Nut allergies experiences please!!

[Abitlosttoday]

Last year my little boy (7) started to get tingly lips and throat when he ate Cornettos with hazelnuts on top. We did allergy testing at the hospital. He came up allergic to all tree nuts, so OK with peanuts, oddly, but can't have any other nuts. We have epi pens. So we're careful but not super careful. The epi pens seem like overkill. We always carry one and we always have pititeze ready to go. Yesterday, my child ate some peshwari naan bread (almond paste in there, one bite) and got tingly. His dad and I were both very tired and our guard was down. He had piriteze very quickly and we monitored him closely. He was OK, tingly mouth faded out altogether about 30 minutes.

BUT, we don't know if this will always be how things pan out. Does anyone else have experience of this sort of moderate-but-to-be-taken-seriously allergy? Children growing out of it? Staying the same level of allergic? Worsening?

I try to feed him peanut butter to stave off a peanut allergy, as advised by the doctor. Any experiences /ideas on what we might expect very welcome.

I have this level of allergy. I carried an epipen for a long time as a kid but never used it.

I haven’t grown out of it. At best it’s annoying, at worst it’s ruined a few nice meals.

NOT ok - I avoid Indian food entirely as they use crushed nuts/paste in a range of dishes.
Ditto for any middle Eastern or African food.
Genuine Chinese food uses a lot of peanut and cashew.

OK - Thai, Japanese, “UK” Chinese, Vietnamese (they use nuts as garnish/obvious addition which can be omitted. No hidden pastes or oils)
French and English - very safe
Italian - generally ok just have to watch for pesto (pine nuts) or walnut paste which is rare here but common in Italy

It doesn’t sound life threatening, just something to be managed. When I travel I have a note in my phone in the local language that I show to the waiter/chef when ordering. But even then, nuts are good at hiding and I have been served allergens even after clarifying.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/uknuttyparents/?ref=share

https://www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/fact-sheet/anaphylaxis-signs-and-symptoms/

Everyone is different but it can be the case that allergies get worse with every exposure. It can also be the case that how severe any given reaction is, is completely unpredictable and can be affected by other stuff going on. For example if already having a mild allergic reaction (maybe hay-fever) the reaction to nuts could be stronger. So it is a bit like Russian Roulette eating stuff with nuts in. It could be fine or it could be a disaster.

We became extremely careful after initially being (badly) advised we did not need to avoid "may contain" food. After dc had a few nasty reactions we just started to avoid completely and dc hasn't had a reaction now for years (apart from repeated prick tests that show the allergy is still there). Someone told me to think would you eat food that said "may contain dog poo" because if not, why would you eat a food that may contain something that could kill you?

You can be exposed and it gets worse with time. Peanuts which aren’t nuts tends to be the worst. If I were to hazard a guess it will not get to a life threatening stage.

From what I know about allergies, I wouldn't be complacent. They can be unpredictable. Some great support and information from 'natasha's foundation' on Instagram etc.

I think it can go either way. One bite and tingly lips is quite a big reaction though.

I think you just sort of get used to it. You go places and buy foods that are safe without really realising that you are doing it because it just becomes how you live. You go to Wagamama rather than Five Guys.

It's important to teach your child to look at the packets themselves. Even when you are there. People were always telling my dd that food was OK for her to eat when it wasn't.

My son now 44 was allergic to peanuts, and most tree nuts. He was okay with almonds and cashews. He can no longer have almonds and cashews.

My son had a reaction to walnuts when he was 1 immediately covered in welts but generally ok within himself and we called an ambulance who monitored him at home but then took him to hospital, as a precaution as he was so young. He’s now 4 and up until his recent tests we avoided all nuts just to make things easier. He’s now had testing, which indicated a mild sensitivity towards walnuts and cashews, otherwise he can take peanuts and sesame but still avoid anything obviously nutty just to be safe.

Every label every time. Always carry the epi pen and piriton. An allergy can get worse with every exposure. One day tingly lips the next full blown anaphylactic. It’s unpredictable. It’s a faff, annoying and makes eating out a nightmare BUT you do get used to it. My son has 3 allergies. At the beginning it felt so daunting. Now however it’s just second nature. Thankfully I’ve found that most places take it seriously and it’s not bother the very limited places that didn’t. We just walked out. It’s not worth the risk.

My DP is intolerant in the same way, can't eat tree nuts but fine with almonds and peanuts. He's in his 50s and it hasn't got any worse but he gets the tingling mouth if there's a trace of hard nuts in anything.

The problem is with nut allergies is they are unpredictable. You can have mild reactions a few times then have a severe reaction out of the blue.

Allergists don’t prescribe epipens lightly - it’s been given to you because you need it. You need to be more vigilant.

What does your allergy action plan say? You should have been given a step by step guide of if eg hives give antihistamines. If airway affected give epipen.

As others have said it can get worse with each reaction, it can get better. Even having things in pockets as children can cause a slight reaction that we would have missed so we only see a bigger reaction later on.

DH has many allergies and we've discovered some foods like seeds that he's reacted to in the last 10 years (he's 38 now) and now avoids.

You do also need to check ingredients every time. He's been caught out at work before by recipe changes to a product that was initially safe. Luckily it was a milder allergy and in the 20 years I've known him he's only been hospitalised once and used his epi pen twice. (Both incidents were when food was cooked for him by none immediate family members). We always offer to take food for him or talk to hosts about what would be suitable.

Restaurants etc have upped their game a lot with allergies and they protect themselves by making sure if you have allergies you are fully informed about what you are eating. We do tend to stick to pizza express when eating out as they are great for the kids and he can have a full 3 course meal.