I am completely overwhelmed right now. A few months ago my 4 1/2 year old son got hives after he had eaten peanuts, tree nuts and strawberries. We made an appointment with the alergist and just saw her this week. After a skin test, we've determined that he is severely allergic to Walnuts. He is not allergic to strawberries or peanuts. We were given a prescription for an epipen, I was shown how to properly use it and we were sent out with a few worksheets and an action plan. Although he was only slightly allergic to almonds and nothing else, she instructed us to stay away from all tree nuts all together. I felt okay as we left and I was happy with the allergist but now as I have had some time to read everything and actually see how much I have to watch it, i am a wreck! :(I'm scared I'm going to miss something and unintentionally expose my son. I am so incredibly heartbroken that he will have to face this. I have been praying every day he'll grow out of it. The allergist said that there was a 20% chance that could happen. Not very high. I just was wondering if there were others out there that have delt with this before and can give me some advice or websites to look at. I started to research it myself and that just overwhelmed me more. I know each case is different from the next. We have to get his blood drawn to see how severe it really is and I guess we'll know more then. I have a million questions and concerns. Thanks in advance, this is seriously one of my favorite websites.
So it turns out the skin test results were much more dramatic than the actual blood work. We still have the eip pen of course, and we read labels but I'm not as worried about it as I was. He can have pistaccio's, cashews and peanuts. Thankfully those are all of his favorites. We go back in a year for another skin test and hopefully he'll be able to outgrow this. He thankfully, is able to have things that were processed in the same plant as tree nuts so its not as bad as it could be. I am pretty surprised though now that I have to look for it how many things actually do have tree nuts in them or were processed at the same plant. Fortuneately, we don't have to worry too much and have only had to do away with Banana bread and carrot cake made with Walnuts, no biggie. We are a little less likely to eat out at Chineese restauraunts now as well but those are the biggest changes and they are so unimportant. I am very thankful for all of your advice. Thanks again and I wish you all the best!!
I got to ride to the ER in a nice ambulance last Fall. I ate a handful of almonds and my tongue and throat swelled up. I have always had issues with bananas, watermelon, and pecans. Just certain months of the year though. I could eat them a lot of times. Weird. I even had a reaction to honey Kix.
I am terrified to eat much of anything. Every thing has allergy warning on it.
I myself am allergic to peanuts and my oldest son is allergic to both pecans and peanuts. I completely avoid peanuts and he avoids all nuts because pecans is a tree nut and opens the possibility of a reaction to another type of tree nut. Because of my own allergy, I have made it a habit to always read food labels closely since I was a child and to always ask before eating something someone else has fixed or eating at a restaurant that I am not familiar with. It becomes a life style. I will admit it is easier to watch for myself than it is to watch for my son. For this reason, I purchased him a med-alert necklace and taught him to show it to anyone that offered him food. I caught his peanut allergy at 18 months when a nursery worker at our church fed him a peanut butter cracker and his pecan allergy when he was 3 when I was chopping pecans for pumpkin bread for our pastor. Someone called and I left the nut chopper sitting on the kitchen table and ran to the phone. He could not resist pushing the chopper handle and the chopper tipped over and dusted him with pecan dust. He broke out in huge whelps every were it touched him. I'm so glad he did not eat it.
My mother purchased a med-alert bracelet for me because of my peanut, tree nut, flour, milk, potato allergies as a small child. I thankfully outgrew all but the peanuts by the time I was 10. I was taught to show it to anyone who offered me food or candy. You can't be with them 24/7. You need to teach him to ask and a med-alert necklace or bracelet would be a good idea as well.
I know I was in a panic when I sent me son to school and plagued the teachers with reminders of his allergies. I supplied the teacher with a epipen and drilled him on always asking. He is 10 now and just remind him when I know they are having school holiday parties to ask before eating anything. He has never had to use his epipen since his very first episode with the peanut and the pecans. I myself have never had to use my epipen. I have accidentally gotten peanut in my mouth, but my mouth goes numbish and itchy as soon as I get it in my mouth and I know to spit it out and clean my mouth as best as possible and take benadryl. I have only actually ingested peanuts in extreme small quantities since my childhood and have been able to throw it up and take benadryl and be fine.
I would if you can, get more than 1 Epi-Pen.
One for home, one for your purse etc.
One for school.
One for Daddy etc.
Check the ingredients on everything you buy. Make sure he knows what he can and can't eat. If he goes to another home for a playdate or birthday party make sure the other Moms know about his allergy. Explain to them about the epi pen and how to use it. Look into getting him a medic alert bracelet.
