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!

I did get my 5 mins thank you Tatt. Xx

Right, onward and upward. Family birthday party today for dd1 (13!) and dd3 (2).

Just another sad story which came to my attention yesterday. I'm sure that eventually the message will get across that food allergy is potentially fatal
www.independent.ie/national-news/courts/man-died-an-hour-after-being-treated-for-pea nut-allergy-1719832.html

It makes me so angry that anyone is allowed to practise anything like kinesiology when there is no evidence that it works and that article shows just how dangerous it can be.

But Salleroo, isn't your post pretty much agreeing with what I've been saying?

30 years ago, kids didn't eat what they're eating now!

I have not once, in this post, denied that children get allergies.

My next door neighbour's kid has lived hand in mouth with us, as muckers for the last eight years, and he's had every allergy going.

Fortunately, he's now eight, and they've all disappeared but for the traces.

I've had some stick on this thread for stating the bleeding obvious. It's something to do with the food we've been eating for the last thirty years, plus, no doubt, a genetic tendancy.

fairywave - the person responsible should be prosecuted for manslaughter, then there would be fewer charlatan's around. Does emphasis why people need good advice and should ignore those who have no clue what they're talking about.

Desiderata, you have been given stick on this thread for the following comments insinuating that there is no such thing as allergies:

"When I was at school in the 70s, nobody had an allergy. If you don't like something, leave it alone, but I do wish people would stop over-dramatizing this.

With peanuts, crusts, anything hard, even mashed potato, it's often the texture that makes kids throw up."

"Sorry, but most allergies these days are people being bloody precious, either about themselves, or by transfer to their children.
"
"It is not an allergy, but an age-sensitive thing."

And also for the following comment which is completely incorrect:
"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.
"

And also for the following which is irresponsible:
"Keep feeding them whatever they what, keep a cautious eye, but don't go down the over-weening 'allergy' road."

As to your theories, if the experts are not in agreement as to the reasons for the increase in allergies then why would we be taking as fact what you say given your ill-informed comments above.

Did the Doctor do pin prick test? The pin prick for concentrated peanuts and sesame oil. Peanut butter and sesame oil both highly concentrated of each nut, from my observations with my daughter concentration is big issue. As my daughter shows allergic reaction to concentrated tomatoe, but not a ripe fresh tomatoe.

My perception from scientific approach is concentrated substance may be concentrated 5 times, then you are adding 25ml, hence more likely see a reaction.

Allergies are not precise science there are too few medics in this area of research. Research has shown that some people when they develop an allergic reaction antibodies develop that will produce a very serious and fatal reaction on next time they exposed, in others like my youngest daughter just persist in hot moving strawberry rash syndome whenever she came across something she is allergic. Then there is those who grow out of the allergy. This is the case of my eldest daughter who grew out of her reaction to strawberries, she reacted to strawberries at two years old, our GP said avoid strawberries for a few years then re-introduce she has not had problem since.

It should be noted that the latter method did not work for our youngest. She is currently allergic to bees (two bee stings to date year apart), concentrated tomatoe, strawberry essence in medicine (interestingly she doesn't even like the taste of english strawberries which highly concentrated in flavour), MMR jab (so far medical profession are little reluctant to give her the booster), and today we worked out she is allergic to tiger bread suggests allergy to sesame oil (which kind explains the unexplained allergic reactions with occassional school dinner etc, when she has eat meal that has not had concentrated tomatoe or strawberry essence).

Sheffield Child Hospital has very good practioner and researcher (unfortunately is part-time).

joe1977

I am glad your hubby is a GP, as long as he has had training or taken time to learn about classic food allergies.

it doesnt sound as if your son had intolerences when he was younger, but OAS.
Allergies do change as a young child grows, and there is a chance of outgrowing.( How is your childs tree pollen allergies at the moment? )

Do you have epi pens? and if you do are you sure you both recognise when to use them?

of course there is a chance that your child will be one of those lucky 20% , who do outgrow. A consultant looks into history, and if it all looks good, after skin/blood test and history, does a controlled food challenge at around 7 yrs.

Are you going to check this out when your child is older?

Bridewolf, I am going to ask a daft question now I know, what is OAS, is it something along the lines of Oral Sensitivity?

