Regarding this peanut allergy

[murphys]

Both my dc do martial arts. There is a boy at their class (D) who imo is a pfb. I have known them for a while as he was at primary with my ds. When chatting with his mum, it would appear that she is still sitting with him doing homework, doing his projects for him, if you have a conversation with the boy, the mum will automatically answer his questions for him. The boy is 16.

I know that he has an allergy to peanuts as in a previous conversation, mum wouldn't allow him to go on school camp as she said that she couldn't take the risk that peanut butter wouldn't be served there in sandwiches.

They have done marital arts in the same class for 3 years now. Last week dc came home and said that before they were to start sparring, Shifu (instructor) asked everyone is anyone had eaten peanuts in the last two days. My dc are great fans of peanut butter, ds said he had a sarmie that day. Shifu then said that D's mother had requested that if anyone has eaten peanuts, then they are not allowed to spar with D. So, as ds is D's sparring partner usually, ds had to sit out until such a time as they rotated the class.

Last week I was a bit surprized by this, but now I just overheard the dc who are on holidays now. Ds offers to make dd sandwich. He just made her a peanut butter one. She gets it and I hear her gasp and say 'oh no I cant eat this as we are going to class tonight'.....

Do you think aibu in thinking that we shouldn't have to change our diets and fret about what we eat in case they do sparring this evening in class? This hasn't been an issue in all the years they have been going with D and the mum didn't mention that he had any allergic incidents recently.

[ShinySilver]

Sorry missed some posts there - interesting stuff!

I guess the choice of the word unproven was a bad choice. What I mean is that as far as I know the child is only allergic to peanuts - I once heard his Mum talking for a long time about his peanut allergy and how it is unusual in their ethnic background and other issues around it, and allergy to other nuts was never mentioned. I didn't think of asking about it at the time, and haven't asked her about it since as I didn't want to appear too objectionable to the nut ban.

Very interesting to hear all your views though - the ban is seeming more justified now!

[mumteedum]

Shiny yes I'm allergic to all nuts. Peanuts and cashews are worst. Can't be in same room. Aerosol allergy as someone else has put it. I'd react to their breath if eaten by someone else.

Regarding allergy testing, it's not strictly accurate. I had negative to one nut I know I am allergic too.

With kids, I wouldn't want risk of cross contamination or even pranks. As a 20 year old student one of my mates was literally chasing me around room at a party with bowl of nuts with me screaming at him, cos he didn't get it!

[murphys]

Shiny only peanuts were mentioned but I did just assume that meant all nuts. I don't actually know the specific allergy he has.

I have never heard of a school here as yet that is nut-free. But as I mentioned before I have not yet met any other child with a nut allergy.

[CockBollocks]

For a child with severe allergies (which it must be if she's asking for a 48 hr rule) the mother is very irresponsible to allow her epipens to be 4 years out of date.

My son is severely allergic to peanuts, we carry two (in date) epipens with us at all times.

This mum is a bit bonkers imo, you cannot expect everyone around you to not have been in contact with the allergen. What if he goes to a shop and the server touches him after his/her lunch.

[ShinySilver]

Evans I just reread your post about your daughter being allergic to peaches - I've been sending my son with peaches in his lunchbox. I would hope this will be OK as he doesn't sit anywhere near the allergic boy.

This whole thing really is a minefield for those of you who have to deal with it every day.

[murphys]

For those mums with children with allergies or if you have the allergy. How did you find out about the allergy? Did they/you just react to something and you had to trace back to what was eaten. Was there swelling/anaphylactic shock immediately? Is there a family history?

[ShinySilver]

CockBollocks that is what I have always thought - you can't expect everyone not to have been in contact with the allergen.

And reading this thread has made me see that potentially allergic reactions can happen anywhere, if allergic people meet nut eating people even hours after they have eaten nuts.

I guess my school are just doing everything they can to avoid having to deal with an allergic reaction, whereas the parents have to take more chances when out and about and doing things with their allergic children.

[mistlethrush]

My pinprick test for paracetamol indicated I wasn't allergic to it - so I had to be given it under controlled circumstances (very small amounts in the allergy dept) - because they gave it to me in such small amounts gradually to a full dose the reaction didn't come as quickly and they sent me home thinking I wasn't allergic to it, for me to reappear 40 mins later covered in a rash and had to be given steroids immediately to prevent anaphalaxis.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Murphy-ds was 2,I was eating nuts then held his hand, he blew up like a balloon and spent 2 days not being able to see and in hospital. Hugely frightening. He'd previously eaten nuts. He'd actually reacted to a sun cream the year before which we later realised had almond oil in it.

[BarbarianMum]

In our case ds1 had a reaction to some ice cream at 10 mo. We were referrred for allergy testing, where the tested him for various things. He tested positive for dairy allergy and also (and much more strongly) to peanut - even though he'd never had a peanut.

Age 3 he had a reaction at the dinner table to a meal I'd cooked was sure was safe and was taken to A&E. Cue more tests to other things - all negative. 3 more reactions later it was discovered he was allegic to celery, despite testing negative.

He's one of the lucky ones, he outgrew the dairy allergy at 3, the peanut at 6 and the celery at 7.

Now in my day my mum worked out my (numerous) allergies through trial and error. Luckily I wasn't anaphalactic to most things but the huge asthma attacks were dangerous and the projectile vomiting unpleasant.

[CockBollocks]

We gave DS some peanut butter on toast, it just touched his lips and he said it felt tingly and strange, he came up in a rash around his mouth.

The first reaction is mild because your body has to be introduced to the allergen to then create the antibodies that cause the reaction iyswim. So you could have eaten almonds, been fine but then react badly the next time or even the time after.

