ok, so j was diagnosed at age 3 1/2 with a peanut only allergy, weve been strict and mighty careful with it all 6 epi pens etc.. so last wednesday out of the blue j asks if she can be retested for the allegry we went to see her pedi, which is in the same practice as her original pedi...for some reason they switched her over to a woman whom we love....she(J) at her visit asked if she could be tested again... her pedi is like well why havent we tested before...both of us had no real answer as the old pedi just never mentioned to have it done...so we did bloodwork
BAM!!!! she is negative for peanut allergy....so with this knowledge,, we are now referred to a new allergist for a skin test and if that comes out negative.... a food challange...
now my question is.... is blood work accurate? versus the skin test? and with all this...how am i gonna get her to do the food challange with out her having that fear that something is going to happen?
and is it possible that after age 3 she could have really outgrown it? we avoided so much with her as far as food with peanuts cross contamination and the like... if in deed she did out grow this,,it is going to be super hard to re program herself to actually eat things that she couldnt before..
and honestly i do not know why we never went back to an allergist since we always got our epis prescribed by her pedi...
That sounds promising. Blood and skin tests are about equally accurate from what I've heard. Didn't J recently have a reaction to Panera, though?
I'm grinning from ear to ear, keeping fingers crossed.
Of course the SPT and food challenge will tell the tale.
How exciting!
That sounds like Great news J! I would follow up with an allergist for the skin testing and potential food challenge.
I have also not had dd tested for a few years, now. Nothing was ever changing. Now she does not want a needle stick. her ped follows her allergies and prescribes the epi.
omgoodness, that sounds wonderful!! I hope she has outgrown!
we almost had a reaction with panera got to the food before she ate it...thank god.
we have a skin test on the 20th with the new allergist!! woo hooo!!! i hope i hope i hope with all my might that this is what we've waited for!!! omg....j was so excited she started to shake!! lol...
was it the uknow test or a rast?
We're going to challenge my ds soon
he has negative RAST for peanut, huge 17mm wheal on skin though plus ana reaction.
we did the uknow and it put him in the low risk/cross reactive category.
Previously, they wouldn't challenge him because of the conflicting skin/rast plus history.
good luck
Oh, I guess I remembered wrong - I was thinking she had a contact reaction or something before eating it.
Good luck with the test! :luck: The possibility of outgrowing is so exciting!!
Sounds promising! My recollection from way back when I researched this stuff was that you can have a positive skin test even after you're no longer allergic. And that there can be false positives on skin tests but negative means negative. Good luck!That would be so awesome!
i know they are going to do a skin test is all i know so far until we see the new allergist next friday...im in such a whirlwind right now....the blood work she had on wednesday was a peanut allergy profile....they are also at the allergist going to test for tree nuts also....just in case....we do know thru the bloodwork that she is negative for peanut and walnut...somehow they tested for walnut...too...and the fact that they did that and it came up negative when we didnt ask for walnut makes me wonder if they goofed up the bloodwork....i guess im in panic mode there.... we will see for sure at the allergist i guess..
Are you sure this new allergist does in office food challenges? Some do not.
We have quite a bit if information in the other area about component tests (Uknow) and the positive and negative predictive values of both SPT and blood tests if yourbwNting more info than we've given you here. There are also some threads that detail how people deal with eating what one had always avoided if you want to read up on that,
It would be great if she's outgrown!! Crossing fingers!
Exciting! fingers crossed...
MODERATOR NOTE:. I'm unclear why this thread was started in the Off Topic area of the board. If there is anything in it which anyone does not want in the open area of the board please pm me.
Wow, how wonderful! Hope it works out for you guys!
I think allergists are being a lot more aggressive about re-testing (and sometimes challenge testing) kids who have been diagnosed through testing only, because they've become aware of a) how life-inhibiting a diagnosis is, and b) how many kids really do not have a peanut allergy who test sensitized.
The latest figure from the ACAAI meeting was that only 30% of kids who test positive to peanuts will have a true allergy.
I have the same story with dd so I'd like to share our experience. DD is now (almost) 19. She was diagnosed at 2 after a severe reaction. Her airway swelled and she collapsed (Low blood pressure?). We were careful to avoid with a few incidents...fast forward to age 15, she felt like she needed to be tested again. She told the doc that she thought she had outgrown. I felt that it was a good idea to since it had been a long time since she'd shown any sensitivity and other allergies completely disappeared. The allergist did a skin test but I can't quite remember the results, whether it was completely negative or a very small hive. He then did a RAST test which came back negative. He decided that we should try an oral challenge. First he put a tiny amount of pb on her chin. She didn't get hives but then again, she's never gotten hives with peanut reaction. The usual symptoms are the airway closing and bp dropping. Next he put a tiny amount (the size of the tip of a finger nail on her lip. Eventually, some went in to her mouth. As we were sitting, she started clearing her throat. That's her first sign that her airway is closing. I went to get the doc and by the time he came in, she said that she was definitely having a reaction. He checked her airway and he said that it didn't *look* swollen. Then he sits down next to her and said "Sometimes when someone has been dealing with a scary allergy all their life, they get panicky and just *feel* like they are having a reaction. But this is only a fear reaction, not an allergic reaction." (Yes, my mouth was gaping at this explanation). By this time, dd was miffed and just wanted to go home. Since the doc thought she was having a psychosomatic reaction, what could I do? Before the test, he had told us to have something in the house with pb because he assumed she'd pass the test since her RAST was negative. He said she could try pb again and have a little regularly. So the day before the test I asked her what she wanted to try after and she said Reese PB cereal.
