To be fed up of people thinking peanut allergies are the worst?

[misdee]

Not many take the eggs and milk part of my daughters allergies as seriously as her nut allergy.

Why?

Why do some assume that peanut allergies are always deadly and others aren't?

Anaphylatics is anaphylatics whatever the trigger is.

I heard a theory (no idea if it is true so don't shoot me!) that general the increase in allergies is linked to the improved cleanliness of people's homes etc. there are less bugs and germs that people come into contact with on a regular basis, and the immune system starts attacking other substances instead. Having said that, I think there is probably some genetic basis to allergies too, my exBIL suffered from lots but not severely, his son is severely allergic to eggs and milk and slightly to a whole host of other things. I would also think that there is a degree of improved recognition and treatment, increasing the number of people who live with and manage allergies now compared to say 50 years ago, when the child would either be labelled as 'sickly' or have died.

If you touch my daughter after handling anything containing milk and eggs it can trigger a reaction. Her touching a table which has had milk/eggs on it can trigger a reaction.

Milk powder can trigger a reaction.

They had a big, clear sign up with his allergies on, followed by a list of intolerances (awful, severe symptoms too) in his classroom. But as I was late they moved him into another room and it was the manager of the nursery that fed him the toast (not his regular teacher). It was always re-iterated in his notes, and he had his antihistamine on hand always (this was prior to him having an epi-pen).

I couldn't believe that having a highly sensitive toddler in their care and they hadn't re-iterated the importance of him not having these foods!!! Needless to say he didn't stay at that nursery for long!

If anyone that has had tonic or bitter lemon goes near dh it kicks it off. Yes they must touch him, but touch him and it could kill him.

froggies yes there is a big research paper(s) on over cleanliness increasing risk of allergies.

Also exclusively bf until 6mo and being slow/careful and weaning onto certain foods after certain timescales etc.

My home is far from too clean...(lucky if I get it clean often )! Ds was exbf past 6 mo, natural homebirth, careful with weaning etc. He has severe allergies/intolerances/eczema...and on-going investigations into gut problems etc (he's 3yo now). But I am atopic and my maternal aunty is highly allergic person with all of the inflammatory disorders that brings. Family history plays a BIG part.

Can I be another one to add that I'm not convinced by the cleanliness leads to allergies connection. Our house is filthy. Even our cleaner told me our house was very dirty! Yet my dd still has a nut allergy.

YANBU.

DS1 has the same allergies as your DD.

I often only mention the milk, as that's the one that is really hard to avoid (usually if something has egg in it, it also has milk in it).

People say "Milk allergy! Oh dear. Still, at least he hasn't got a nut allergy."

They look rather confused when I tell them that he is allergic to nuts but it doesn't bother me overmuch because:

a) it's not as serious

and

b) nuts are a doddle to avoid compared to milk.

The idea that peanut allergy IS the top trumps of allergies just won't seem to go away.

And don't start me on this one:

Me: DS has a severe milk allergy
Medical professional: Yes these lactose intolerances can be difficult
Me: No it's not a lactose intolerance. It is a severe ALLERGY to milk protein.
Medical professional: < shrug >

I have had that conversation so many times, but it is the GPs and nurses who don't seem to know the difference which really give me the rage.

froggies our house is not clean at all.

However, DS1, although asthmatic, is not allergic to dust!

I thought everyone was allergic to dust to some degree!

[ slovenliness finally paid off emoticon ]

But a peanut allergy is not a nut allergy Not tree nuts, anyway. Peanuts are legumes, not actual tee nuts, so if you're allergic to peanuts you should also stay away from chickpeas and types of beans, right? Not actual nut nuts.

You'd think so, bt she can eat other legumes fine.

She tests negative for real nuts, but positive to peanuts. But due to cross contamination we avoid nuts in general for now.

Hebiegebies the thing with the peanut dust can happen, but it is extremely rare for someone with peanut allergy to be so allergic that they will react to peanut dust in the air.

The issue is, I think, that somehow people have come to believe that ALL people who are allergic to peanuts are that sensitive. And they are not.

This has been compounded by schools making themselves "nut free zones" because of reports of children reacting to others' peanut butter sandwiches. This may have happened but very rarely and I expect it has happened more often to children reacting to other children's yogurts, but schools are never going to ban dairy products because "school" and "milk" go together.

Similarly, there are people who are so allergic to milk that the smell of the cheese on a pizza cooking can cause them to have a severe reaction. My DS1, whose allergy is severe enough for him to have epipens, would not react to that.

