting his crusts off.

Well, I dont know what I have started here! I am a newbie and this was my first proper post! From reading the other posts I was expecting some advice and/or recomendations from other mums with first hand experience, not a slanging match!!!

Yes every other child has an "allergy" these days and yes no one had allergies when we were kids which is why I feel that I needed your advice as I am just another one of these mums on the "bandwagon" as far as the system is concerned. And I was looking to see if my experience was normal and if not what else could be done.

Anyone that knows me, knows that I am not a neurotic parent and am actually very laid back and I certainly dont mollycoddle! (I have never cut the crusts of DS sandwiches)

As suggested by some of the more helpful posters I exercise caution when giving son new foods and I continue trying foods that he has reacted to (like tomato based products). The only thing I avoid is anything with nuts, sesame, coconut listed as ingredients. And I have never given him kiwi fruit due to the peanut link. I have given DS items which state "made in a factory handling nut products blah blah" and sometimes he has had a rash afterwards and sometimes not.

I never refused treatment at the hospital, I was told that the blood test was inconclusive and basically that was that. When I pushed for further testing the DR said that the only option was to give DS nuts in hospital but that they dont like to do it at that hospital and never actually offered it to me as an option. I did not know about skin-prick testing so this is something I will look into.

I was basically going to continue avoiding nut products in DS diet, keep feeding him everything else and should he have another reaction as strong as before, push further for more testing, but until then basically what & see.

In the meantime I was interested in finding out if there were any other options- hence posting on here.

Again, I didnt set out to cause an arguement and would like to thank those of you who took the time to give me the benefit of your personal experience and NOT your personal points of view.

I'm glad you weren't scared off tamtam. It's not normally like this on the allergy boards honestly.

FWIW, my DS1 is a touch on the atopic side as well, we keep a large bottle of piriton to hand at all times! On weaning he reacted to eggs, strawberries, blueberries and tomatoes. His reaction was of urticaria around the mouth and swelling of the lips.

He is now 3.5 yrs old and has grown out of these 'allergies' (suggesting that they were not true allergies, perhaps more of an intolerance). However, after having left him until 3yrs old to try him with peanut products, we found that he had the same reaction to peanut butter after one bite of toast with peanut butter on. We decided that we would try to leave it 12 months before trying him again, however he has had accidental exposure twice since and the reaction got slightly worse each time, although it can still be sorted out with a dose of piriton.

We haven't bothered with a referral for 'allergy testing', as we know he reacts to peanuts so why do we need someone else to tell us this? What I have done is discussed it with our health visitor, and have had the dates of his reactions, the nature of his reactions and photographs that we took added to his GP medical records. Otherwise we are doing what you are doing, avoiding the allergen for now, and watching with interest for the results of the trials where they have successfully desensitised against peanuts.

You're right Joe, in that you don't need allergy testing once you've detected an allergy. Having said that, I've found it useful for the following reasons:

i)It got ds1 onto the register of the local allergy clinic (after an initial wait), giving access to support and advice from a pediatric allergy specialist, and a dietitian (useful cause he was allergic to dairy as a baby).

ii) It allows us to monitor his peanut allergy without giving him peanuts and risking a severe reaction/worsening reaction.

iii) It allowed us to get him tested for allergies to tree nuts without actually having to feed them to him, again risking a serious/worsening reaction.

When he's had food challenges (only to milk thus far) it has been done at the hospital which has been useful for my peace of mind. Ultimately, I guess I'm just too worried to test things out at home.

TamTam29 from time to time people with no experience or knowledge of allergy like to come and post something stupid here. It's known as being a troll and is best ignored. I'm sorry you had to suffer this.

Those of us whose children have allergies (I have one with nut allergy and we saw a leading paediatric allergist) will tell you basically the same things - it's serious, you need to see someone who knows what they are talking about. If they didn't mention skin prick tests then you haven't seen the right people. At such a young age they wouldn't always do tests (depends on the clinical history) but they should discuss them with you. They should also discuss with you repeat testing as your child may outgrow their allergies.

A child who has reacted to peanut should never have a bit of peanut butter at home to see if they've outgrown the allergy. This is risking your child's life. Testing should take place in a hospital. Nut allergies are unpredictable. You can go from the sort of reaction that is easily dealt with by piriton to something that is life-threatening. Child deaths are very rare - but those that do occur are often in those who didn't have good medical advice.

lol at me being a troll

I did say you'd discuss it amongst yourselves!!