Oral Allergy Syndrome

Sorry to tease you back. OK OAS, do they grow out of this with age or tolerance? I will try to google but if you can stay for one more post I would be really interested to know more. Thanks in advance,

Don't really know anything about it TBH - it's something I've read bits about but not experienced at all. Sorry!

Thanks for letting me know anyway, will google it now.

I've had a slight name change, as I unregistered from MN in a fit of 'i should be doing useful things in RL rather than timewasting on the computer'. Had to then register again when my willpower gave out!

Bridewolf - thank you for useful post on OAS, symptoms are certainly the same, but to date he hasn't had any hay fever.

As I said before, at the moment we are avoiding peanut products and keeping a close eye on him. Watchful Waiting is the phrase that DH uses. As his reactions have been mild (especially compared to some of the ones described on this thread), and we have identified the allergens which cause them, we do not think that a referral is required, this is not to say that we would not request a referral in the future if needed. It is in case we need to refer in the future that I am making sure that everything related to this is documented in his GP records.

DH does have epipens in his big black bag, but we don't keep any in the house especially for DS1.

There have been a number of negative comments about GPs posted, this was why I left the thread. If an individual has a genuine concern about treatment received or advice given by any health professional, then please discuss this in a constructive manner with the professional concerned or their employer. I can't comment on your experiences of this, just as it isn't appropriate for you to speculate on my DHs professional competence.

JoeJoe1977 people are concerned for your child. Nut reactions do NOT always stay mild and unfortunately past reactions are no guide to future severity. Therefore you need to be able to cope if your child has a serious reaction - and your child also needs to be safe outside your home.

I have been in your position and while watchful waiting would be fine most of the time my child might well be dead now if a consultant had not prescribed epipens.

No-one is commenting on your husband's general competence - merely about whether he has received sufficient training to fully understand allergies.

i can only echo the comment from Tatt, in the case of anaphylaxis , past mild reactions do not give a clear indicator of future severity.

by the way, am glad he doesnt have hay fever or tree pollen allergy. Which is good.

I am not going to bash Gp's, i love my Gp, and she has learnt along the way with us.
Gp's have a very stressful life, and it must be quite lonely spending all day in a little room , listening to others problems.

However its rare ( but not totally unknown) to met a Gp who is allergy aware. Who understands fully the aspects of classic food allergy. Or its management.

and you dont have epi pens for your child, ( in doctors bag does not help. ) so its worth considering that your /son back is covered if a mistake is made.

or at least be aware of when your child slips in high risk situations and a brush with a allergen may turn in to full blown anaphylaxis.
be ultra careful when your childs general health is below par...............and keep up the strict avoidance.

good luck.

Thank you both for your prompt replies and your concern. Will discuss with DH when he comes home for lunch (he doesn't spend all day in his little room!)

My GP is absolutely fab!!!

The one I had before her was awful, rude, ignorant and mysoginistic which was why I changed.

Not all GPs are the same and not all GPs have had the same training.

I was just trying to make the point that they can't be experts on everything, so youa re better to be referred to a specialist..

TamTam,

My DD1 has a severe allergy to both ground and tree nuts and the symptoms you describe are identical to his. I agree with all the advice about taking every possible precaution to avoid nuts and ALWAYS carry your epipen with you. I haven't read all the threads so not sure if it has already been suggested but I would recommend looking at the Anaphylaxis Campaign website (www.anaphylaxis.org.uk) which provides lots of helpful advice. You can become a member for about £10 a year and you will get their excellent newsletter, food alerts, invitations to seminars etc. They also have a helpline (01252 542 029).

I've had very mixed experiences with GPs. That's not a criticism, just a reflection of the fact that they are, by definition, GENERAL practioners and can't be expected to be experts in everything. I even have a doctor friend who is a paediatric immunologist but by his own admission doesn't know much about allergies as it's not a part of immunology that interests him.

My GP still refers to DD's allergies as "intolerances" despite the reactions she has had and the skin prick and blood test results, and despite the fact we were immediately prescribed an epipen by the hospital consultant who we were referred to. I don't see this as proof of my GP's incompetence at all, just a reflection of the rather obvious fact that most GPs aren't allergy experts, which is fair enough.

But it does mean that a GP's advice can't necessarily be relied upon.

I'm glad that this thread has reverted to a sensible discussion again!