Peanut Allergy Questions

[chatterbox]

We just found out DD is allergic to peanuts (and I guess possibly all nuts) and that it is type 2. I've been googling and haven't been able to find a good explanation of what "type 2" really means. We are making a appointment with an allergist and her pediatrician is prescribing an epi pen jr. in the meantime, but if you have any experience with this, please share! Should I be throwing away all of the nuts in our pantry?

[dizzycooks]

I know there are levels of peanut allergies. Is he a level 2?

[chatterbox]

She's a level 2, but I only found very technical explanations of what that means. I need someone to explain it to me like I'm 5.

[quesyrah]

Well a class 2 is considered moderate. I don't have a child with a peanut allergy but my niece has one. So take what I say with a grain of salt

I wouldn't allow any peanut products in my home and would read all labels to make sure I'm not buying products with cross contamination.

My niece is a moderate as well and the allergies told my sister that each reaction can get worse so they don't allow her to be exposed to peanuts at all. Her only reaction had been vomiting after eating peanut butter but why take the chance that the next reaction could be anaphylaxis?

[quesyrah]

Okay reading fail...I thought you were asking if you should throw out all your peanut products.

I would probably steer clear of all nuts until you have more info from the allergist

[Rainyday]

DS1 had a peanut allergy and he luckily grew out of it. He did test positive for it on the skin prick test and eventually passed the peanut challenge. I have never heard of level 2 but there were some newer quantitative tests coming out when we were seeing the allergist.
There are still so many unknowns as far as food allergies go, what causes them and how severe the reaction will be. I also feel the recomendations change every other year: eat more peanuts gradually, avoid them completely, dont eat nuts while pg, eat lots of nuts while pg, many tests are false positives etc. My son also had a mild reaction initially so that improved his chances of growing out of it. We never got rid of peanuts in our house, we were just careful. He also had an epi pen but we never had to use it. (This was all under the advisement of the two allergists that treated him)
I will say that each of the doctors had different approaches/treatments even though they were in the same practice. So much of the information seems subjective.

[chatterbox]

Jun 27, 2015 11:22:18 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

Okay reading fail...I thought you were asking if you should throw out all your peanut products.

I would probably steer clear of all nuts until you have more info from the allergist

Thanks for responding! You didn't have a reading fail. I was wondering if I should throw out all of the nuts in our apartment. I think I'm going to do so until I get more info from the allergist.

[chatterbox]

Jun 27, 2015 18:10:49 GMT -5 Rainyday said:

DS1 had a peanut allergy and he luckily grew out of it. He did test positive for it on the skin prick test and eventually passed the peanut challenge. I have never heard of level 2 but there were some newer quantitative tests coming out when we were seeing the allergist.
There are still so many unknowns as far as food allergies go, what causes them and how severe the reaction will be. I also feel the recomendations change every other year: eat more peanuts gradually, avoid them completely, dont eat nuts while pg, eat lots of nuts while pg, many tests are false positives etc. My son also had a mild reaction initially so that improved his chances of growing out of it. We never got rid of peanuts in our house, we were just careful. He also had an epi pen but we never had to use it. (This was all under the advisement of the two allergists that treated him)
I will say that each of the doctors had different approaches/treatments even though they were in the same practice. So much of the information seems subjective.

Thanks! It's nice to know that she could grow out of it one day. And I agree, there is so much conflicting information out there!

[court26]

I think DS is a level 5? It was so long ago that I long forgot the level #s. He is expected to have a severe reaction based on his level and how he reacted to eggs (same level). We have nothing with peanuts in our house on a regular basis. We will both occasionally keep candy in the house that we bring to work and if we eat anything in our house, we are freakish about cleaning up. Peanut residue/protein doesn't wipe off as easily as, say, milk. So lots of hand washing and wipes in public, versus relying on hand sanitizer, etc. We are 5 years in since we found out he had allergies, so feel free to ask if you think of anything else!

[chatterbox]

Jun 28, 2015 14:56:14 GMT -5 court26 said:

I think DS is a level 5? It was so long ago that I long forgot the level #s. He is expected to have a severe reaction based on his level and how he reacted to eggs (same level). We have nothing with peanuts in our house on a regular basis. We will both occasionally keep candy in the house that we bring to work and if we eat anything in our house, we are freakish about cleaning up. Peanut residue/protein doesn't wipe off as easily as, say, milk. So lots of hand washing and wipes in public, versus relying on hand sanitizer, etc. We are 5 years in since we found out he had allergies, so feel free to ask if you think of anything else!

Thank you