The Anaphylaxis Campaign is marvellous but when you read their newsletter sometimes you'd think that the only allergy they address is peanut allergy. It's only when you go to a meet up that you realise that a lot of the members do have other allergies. I thought my DS was the only one with milk/egg allergy because they never seemed to mention it. I nearly wrote to them once suggesting that they change their slogan from "Helping people with allergies live their lives" to "Helping people with peanut allergies live their lives." But I didn't.

Why would you expect people with no direct experience of this to be experts like you? People hear all about peanut allergy, so this is the one at the forefront, it makes sense.

Having a go at people who don't know about things that they have no reason to doesn't endear you too them,and you really need people onside to help you. It's unfair of you to expect you to know everything about it.

We have several children with bad allergies at our school (in fact one of them is mine), but you know, its not other peoples fault that your child is allergic and most people really are happy to help you by going along with exclusion rules, even if it makes life harder for them. Maybe a thank you rather than why are they so stupid might be better......

YANBU

I know someone who has to carry an epi-pen due to an allergy to onions.

MissRep What we're saying is that when we say our DC's are allergic to X,Y,Z and have epi-pens, can't touch/digest etc people still reply with at least it's not a peanut allergy.

No-one expects someone with no experience to have the facts - they do expect them to listen and believe what your saying.

People don't take it as seriously because in many cases that I know of, a milk allergy will cause a rash or vomiting, which is horrible, but not life threatening.

Whereas every case I know of where someone has a nut allergy the reaction goes straight to anaphylaxis, which obviously is life threatening.

I expect a lot of people are in the same position as me in that.

I also think there are parents who claim their child has a milk or egg allergy when they don't, they just have an intolerance. Or they are just eliminating it from their child's diet to see if it improves their asthma or eczema. Or the child can have milk or egg as long as its cooked. Those things make it seem less severe than a nut allergy because people with nut allergys nearly always carry epipens, but people who are in one of the categories I have just listed don't because they don't need to.

But why are peanut at the forefront of people's mind?

I haven't said people are stupid. I haven't had a go.

I am just fed up. Emailing toddler groups ahead of going, knowing that by default they'll most likely be nut free, but not milk/egg free to find out what thir snacks are, where they are served, and if it's free for all grazing all the time.

YANBU but as others have said, it seems nut allergies are more common and easier to ban.

yes, so they have erroneous ideas, youarekidding, because of what they have seen and read, so tell them, don't be pissed off about it. I bet there are loads of things you've got thewrong end of the stick about, youjust might not know it.

Misdee, I wouldn't expect a toddler group to be milk/egg free unless they have a particular reason. Milk and toddlers go together like bacon and eggs. Of course you get fed up, its a ongoing depressing prospect having to deal with all this, but its not anyone elses fault, and I think its unfair of you to expect everyone to know about your particular issues.

Can i ask a studid question to those with milk/egg allergies

Is it a matter of being vegan in the home/recipes, or can soya milk etc have something in it?

If u have a cmp allergy by default u are more likely to have a soya allergy as well.

I don't expect toddler groups to be milk/egg free, hence me contacting before we go to find out how they operate and to make a risk assessment. Often we don't go due to the risks.

I know toddlers and milk go together, heck I've been a parent to 6 kids long enough to know that.

I know. Your point is that other peopledon't know as much about your kids allergies as you do. Well, why should they? It's just something you get used to.

Yanbu.

However dd1 was diagnosed with allergies to cmp, egg and peanuts at under a year old and we were told that she would almost certainly grow out of the milk and egg allergies before she started school (in fact she grew out of them by age 3) whereas only 20% ever grow out of peanut allergy. Also my understanding is that there is a higher chance of reacting to trace amounts of peanuts than of most other allergens so I guess perhaps
peanut allergy statistically is more likely to br life-threatening?

However the statistics are pretty irrelevant as each child's case is different so Yanbu.

Frustrating the number of people who claim to have allergies without (as far as I can see) good reason, and this definitely confuses the issue.

MissRepresentation, i think her point is that other people disregard the seriousness somewhat when a parent tells them about life threatening allergies because it's not a peanut allergy

" people with nut allergys nearly always carry epipens, but people who are in one of the categories I have just listed don't because they don't need to."

outraged that's obviously your experience but I know of quite a few people with nut allergies who don't carry epipens.

In my experience there is no evidence that nut allergies are worse than any others. Neither are they less serious than any others. They are all just food allergies.