Perhaps I should mention that DH is a GP, so we are not without good medical advice!

I didn't know there was a link between kiwi and peanut allergies? Interesting cos I am allergic to kiwi, and DS to peanuts.

I would accept that your DS has peanut allergy and avoid all nuts, then get retested in a year or so. Good luck!

One of the things that interests me about UK allergies is whether kids are being introduced to foods that are not indigenous to the UK.

I mean, we can't grow peanuts in the UK. I would guess that peanut butter, (for instance), has only been around for fifty years?

In fact, what nuts do we grow in this country? Could this be part of the problem .. that our Nothern European heritage can't, in 1 child out of 10, assimulate nuts?

The curry house has boomed over the last thirty years .. loads of nuts in that, as has the Chinese takeaway.

Could it be a simple intolerance to nuts because we don't naturally grow them in this neck of the woods?

When I was a kid, the only takeway was the Fish and Chip shop.

No nuts in that.

here's my 2pennorthworth- my daughter (aged 11 mths and 1 week)reacted to 'tamtam2' in tampopo (chicken satay in peanuts fried in sesame)her mouth swelled and she got an allergic rash all over her face-we were in the trafford centre and took her to boots where the pharmacist gave us piriton-i must admit i was shitting myself about is as the rule is 'no nuts before age 1'and was stressing about the hospital sticking us on some negligence register as we gave nuts 3 weeks before age 1.
saw gp the next day-he said that as she had no doubt had a reaction and recovered from it we ought to be relatively pleased she had the ability to 'come back' from the reaction and should try nuts/sesame again in a few months.We realised that one of her fave foods is hummus,made with tahini and that that had not caused a reaction-and that we'd never avoided things made in a 'nut environment' dd2 now loves nuts and doesn't have a reaction at all-she has no reaction to kiwi etc etc.
there are a lot of mums who seem to embrace their childrens allergies-and almost 'relish' them,i don't know why this would be but my personal experience of this is that it is true.
Also,re the provenance of the food we eat now-gluten intolerane/coeliac disease increased at the point we started to import cheap,north american wheat.uk guts couldn't process this hence the bloating people report-there should be more investigation into this kind of thing i think.

Good post, sleepless.

I've been accused of insensitivy and trolling on this thread, but I would seriously like to know what is causing this modern 'rash' of intolerance to foodstuffs .. and I think the provenance of food has a great deal to do with it.

When I was a kid, most of the produce on the shelves was made in the UK.

Yes, I ate peanut butter in great quantities, but I'm obviously not remotely allergic to peanuts.

Kids eat a much more varied diet today, from foods that have been imported from all over the globe.

For instance, my kid won't eat curry/spiced foods. It's too spicy for his immature palate. And yet, Indian kids eat nothing else. It suits their palate.

i write as someone who before redundancy worked on the uk's leading arable journal...
there was also something in nature about it that i read but it was a few years ago-i do remember thinking 'oooh,i'll remember that' and clearly pregnancy brain has wiped it all out.

Joe1977 - no offense intended but gps get very little training in allergies. If your husband is one of the ones who suggest testing at home then he hasn't had enough training. It may be OK for you - presumably your husband has adrenalin available? - but not for those who don't have access to adrenalin and skills in resuscitation. No way should anyone be suggesting it on an internet website. Perhaps you should go for testing - and make sure your husband goes too - but only if you can see an allergy consultant not a peadiatrician.

tatt - No offence taken. But the OP asked what other peoples experiences were and I outlined mine, I at no point said that what we were doing was the 'correct' thing for everyone to do. As the OP herself said, she wanted to hear the personal experiences of others and not necessarily their personal opinions.

I'm going to step away from this thread now before I get cross.

GPs can't be expected to be an expert on every illness, their job is deal with the majority of everyday stuff and know enough to refer on to someone who is an expert in the area.

The experiences of many of us on this thread have been that subsequent exposure to an allergen can lead to more serious reactions.

We are the ones who should be getting cross with people irresponsible enough to suggest DIY testing on children.

Oh, it was a GP that told me that there was no cow's milk in baby formula so there was no way DS would have an allergic reaction to it .

Desi, My ds is allergic to peanuts and he is chinese. His uncle and great aunt are also allergic to peanuts in spite of being chinese and being brought up in the 70s. I think the increase in allergies is due to the change in gut bacteria in industrilised countries in recent decades. Populations who have a lot of fermented food in their diet tend to have fewer allergies.