Toddler peanut allergy

[Igglepiggle3]

Hello
I am after some advice
I have a 2 year old and at around the 8ish month mark whilst weaning I tried introducing a little peanut butter.
There was a a weird reaction whereby there was a lot irritation, and then became very sleepy and floppy. I immediately got very concerned and I am embarrassed to say but I called 999. The reason why I was concerned is that my mum and my brother have a peanut allergy but I kept reading I should introduce these foods to prevent any allergies.
Following that incident we have had skin prick tests and blood tests - all of which came back ok and suggest no intolerance. However, there have been occasions with blotches around mouth following a tomato and lentil soup and hoummous. The hospital said they would do a food challenge which we had an appt for last May. Obviously this didnt happen because of covid. It will now be another 6-8 months but the skin prick tests and blood tests would need redoing.
They suggested doing a ‘food challenge’ at home which I am extremely nervous about. I was thinking of trying the hoummus again but now not so sure. What if there is a reaction and no ambulances can get here in time because of covid?
Any advice? And am I being over cautious?

Is your son OK with chickpeas not in houmous same with lentils not in soup form?
The reason I ask is my son also gets blotchy red skin patches with houmous and tomatoes etc originally I thought it was an allergy but it's not. He just has sensitive skin and the acidity causes the reaction (tomatoes naturally acidic, houmous it's the lemon juice). So he might be the same if its only in certain forms. You could try a single chickpea slightly snushed to see how he does.
Do you also have some liquid antihistamines on hand? This is the vital bit with a reaction you can buy over the counter for 2 year olds if I remember correctly.

No advice on allergies but just to say both my babies had sensitive skin and had a red rash on their mouth / face if the skin came into contact with tomatoes or peppers. And something else, aubergine I think? I've heard its fairly common and it was just a rash that didnt appear painful or bother then at all and went fairly quickly so I wouldn't be that worried about trying these foods again unless there were any other symptoms.

With a history of peanut allergy in the family and a floppy baby you did the right thing calling 999 and personally I wouldn't be comfortable trying peanuts again outside a medical / hospital setting for the time being as reactions are meant to get worse each time

Priton is an antihistamine. You can get it from any pharmacy.

It sounds to me that your son has a general allergy to legumes.

My son first showed serious signs at 3 when he was given monkey nuts at Halloween. Had to get him to hospital pronto when he was violently sick and his face started to swell. Funnily enough he had never liked baked beans or peas. Turns out that’s because they had been making him feel ill.

I know there has been some success with introducing small amounts of food gradually but I would not attempt this without medical advice.

Piriton usually works if my son accidentally digests something but he always has an epi pen on him.

He is 23 now and still allergic to legumes. His younger brother has no allergies. They were both breastfed to 18 months.

Imo, if your not comfortable doing the food challenge, then wait for the hospital to do it or you could make sure that, there is someone else, with you, while you do the food challenge and if any problem arises, you will have someone to help you deal with it.

Other things to look out for are pea and lentil flour.

Manufacturers are using these ingredients in sausages and sauces instead of wheat flour as it makes the product gluten free.

Watch out for anything containing arachis / or oil of arachis as this is peanut oil. We discovered it in some suncream. Also, anything marked groundnut, this is another name for peanut. My DD (now an adult) is very allergic to peanuts, diagnosed aged 2 and a half.

We used to get more incidents of blotchy skin, especially with tomatoes but that seems to have subsided now. I avoid chickpeas, all nuts, sesame and even pesto! When the hospital called me the other day she asked me if I had tried ‘tree nuts’ as they were ‘different’. I said I had been avoiding ALL nuts! It makes me feel abit sad when I read the day sheet from nursery and the snack is breadstick and hoummus but the hoummus is crossed out. It just makes me feel sad to think he’s thinking ‘why haven’t I got any of that’ but I would feel 100 times worse if anything bad did happen...
Does breastfeeding make a difference because I am still breastfeeding....

Generally speaking breastfeeding is thought to help with allergies.

Last time I was pregnant the advice was to avoid nuts in excess but I have no idea what the guidelines are now.

My DS is fine with hazelnuts. We found this out when he accidentally ate a “chocolate” crepe which was in fact Nutella.

Please please don't feel embarrassed you called 999. Anaphylaxis is life threatening, as you know from the others in your family. You absolutely did the right thing. Going floppy isn't normal and could have been a drop in blood pressure, you didn't know at the time what would happen. It's not your job as a parent to diagnose something, leave that to the 999 handlers and medics, that's their job.

Watch out for anything containing arachis / or oil of arachis as this is peanut oil. We discovered it in some suncream. Also, anything marked groundnut, this is another name for peanut. My DD (now an adult) is very allergic to peanuts, diagnosed aged 2 and a half.

Your daughter is unlucky, as most people with peanut allergies don't react to groundnut oil. Do they do a separate test for that or did she have to find out the hard way?

