So have we found out what is behind all the nut allergies?

[summer]

Just wondering if there is any news on that front from the experts and scientists on this board.  

DD1 doesn't like nuts very much.  She has had peanut butter but just a bit.  She also doesn't like cashews or almonds, so her exposure at 6 has been very slight. 

I am beyond nervous about allergies to nuts and stings, and doctors here won't give epi pens for people to have on hand unless an allergic reaction has been seen.  And in a fix I've heard you can't use an adult epipen on a child.  *sigh* 

I kid you not, whenever I think about exposing them more, I'm pretty sure I will do it at the playground across the street from the hospital.  That is how anxious I am about it.   :?

[alleinesein]

I hated nuts as a child and didnt start eating them until my 20s. I ate peanuts but avoided tree nuts for a good portion of my life. Most of the people that I know with nut allergies don't have to eat them to get a reaction; any nut oil in their food can trigger one.

[irishbride2]

Has she never had things with peanut oil or other nut oils? I personally do not know anyone who wasn't diagnosed by 1.5 years old....even if they were following the "no PB until 2" guidelines. Nuts are everywhere!

If you are that worried, have her eat a ton of peanut products while on your way to her next health check.

[sangria]

She's probably already being exposed without you knowing it!

My daughter is allergic to eggs and it's really scary.

She ate ranch dressing on cucumbers at daycare and had an allergic reaction and we were all baffled by what caused it. Nobody even realized it was ranch, and I'm pretty vigilant. Hidden ingredients are stressful

[irishbride2]

Aug 21, 2014 5:18:20 GMT -5 sangria said:

She's probably already being exposed without you knowing it!

My daughter is allergic to eggs and it's really scary.

She ate ranch dressing on cucumbers at daycare and had an allergic reaction and we were all baffled by what caused it. Nobody even realized it was ranch, and I'm pretty vigilant. Hidden ingredients are stressful

It is incredible how many times we have messed up with DS's dairy allergy. It is hidden in so much!

[ringstrue]

I blame FIL for DDs allergies. There is a big correlation between eczema, allergies, and asthma and I know eczema has a strong hereditary link. If you kids don't have any of those yet and you don't have any family with those I don't know that I'd focus on it. I also agree that they are being exposed in mini amounts - which is a good thing.

[IIOY]

If you are concerned, give the tiniest amount and watch carefully for a reaction. My son's reaction to eggs was fairly slow to happen and built up in intensity over the course of a half hour or so. The rash didn't appear for a good hour. I finally fed him peanut butter when he was three. I gave him the tiniest amount on the tip of his tongue and he vomited almost immediately. To the best of my knowledge, he's never been exposed to tree nuts, so I cannot speak to what a reaction to those might be.

If you get a reaction of any level, do not keep trying to see what happens or to "make sure." Subsequent reactions get progressively worse, i.e., more dangerous.

ETA: I don't see this mentioned in the OP, but if you have substantive reason to suspect an allergy, such as a family history, get tested at an allergist. If you are simply nervous because food allergies are widespread, I wouldn't go to a specialist. You can ask your pedi for guidance but odds are she will tell you what I said above.

[summer]

Aug 21, 2014 6:27:08 GMT -5 IIOY said:

If you are concerned, give the tiniest amount and watch carefully for a reaction. My son's reaction to eggs was fairly slow to happen and built up in intensity over the course of a half hour or so. The rash didn't appear for a good hour. I finally fed him peanut butter when he was three. I gave him the tiniest amount on the tip of his tongue and he vomited almost immediately. To the best of my knowledge, he's never been exposed to tree nuts, so I cannot speak to what a reaction to those might be.

If you get a reaction of any level, do not keep trying to see what happens or to "make sure." Subsequent reactions get progressively worse, i.e., more dangerous.

ETA: I don't see this mentioned in the OP, but if you have substantive reason to suspect an allergy, such as a family history, get tested at an allergist. If you are simply nervous because food allergies are widespread, I wouldn't go to a specialist. You can ask your pedi for guidance but odds are she will tell you what I said above.

Family history has me worried. I thought about going to an allergist but I read a couple places about false positives and left it alone. And I know I supposedly have a hazelnut allergy (said the allergist) but if I eat things with hazelnut (chocolate with it, nutella, etc) it will only give me a tiny bit of eczema after day 10 or so. So it's not severe despite what the allergist says.....apparently?

