Peanut Allergy - Tampa, FL

P.,
I had the same reaction with my daughter who was only 1 at the time, they gave her peanut butter at her daycare. Doctor had already told me not to try it until the age of 2 because of my allergies to food. She got hives all over and swelling, Benadryl did the trick, but scared me to death! I didn't give it to her again until about 2 1/2 years, and she didn't ever have another problem, she LOVES the stuff now, at almost 9 years old! I think he will be fine. Just gotta keep an eye out. From my own experiences though, I had severe reactions, to watermelon, almost closed my throat up and had to rush to the hospital and I was about 14 years old then. I went through 5 years of allergy shots and not I can eat about anything, where before almost any fruit I was allergic to.
Good luck to you!
S.

I have a child with a peanut allergy. I would definitley recommend making an appt with an allergist to get testing to definitively determine if there is a peanut allergy or not. DO NOT try feeding peanut butter to your child again for two reasons. The first reasong is that the next reaction could be dangerously more severe. The other reason is that the allergy could be worsened by introducing peanuts again thereby decreasing a possibilty of outgrowing this allergy. Good Luck!

I would personally not try the peanut butter again. I think that it was irresponsible for your doctor to suggest that. Instead, I would push for allergy testing so that you know what you are dealing with and can have the proper medication on hand if you need it. My son is severely allergic to amoxcillan and biaxin so we have dealt with the hives before. Good luck!

Hi P., As a parent of a child with severe food allergies I would no give your child peanut again unless it is in a controlled environment (ie: MD office). I would get the child to an allergist for testing. If he is allergic to PB he may have some other food allergies as well. I take my child to Dr. Craig Kalik (office in Valrico and Tampa). He is absolutely wonderful! My daughter is now 5 and still allergic to egg, dairly, peanut and shellfish. She out grew wheat and soy at age two. I carry benadryl with me all the time as well as 2 epipens for severe anaphylaxis - we have had to use them 3 times. I would get him checked immediately - Good luck!

My son tested very high in the numbers (blood work) for peanuts. He is allergic to many foods (the top eight allergens). One thing to keep in mind is about peanut in other foods,lotions, creams, oils etc... There some creams and lotions that may contain the peanut oil -watch for this. Become an avid label reader. Remember there is a good chance he may be allergic to more than peanuts. The other safe way to find out is of course blood work.Read up on it at the Food & Allergy Network online. The recommendation for peanut butter is not before two years old and I may have read even a later recommendation is on the horizon due to the seriousness of the peanut allergen.

I'd certainly stay away from peanut products after a reaction like that because you don't want to aggravate it if that is what it is. I'd recommend SunButter (from sunflower seeds, very high in protein and healthier than peanut) or almond butter. My son, now 4, also reacts with hives to peas and beans so we avoid soy and peanut too, since they're all legumes. He's had some mild hives, and some more severe, with swelling of one eye etc. We've resorted to Benadryl twice. It's scary.

Good luck,

C.

--
C. Wilford
Natural Childbirth Educator
____@____.com
###-###-####

P. - 2 of my 3 children have peanut allergies. My first can not ingest, but he can be around it. He was 14 months and started swelling up (this was 14 years ago before they started telling you not to give it to kids under 2) Then vomited and broke out in hives. Thankfully I knew to give him benydryl. any time he accidently had it after that he would throw up first. My 2nd we had tested and found she was also allergic. thankfully she had only ingested it once by accident - again she throws up. However, she cannot even be around it or she starts coughing. She had to do a math "fun" activity with peanut M&Ms at summer camp and touched her face and half of her face swelled up.

My advice is just have your child checked and stay away from peanuts altogether. I can't believe your Ped asked you to try it again! Personally, I wouldn't do it. It is just to risking and scary.

S.

It may have not been the peanut butter but a mixture of the three things he ate. Lots of people are allergic to strawberries. My Grandmother would break out in hives and quit breathing. I guess from what she had told me it started with just the hives but later turned more serious. She never touched a strawberry again. The yogurt could have had a chemical in it that caused the reaction. My youngest was allergic to yellow dye #10 so I had to be careful to make sure it wasn't in any foods she ate. Also she couldn't eat sweet potatoes, carrots or anything that was yellow. Including fruit loops. She would get hives, diarrea, and even sometimes vomit. She outgrew it in a few years. But I have a friend that her sone developed an allergy to peanuts at five years of age after having peanut butter all his life. Sometimes an allergist can do more harm then good. Like I said my youngest out grew the food allergy by the time she was five. But after moving to Florida she developed lots of other allergies at around ten years of age. The allergist gave her medicine that actually made her allergies worse instead of better. She is now going to a new allergist in Tampa and he took away the old meds and has her on new ones and she is doing much better. I would take him to the ped and try the peanut butter there if I were going to try it again. That way if something did go wrong you would have immediate help. Good Luck!

I hate to tell you, but that sure does sound like a peanut allergy. I wouldn't even risk exposing your son again. My husband & I both have food allergies (he's allergic to shellfish and I'm allergic to almonds). Reactions always happen within a few minutes of exposure. My husband's shellfish allergy was relatively mild until college at which point he almost died within minutes of eating a shrimp egg roll. If you really want to expose your son to peanuts again, I'd do it at the pediatrician's office or in the waiting room of the ER. This way, in the event he goes into anaphylactic shock, you have injectable Benadryl and epinephrine at your immediate disposal. Your pediatrician should prescribe an epi-pen for your son and instruct you on how to use it properly, too. Your doctor was right to jump on the phone with you when he heard peanuts and hives in the same sentence. Unfortunately, peanut allergies are pretty severe. On the bright side, if your son doesn't have an allergy to tree nuts, almond butter is delicious (and probably healthier than peanut butter). Good luck!