I think this is why they suggest no nuts at all to people with allergies severe enough for epipens - you can develop further allergies over time when you were fine before.

Our specialist put the risks in perspective very well I thought. She said that a severe anaphylactic reaction was as likely as being hit by a car, something that you can take precautions to avoid by not taking un-necessary risks etc but sometimes things are just out of your control.

[EvansOvalPiesYumYum]

In answer to Murphys - My daughter was around 8 yrs old, just playing with some brazil nut shells on Christmas Day. Her face swelled up like a balloon and was very blotchy, couldn't breathe properly. At first we couldn't figure out what it was, as she had never had a problem with allergies before, no prior warning at all. She had occasionally had peanut butter spread previously in life with no adverse reactions.

Had her tested, and the skin test showed the brazil to be the worst for her, in fact the hospital staff said they'd never seen such a huge reaction - it measured 16cm, so she was very lucky that she didn't actually eat the nut, as we would have had no Epipens handy. But also showed allergies to other nuts.

With the celery, she just got an itchy mouth and throat, bit blotchy, and it was simply a matter of finding the common denominator as to what she'd eaten. I was puzzled for a long time, but finally tracked it down. She gets the same reaction with the peaches, etc. Not a high allergic reaction, but itchy and swollen throat and mouth, slight difficulty in breathing.

[EvansOvalPiesYumYum]

(Scrub 16cm and substitute 6)

Still large reaction!

[ElizabethMedora]

What do adults do with severe airborne reactions? I ate a peanut butter sandwich on the train the other day - so somebody in that carriage, or queuing at the ticket barrier, or in my office, or at the shops - how do you manage that risk?

[EvansOvalPiesYumYum]

You can't really manage it, but at least you're an adult and are able to handle the situation better. By that stage, you can generally detect the "vapours" (for want of a better word) and move away. My daughter can tell if a peanut is in a room now, and moves out.

Children are more vulnerable, so parents or those acting in loco parentis are responsible and have to set the rules.

[DoJo]

For those asking about developing countries and allergies, there is evidence that the presence of hookworms in the digestive system actually inhibit the production of histamine which causes allergic reactions. The hookworms are present in a large number of the population as their sanitation is poor, but could possibly be important in regulating the body's response to substances which it mistakenly believes are dangerous. So although it's a bit simplistic to say that excessive concerns about hygiene can lead to allergies, the fact that our sanitation systems have eradicated many water-borne parasites in the western word could have contributed to auto immune diseases such as Crohn's, asthma, eczema and food allergies.

Some interesting reading on the subject here: io9.com/5933615/why-doctors-are-treating-allergies-with-parasitic-worms and here: www.bbc.com/future/story/20130422-feeling-ill-swallow-a-parasite

and our trusty friend wikipedia has more detail on the theory here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helminthic_therapy

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Evans-ds is allergic to Brazil nuts too, more so than any other nut.

[murphys]

Thanks all for sharing. Yes, sounds very frightening.

DoJo, wow! It would seem that this could very possibly be why we have far less cases in Africa and other developing countries. We are meant to deworm our dc every 6 months, but to be honest we don't. I have only recently dewormed them and only because we got a new puppy, and guess what she had - yes hookworm. Not uncommon for a puppy at all, in fact the vet said she would be surprized if she didn't have any.

If I think about it, I don't know anyone with a dairy allergy either. Yes there are plenty people with a dairy intolerance, but this is not the same as a true allergy I am sure.

[Thumbwitch]

That is odd, yes.

[Thumbwitch]

Arse. That will teach me to refresh before hitting post on something I'd written some time ago!

[Thumbwitch]

Re. developing new allergies - I was at college with a girl who had a few severe allergies, but during the course of the year, she was getting quite stressed with the workload etc. and had an anaphylactic attack at college to a new substance. She then had another one the following week to another new susbstance, and then again the following week - luckily she carried an epipen but we had to call the ambulance for her each time as well. It seemed like her system had gone into reaction overdrive and was reacting to almost anything - still don't know whether the college stress had contributed or not, but it was very scary and she did drop out after the 3rd anaphylactic attack. :(

[mistlethrush]

I developed my allergy to paracetamol and codeine at about 40...

[pashmina696]

I think it is more complicated to ban certain nuts/legumes depending on what children have what allergies at a particular time - a fair percent of children have food allergies and in most schools there are several children with different allergies and it is increasing every year - a blanket ban on nuts and peanuts is part of a basket of measures to help schools adequately protect the children in their care.

My DS who is 4, is highly allergic to tree nuts and sesame, thankfully his school have no nuts or sesame on site - he knows he isn't to eat anything without checking first anyway - but it helps keep these kids safe. Few people realise that tree nut allergies are as serious as peanut allergies, and unfortunately a high percentage of peanut allergy suffers will also react to tree nuts. its complicated.

[ppplease]

Elizabeth, different people react in different ways to nut allergy.
My son for instance has to have a annoucement on planes that can everyone not eat nuts please, when he is on one.
It is partly made so that they dont have to divert if he has a reaction[diversions are costly and inconvenient for everyone!]
Without being treated properly, he can die in 15 minutes[hate writing that]

[DoJo]

I'm picking up news ones all the time too - fortunately I had barely any as a child and vividly remember eating peanuts when I was at school, whereas when I was about 18 it became terrifyingly apparent that I was now severely allergic to several tree nuts, peanuts and some other stuff. I have gone from loving kiwi fruit to have a relatively mild reaction to them (itchy mouth, swelling lips etc, but no restriction of the airways at last count) and developed more allergies whilst pregnant. It's a nightmare keeping track of them as you get so used to what you can and can't eat that having a food defect to the 'no' list can really throw you as you work out all the hidden examples of it in food you were previously fine with.