Growing out of a nut allergy

[madrehayunasola]

Just wanted to hear your experiences.. I understand it's not very common, also read that people who have no respiratory allergies as well as nuts is more likely to grow out of it...does anyone know about this? Did any of your chidren grow out of a (severe Epipen kind of)nut allery?

Hi there

I'd be interested to hear of any experience of this too. I hadn't heard about the connection with respiratory allergies though. Whilst I am coming to terms with this allergy for my ds, I also hold out hope for life without it!

beggsie

my son has multiple allergies (as they often do) and did have tree nut allergies, as well as peanut (and others), but at 7 he grew out of tree nut allergies, apart from brazil.

he is now nearly 14 and has had a low spt to brazil nut and could have a food challenge to it.

however , i dont think it would change his food choices that dramatically.

i think , from what i last heard that 20% of peanut allergic children grow out of it, but that before 7 yrs, after 7, vast majority are considered life long allergies.

lack of regular testing does mean that some children are brought up assuming that they still have nut allergies, when in fact they may have grown out of them.
this is due to lack of nhs allergy care and training.

still, theres hope.

Thanks Bride, good to hear about this. More than food choices, I was thinking more of the chance to eat anything without worrying what's in it, cross contamination in kitchens, and all the may contain trace warnings etc...
So glad to hear your son has grown out of this!

My DD was diagnosed with a peanut allergy shortly after her first birthday and we were given an epipen.

She was re-tested at four, spent the day in hospital,eating peanuts, under controlled conditions. No peanut allergy.

After her first diagnosis, we continued to feed her everything, except foods directly containing peanuts. (She had previously eaten most foods)

I'm not a medical person, but I believe that eating small traces of peanuts, may have led to her growing out of the allergy.

I suppose my next question is if your child seemingly outgrows a nut allergy, how confident would you be about them eating products containing those nuts?

Say, you just had a low spt - would you be brave enough to relax about it? Or would it take a food challenge? And would you vigilantly give them those nuts on a regular basis to ensure allergy remains at bay? Like I said, I would love it if my ds did outgrow his allergy, but even the thought of what lays beyond that makes me anxious!!

beggsie

Sorry about my ignorance, what exactly is a food challenge?

ds is being tested when he is 8 , he is allergic to tree nuts

think his appt is next spring

they said he may do a food challenge if his reaction is low. I suspect he is majorly allergic to cashews but unsure about other ones.

a food challlenge is done in hospital , they feed them small anoutns gradually and observe for reaction

ds had egg food challenge when he was 3

The thing is that you might still be allergic to something even with a low spt? My DS is negative to pine nuts, but still racted when he ate it. Not sure how bad that reaction would have been, gave him Piriton immediately and that was it. Doctor had told me to introduce all the "good" nuts that were negative in Skin Prick test and RAST, and I did slowly at home, he was fine with everything but pine nuts ...

yes despite ds having an egg challenge and they said he could have cooked eggs which he tolerates welll

he recently had some homemade brownies made with loads of eggs and immediately had a reaction, itchy throat and swollen lips

yes, from what I understand doctors put together the result of s. prick + Rast + actually eating the food (food challenge?), and each person reacts differently...my ds is absolutely fine eating sesame and walnut altough his prick result was very small but still there, 2 or 3 mml, the report said clinically not relevant), now pine nuts were 0 ml, no reation at all on skin or RAST, and was still sick immediately when he had them... funny world of allergies ... it really depends on each person too...

Oh, it's a nightmare. See, although ds only has a positive spt (6mm) to brazil nuts, plus only one reaction (not anaphylactic), we've been advised to avoid all nuts at this stage as he is only 4 yrs old. We do that, but I often wonder if it is the right thing, and we should just try him on the others (sure he's had plenty of the others in the past eg almonds with no reaction). Btw, he has an anapen - reassuring but also scares me as to the thought he might one day need it.

So I think with no food challenge with good results, there's no rest........bleugh. They won't do that until he's more like 7yo.