[penguingrrl]

If she has had even traces of peanuts and tree nuts (even simply item processed in a facility with them) you would almost definitely know by now of she has an allergy. And since she has eaten peanuts, cashews and almonds without incident (even if it was tiny amounts) and not reacted I would not be too worried.

Also, my ped told me when Drew was 6 months old (so a year ago now) that they are no longer advising avoiding higher potential allergen foods because the avoidance did not noticeably reduce the number of cases.

I know we see a lot more food allergy cases now than in previous generations but it's still a very small percentage of children that have them (at least per my ped).

[Deleted]

What is tricky too is the experts can't agree if delaying exposure is a good thing. Some will tell you to wait so their system has a chance to build some kind of resistance; others believe waiting can lead to sensitivities/allergies because there's no exposure. Fwiw, asthma, skin issues and environmental allergies are all over the family tree; I trigger everything but Bermuda grass and cattle on a scratch test. But food-wise all we seem to have is a dairy sensitivity, too much is uncomfortable. Anecdotal reassurance, right?

[IIOY]

Aug 21, 2014 6:43:22 GMT -5 summer said:

Aug 21, 2014 6:27:08 GMT -5 IIOY said:

If you are concerned, give the tiniest amount and watch carefully for a reaction. My son's reaction to eggs was fairly slow to happen and built up in intensity over the course of a half hour or so. The rash didn't appear for a good hour. I finally fed him peanut butter when he was three. I gave him the tiniest amount on the tip of his tongue and he vomited almost immediately. To the best of my knowledge, he's never been exposed to tree nuts, so I cannot speak to what a reaction to those might be.

If you get a reaction of any level, do not keep trying to see what happens or to "make sure." Subsequent reactions get progressively worse, i.e., more dangerous.

ETA: I don't see this mentioned in the OP, but if you have substantive reason to suspect an allergy, such as a family history, get tested at an allergist. If you are simply nervous because food allergies are widespread, I wouldn't go to a specialist. You can ask your pedi for guidance but odds are she will tell you what I said above.

Family history has me worried. I thought about going to an allergist but I read a couple places about false positives and left it alone. And I know I supposedly have a hazelnut allergy (said the allergist) but if I eat things with hazelnut (chocolate with it, nutella, etc) it will only give me a tiny bit of eczema after day 10 or so. So it's not severe despite what the allergist says.....apparently?

The blood tests apparently are not always reliable, but I believe the skin tests are pretty good indicators. If you have a family history, I would get testing, although I agree that if she has already been exposed to nuts and not reacted, odds are she is fine as those particular nuts. ETA: a specialist can also do a food challenge to determine if an allergy exists.

[gretchenindisguise]

Did you know that the majority with peanut allergies don't react to peanut oil?

[irishbride2]

What do you mean by family history?

I do not know if this is true, but our pediatric allergist said that to be family history, it has to be a very close relation. So for example, my niece has insane allergies, but that didn't "count." It would have to be a parent, or maybe grandparent.

[terpsfan]

My DD was diagnosed at 2.5yo after a strong reaction to cashews (severe facial swelling, hives). She had been exposed to nuts, nut milk (that I offered since she wasn't a huge fan of cows milk -- talk about mom guilt I have now!), peanut butter, almond butter, etc. Turns out she's severely allergic to tree nuts and tests extremely high to peanut (even though she never reacted to PB). So, bottom line, reactions CAN happen after multiple exposures and there really is no "reason". I thought I did "everything" right..BF for 2 years, we have dogs, I don't antibac the crap out of everything, I ate a ton of random stuff while PG, i offered her multiple random nut products after 1, no immediate family food allergy history. It's a crapshoot, as my son has been tested and he's allergic to nothing.

Knowing what I know now, I don't fear allergies per se...My daughter has been called an allergy "ticking time bomb" based on her test results, basically she's prone to developing reactions to anything really, for her whole life. We just watch out for known triggers, carry Benedryl and Epi Pen, and just watch her for signs.