I have only tried him with a small amount of peanut butter. However, I had been giving him ABIDEC and I didn’t realise but it actually contained peanut oil! I mentioned it to the allergy clinic and they said that it’s such a small amount in there that it wouldnt have made a difference.
Im just scared to try anything else - I don’t have any antihistamines or anything for her so think it would be best to wait for the allergy clinic to open again x

Yes @BoyTree how did you find out about your daughter?

I have a family history of anaphylaxis and I'd be too nervous to try the food test at home, especially with emergency care so stretched.

I've read that a problem with tomatoes is quite common, and most grow out of it. TBH I'd keep doing what you're doing until you get the hospital appointment. The consequences of something going badly wrong are too awful to take the risk.

If it makes you feel any better, I didn't eat nuts until I was an adult and allergy tests confirmed which ones I wasn't allergic to. Many years later I still think my mum did the right thing and your son will too.

@Igglepiggle3

I have only tried him with a small amount of peanut butter. However, I had been giving him ABIDEC and I didn’t realise but it actually contained peanut oil! I mentioned it to the allergy clinic and they said that it’s such a small amount in there that it wouldnt have made a difference. Im just scared to try anything else - I don’t have any antihistamines or anything for her so think it would be best to wait for the allergy clinic to open again x

Regardless its worth getting a bottle or 2 of piriton to keep at home incase. The antihistamines really do help and incase of cross contamination it's worth having on standby.

I get that it's scary my son took a reaction when he was a baby they said peanuts or food colouring but I had to test at home. I started with testing on his skin first before working up to a quarter of a teaspoon. I always did it on a weekday morning when GPs were open (I could get him there faster than a ambulance would get to me) and had the syringe of piriton on standby in the bottle. I also did a infant first aid course.
He's actually allergic to artificial colourings which is a lot easier to avoid.

The difficulty is that the allergy team probably won't see you without home testing and a reaction (this was the situation I was in) also research has shown that children are more likely to develop a allergy without early exposure to it.

Personally I would find some support groups on Facebook to get further advice and get yourself set up in a situation where you feel more comfortable. If he does have a allergy you will spend your life having to deal with it and quickly so infant first aid course, piriton etc is a good start in being prepared.

Why on earth do you think Mumsnet has the answer to this?? It's like asking MN how to fix your boiler or your car.

Lots of good information available from the Anaphylaxis Campaign, @Igglepiggle3, including what to expect from the NHS:

www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/living-with-anaphylaxis/the-nhs/

www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/information-training/allergywise-training/for-parents-and-carers-of-severely-allergic-children/

Plus they have a helpline.

@ChristmasFluff I came to mumsnet to ask the question for ADVICE. Isn’t that what this site is for?
If you don’t like the post then bugger off and put your unwanted rude comments elsewhere.
People like you really annoy the hell out of me.

You need to get some antihistamine syrup, cetirizine (Benadryl is one brand) is better than Piriton now he's 2.

Scottishskifun has given very good advice.

DC3 is allergic to peanuts. As a result DC4 had no exposure so I was concerned we'd never know if he had an allergy, I gave peanut butter while we sat in the car park of the hospital antihistamine at the ready.

Hospital told us to do a food challenge at home and my son ended up in A&e

If you can afford it, I highly recommend dr Gideon lacks in the Portland hospital. We were seen the same week and had a challenge test and care plan immediately.

@pattyandchips cetirizine is what the allergy clinic is going to ask our dr to prescribe but if I can get it over the counter I will just buy some.
@babychange12 that is my worst nurse and what I am afraid of. What happened if you don’t mind me asking?
Did you go to Dr Gideon? What sort of price is he?

Ds started swelling up and his hands and face puffed up. He looked like the Michelin man. We called 111 who sent an ambulance. We gave him piriton in the meanwhile and it calmed down. It was an egg allergy so luckily he didn't go into anaphylactic shock.

We had insurance so we paid with that. Think it was around £200-£300? Maybe best to ring them to ask.

We had to wait 3-4 months for our nhs appointment and that was pre COVID times and I was very underwhelmed by the care we got

You are getting some very bad advice in here from people who don’t know about allergies.

My daughter has a tree but allergy but is fine with peanuts. They are genetically completely different. Her main reaction is going sleepy and lethargic and that’s a sign of deadly reaction that’s affecting the circulatory system. Don’t ever apologise for phoning 999 for that.

Call the anaphylaxis campaign for advice- they are very helpful.

@ChristmasFluff

Why on earth do you think Mumsnet has the answer to this?? It's like asking MN how to fix your boiler or your car.

You could say that on every single thread on Mumsnet.

What a ridiculous, unhelpful thing to say.
Why post?!

Tomato sauce/ soup are really common causes of red skin where it has touched children's sensitive skin. This is normally a contact irritation rather than an allergy. In the case of the humous it's likely the lemon juice.