My 5 1/2 yo DS is allergic to peanuts and sunflower seeds and my 2 1/2 yo DD is allergic to tree nuts, (they are adopted and not even related!) DD is much more severe than DS with her reaction. It's such a pain. The good thing is that labels are very specific and usually list nut products at the very end so you don't have to read all the way through. I find that baked goods very often may contain tree nuts. I have also noticed that a lot of people really have no idea what "tree nuts" are. They know peanuts but when I mention tree nuts I often get a confused look! Our allergist has recommended that we avoid all nuts but we do not. DS eats tree nuts when he wants to and DD LOVES peanut butter and eats it regularly. DS eats soy nut butter instead. Neither are sensitive to the dust so we do not avoid them however DD can't even have something that has been "processed on the same machinery with tree nuts". Also, be sure to have benadryl on hand in addition to the epi-pen. You can message me with any other questions as I know I rambled a bit!
I too have serious, life threatening food allergies, and have dealt with them for decades. I canot be in the same room with any kind of seafood (fish or shellfish). This sadly means that I can rarely go to resterauntts because of cross contamination.
I am able to manage everything pretty well by reading lables on foods and being strategic when I grocery shop. You know, I did find it overwhelming at first, but I found the best way todeal with it was to breakeverything down and deal with the information one peice at a time. Here are a few websites that can help:
www.foodallergy.com This will provide information on food allergies.
www.epipen.com This will provide information on epipens.
www.medicalert.org This has information about medic alert bracelets, should you decide to go that route. I wear one.
Just remember, you CAN handle this and so can you son.!
Oh yes, you do want more than one epi pen---one to be with your son, one tht stays at one, one in yours, etc., just in case. I have three...purse, kitchen and car.
Please feel free to pm me if I can answer any questions.
Just wanted to reassure you that an allergy like this is manageable. Just read labels - there will be warnings if things may even contain traces of tree nuts.
My husband is severely allergic to mint. That is a hard one to avoid, and it is not on any warning labels. But we manage, from calling companies and asking what is in their "flavor" or "scent" (it's trigger by smell as well), to him carrying an epipen. We haven't had a serious incident in years. It can be a pain, but most people now are pretty understanding of allergies.
My son is very allergic to cashews. He had a very severe reaction (trip to the ER - swelling, vomiting, hives) to eating one cashew when he was 2.5 y.o. We have not had him tested but assume that he is allergic to other tree nuts. Our pediatrician gave us an epi-pen which we carry. It's been 2 years since we discovered that he was allergic and it hasn't been that bad. Tree nuts are not generally hidden in things the way peanuts are and all packaged foods are required to have allergy warnings that state if there are any possible allergens and if they are made in a facility that processes other foods that could cause a problem if there were cross contamination.
It is something that you and he as he gets older will have to be vigilant about but watching out for tree nuts is a lot easier than some other allergens - eggs, milk, wheat, peanuts.
You will be ok and so will he. This is a pain and serious but very manageable. My sister developed an allergy to sea food about 15 years ago and while she finds it annoying and has to be careful especially when eating out, it's not really a big deal.
I have a serious allergy to walnuts too. I react to tree nuts, but most violently to walnuts. I have become a label reader for sure. I do not react to things that say the product may have come in contact with nuts, so that is good. I mostly have to watch out for things like cookies or granola bars, which can have chopped nuts in them. Be careful with him touching nuts or breathing the dust. I had a bad reaction from chopping walnuts at a job I had. I never considered the fact that any contact could cause a reaction and not just eating. My family is all aware and makes sure I know what food has nuts or nut products in them. I always ask at restaurants too if I get a dessert that might have some sort of nut. You just need to make sure you keep informing people your son is around alot and reading labels and asking questions. If I am not sure about something, I can take a small bite, then wait to see if my mouth starts tingling or itching, and if not then I know something is ok to eat. For me, the reactions happen right away. So, it is definitely livable with this condition, but awareness and communication is the key. The good thing is that food has much better labeling on it than when I was a kid and it was riskier trying new foods. I tend to be a lot more wary of other people about trying new things though. Sometimes I may appear to be overly picky or rude if I don't eat something offered, but that is just going to be part of life for me. I've dealt with this since I was a child, and although I have to be more careful than most, it is not debilitating at all and does not really interfere with my daily life at all. It's definitely able to be handled.
My dad is allergic to tree nuts. It isn't that difficult to avoid - ask in restaurants and at events and read labels. Watch Entenmann's products - they used to have "filberts (hazelnuts)" in something unexpected.
He's never had a reaction to "equipment that is shared with..." so I wouldn't worry too much about that warning, unless you start to see an issue.
Based on my experience - your biggest issues will be: baked goods, "encrusted" things (not a big deal at 4, more when he's an adult) and salads.