[demandypants]

Aug 21, 2014 8:53:40 GMT -5 terpsfan said:

 I thought I did "everything" right..BF for 2 years, we have dogs, I don't antibac the crap out of everything, I ate a ton of random stuff while PG, i offered her multiple random nut products after 1, no immediate family food allergy history. It's a crapshoot, as my son has been tested and he's allergic to nothing.

This was my experience too. I am hoping the babies I am carrying now don't have any food allergies at all, DD has a peanut, treenut, soy allergy and all were detectable quite soon after exposure (the peanut being the worst, she has never had treenuts because we avoided due to likely cross contamination with peanuts in processing).  She also had eczema and asthma.  I had eczema and environmental allergies, but otherwise we do not have a strong family history.

[gretchenindisguise]

Oh and re: the family connection - I have severe food allergies including severe peanut allergy. L isn't allergic to peanuts but is allergic to walnuts (but not almonds).

[laurenpetro]

i'd go for the scratch test anyway. if it comes up positive then you can get the epi pen. if it comes up negative you can talk to the allergist and go from there.

[terpsfan]

Aug 21, 2014 9:04:12 GMT -5 demandypants said:

Aug 21, 2014 8:53:40 GMT -5 terpsfan said:

 I thought I did "everything" right..BF for 2 years, we have dogs, I don't antibac the crap out of everything, I ate a ton of random stuff while PG, i offered her multiple random nut products after 1, no immediate family food allergy history. It's a crapshoot, as my son has been tested and he's allergic to nothing.

This was my experience too. I am hoping the babies I am carrying now don't have any food allergies at all, DD has a peanut, treenut, soy allergy and all were detectable quite soon after exposure (the peanut being the worst, she has never had treenuts because we avoided due to likely cross contamination with peanuts in processing).  She also had eczema and asthma.  I had eczema and environmental allergies, but otherwise we do not have a strong family history.

There's hope!  We had DS skin and blood tested around 2yo to just see (I held off "offering" any nut products to him at all, it's not like we were eating them anyway).  Turns out he's allergic to NOTHING.  at all.  Where my daughters levels/numbers were so high/wacky he was like zero to everything.  So strange.  Anyway, I don't give him any nut products since we don't keep them here, it's just nice to know I don't have to worry about him.

[y4m]

Aug 21, 2014 8:25:58 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

Did you know that the majority with peanut allergies don't react to peanut oil?

Correct. Processing oils typically removes the proteins that act as allergens.

It's also a common misconception that specific allergies run in families (eg I'm allergic to hazelnuts so my kid will be also). Propensities to be allergic run in families--specific allergens do not.

[epphd]

If she has had PB a few times and eats nuts rarely - if she does no react she's probably fine. Family history is almost never specific for THE allergy - just the tendency TOWARD allergy. So if mom is allergic to shellfish and soy and eggs, kid could have nothing or end up with allergy to nuts and strawberries. I'm sure it's possible to share a food allergy but the genetic predisposition is not to the specific antigen, but to erroneous triggering by food antigens period.

Oh, jinx

Anyway, my *personal* opinion is that delaying or preventing exposure when no reaction has been observed may do more harm than good. In fact, more and more food allergy kids/parents are exploring controlled exposure to induce tolerance. It does not work for everyone but can be a literal lifesaver if it does work.

ETA: it's OK for a kid to just not like nuts. I doesn't mean they have an adverse effect My 12 year old niece is this way. Hates peanuts. not allergic, just loathes them. She's weird.

[AdaraMarie]

I don't know about the thing with adult epi pens vs kids epi pens is bad.
The kids ones have half the dose and they sayyou can give two doses if the reaction continues so I feel like it might be ok.

I'm no expert but I do have an epi pen for dd2s peanut allergy. Diagnosed by scratch test and blood test at 16 months.

[ringstrue]

Aug 21, 2014 8:42:54 GMT -5 irishbride2 said:

What do you mean by family history?

I do not know if this is true, but our pediatric allergist said that to be family history, it has to be a very close relation. So for example, my niece has insane allergies, but that didn't "count." It would have to be a parent, or maybe grandparent.

Yeah DDs previous allergist said FIL didn't count but I think he's wrong. He's a bit old school anyway. DD has the EXACT same eczema issues FIL did when he was little from what we can gather and they both have food allergies. My sister also apparently has a peanut allergy but she's asymptomatic. I have food allergies but not severe and not the same that DD has.