Peanut Allergy!, new here! Options

[Mommy2Monkeys]

Hi everyone I just found this board!!! My 1 year old son was recently diagnosed with a Peanut Allergy! We found out after he had a couple bites of a Peanut Butter cookie and broke out in severe hives with blisters!! I look forward to getting to know everyone .. and if anyone has any advice on this kind of allergy all are appreciated! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[T&T]

Hi there! My son also has a severe peanut allergy. We suspected the allergy right at 12 months, but received the official diagnosis last February when he was 18 months. He is now 2.5. He also had hives/flushing with his first two reactions, but his last reaction also included vomiting. As I'm sure you know, all of these symptoms are signs of anaphalaxis.

As far as my advice, read - read - read. And, try not to get too overwhelmed. The big thing with this allergy is being prepared. If you don't have an epi-pen, that's a great place to start. Our son has one with him at all times and if we are in a remote area, we have at least two (the medicine only lasts for about 20 minutes). We also removed all peanuts and tree nut products from our house and have him in a peanut free preschool.

Now that we have been dealing with this for over a year, we have things pretty well under control. We don't eat out a lot, but that's good too! My best resource for information has been http://www.peanutallergy.com/bbpage.htm.

[dingledine]

Welcome! I don't have any suggestions, I don't know what i would do if one of mine came down with that allergy. Welcome though!

[mamaD]

peanut allergy here too for my daughter who is 7 1/2 now found out at 24 mos over a couple reices peices. immediate reaction was pale looking followed by puking then hives. it now is at the point if she just puts it to her lips she gets the tingly/burning feeling. she has gotten to the point of shakes, anxious/scared feeling, feeling of swelling throat. we always carry benedryl everywhere espeically parties where food will be or buffet restraunts the few times we have gone and also a epipen.
just read all ingriedents its overwhelming at first but it will be alright. our thing we watch the most is around christmas halloween easter when they sometimes get candy gifts from people who just dont know any better always read the indgrients companies can change. things u dont expect can be processed in the same plant as peanuts; jelly beans for example.

[BusyBeeCin]

Hi! I'm new to these boards too but not to the peanut allergy way of life. My dd (almost 5yrs old) almost died at 15mo when we found out about her life-threatening peanut allergy. I agree with the above poster...our best source of information is www.peanutallergy.com ...we've loved it for years!

~Cindy

[Heidi77]

I'm sorry you have to deal with this... my 5 1/2 year old was diagnosed at 18 months so we've been doing the peanut allergy thing for 4 years now. It becomes second nature to carry an epi-pen (Elijah wears his around his waist now), always read labels, and know which companies are good about allergy labelling and which aren't. Birthday parties, class parties, school events, church events, potlucks, etc can all be a major hassle but you get used to it. We have a small selection of restaurants we trust, so we can still eat out.