Nut Allergy

[horselady]

My youngest grandchild ate a piece of toast with peanut butter on yesterday and had a severe anaphylactic reaction, hospital said it was one of the worse they'd seen. Poor child already has asthma and eczema. They are going to do tests to establish exactly what he reacts to and then we have to learn to live with this. Who else has to cope with this? Any tips? I shall be terrified to give him anything

[rockyracoon]

Poor thing, I bet it was horrifying. At least you know now that he can't touch peanuts and can monitor accordingly.

Schools are very good and have strict care plans in place for students that have severe allergies like this.

Good luck, I hope he recovers quickly.

[bhg481]

Just beware of the idiots, and I mean IDIOTS, who'll say "Oh, just a little bit won't do any harm". You've got to train him to accept NOTHING from ANYBODY.

[horselady]

Thanks Rocky, my poor daughter-in-law was distraught at the thought she had "caused" it, she kept saying how she could have killed him. As I pointed out, until someone reacts, how can we possibly know these things? Poor little kid, he's only 5 and his asthma attacks are bad enough, he's getting used to hospital!

[horselady]

Thanks bgh that will be one of the biggest hurdles, that and being taught to use the EpiPen.!

[ummmm]

They learn quickly, horselady. My nephew has PKU and knows to never accept food.

[Tuvok]

Just pay attention to the ingredients on food labels.

[roopower]

What a shame, life is going to be a little difficult until you all get used to it. The school where I worked banned everything that included peanuts - actually nuts of any kind just to be safe, as we had a lad who was very allergic to peanuts. We were all trained to use his Epipen, don't worry about that as it is not difficult or as traumatic as you fear. The Epipen will have to go everywhere with him and everyone he has contact with, friends mothers, any clubs he may belong to etc need to know how to use it and have it impressed on them how serious it can be. It's true that some people think that a fuss is being made out of nothing but you have to make them understand.
The two lads I worked with who had peanut allergies are now teenagers managing themselves, children cope with these things very well.
I think you will find a lot of information out there for you and you will soon learn what the little lad can eat and which not. Check labels thoroughly and if eating out make the staff aware.

I wish you all well.

[horselady]

Thank you roopower, it was a shock when it happened, he's eaten peanut butter before and been ok so we weren't expecting it at all. His lips started to swell straight away and then he was violently sick, thank goodness he was at home and not out somewhere, although I shouldn't imagine any person would feed someone else's child peanuts these days. One of our concerns is that he is mildly autistic, we have to hope that he will understand that he must be careful as he gets older, we won't always be with him:-((

[roopower]

It is possible to develop an allergy to anything - my mother had been given penicillin for years off and on and then her dentist gave her tablets for an abscess and it almost killed her. It could be worth getting a medic alert pendant or bracelet giving information that your grandson is allergic to peanuts. Thanks for best answer