I stayed near the hospital after the oral challenge but the reaction cleared up quickly so we went home. The next morning, dd figured that the doctor was right, that it was just in her head so she decided to test herself with the Reese cereal. I came to the kitchen after she'd taken her first bite. As soon as I looked at her, I knew she was reacting. She was wheezing, fluid running from her nose like a tap and she was sinking to the ground. I figured I wouldn't be believed at the hospital since "she tested negative to PA" so I had the presence of mind to grab my camera which happened to be on the table beside dd. I took a picture of her swollen face. Her eyes were swelled out to the bridge of her nose in a matter of seconds. I gave her epi and called 911. When we got to emerg, guess who was the doc on call? Yes, the allergist from the previous day. He came in to the room with a big smile saying, "Heyyyy, what are you doing here?" When I showed him the pic of dd, he almost passed out. Yup!! She's still severely allergic. He said that he'd never seen a negative skin and blood test and have the patient react so severely. He was very apologetic (understatement). DD will NEVER bother having another skin or blood test for allergies. For her, it is what it is. She's been dealing with it for 17 years, she'll continue dealing with PA.
I hope all goes well with J. I just really felt obligated to share our horror story. I've kept quiet about it because, at the time, I felt like I was in the top running for Worst mommy of the Year.
Oh KSmom, what a disappointing/horrible outcome.
And :paddle: :bonking: and :thumbsup: to that allergist. :tongue:
thank you for sharing..it adds insight to our testing.
not sure why this was moved...i usually hang out in off topic and never had anything removed before, unless someone complained? or maybe more would see it in main discussion i dunno....but anyhooo...ill refrain posting.
thank you all for advice and well wishes... peace.
It wasn't removed--just moved. It's on-topic. If there's a privacy reason though, then there's good reason to keep it off topic. But otherwise, since we are here to help each other, if there are no privacy concerns (like we often have with schools), it's important for topic that deal with food allergies to be in on-topic areas. That way others can see them and benefit. And can search for them. Five months from now if someone thinks they might have outgrown, they can so a search and find this thread and other similar ones, and it could be very helpful.
Please do post! And good luck on Friday! Outgrown-wishes sent your way!
(Edited to add the community aspect of having on-topic threads available for others)
J, I'm just thrilled that you might be at a place where you guys could schedule a challenge!
WOW! :crossed:
May the wind be at your back guiding you away from the realm of allergies. And if not we'll still have your back.
Truly, crossing my fingers for you too!!! Please come back and let us know. I'd really like to hear how things went! I'd love to hear a positive story!! :)
all skin test negative...she didnt itch nor did she welt or wheal up. they did her back and then tested both arms also. we did blood work again to test for two different peanut protiens,,,,which i did not know exsisted. so far negative.
the smile on her face was priceless. once the blood work comes back if that is negative we move on to the food challange.
really like this allergist. he even went on to discuss her asthma and her seasonal allergies and such..we walked out of there with a boat load of information. and to boot...he wouldnt let us out of the office until he felt she was clear of any possible reactions from the tests. he is incrediable.
so now we just wait for the blood work.
and sorry i got so cranky about this being moved... i think i misunderstood...plus it was all in red that it had been moved and in caps, so i kinda felt like i was being scolded for putting it in the o/t... its been kind of an emotional whirlwind for us with all this and if she comes out negative i feel like i;ll be booted from here becasue she may not have the allergy anymore....i'd miss my friends here... :-[
Glad things are going well so far!
J, that is sooooo exciting! It sounds very promising, and it also sounds like you've found a terrific allergist. :thumbsup:
As for being booted from here, you wouldn't be the first who has outgrown but stayed on. We're not like an exclusive club or anything. ;)
Yeah, we have a number of members whose kids have outgrown or gone through desensitization.
Glad it went well! The protein component test is such a cool thing--being used more widely now. We have a thread on it if you want to read more. Maybe later I can find it and link to it here. My DS had it. He's allergic to the worst protein. :( But at least we know.
Hoping your DD's blood tests come back and she can have an IOFC!
The process of outgrowing is incredibly important part of life with food allergies you would absolutely have relevant information to share. Just hopefully without the stress!
Quote from: Jmarc on November 23, 2013, 08:05:45 AM
and sorry i got so cranky about this being moved... i think i misunderstood...plus it was all in red that it had been moved and in caps, so i kinda felt like i was being scolded for putting it in the o/t... its been kind of an emotional whirlwind for us with all this and if she comes out negative i feel like i;ll be booted from here becasue she may not have the allergy anymore....i'd miss my friends here... :-[
Thank you for letting me know this. I usually try to put mod notes larger and red. I'll definitely rethink how to make mod notes stick out without offending.
I am sorry for having made you feel that way.
no worries... i think i was just so emotional that this could be so real....
both blood tests came back negative for both protiens for peanut and tree nuts...
OMG. we have the food challenge on the 16th of december....paws crossed
Good luck Jmarc!
:luck:
Oh wow! That's amazing!!
Quote from: Jmarc on November 27, 2013, 09:37:15 AM
no worries... i think i was just so emotional that this could be so real....
both blood tests came back negative for both protiens for peanut and tree nuts...
OMG. we have the food challenge on the 16th of december....paws crossed
You've DEFINITELY got a lot of people hoping right along with you, J!!
:crossed: :heart:
J, we have an almond challenge scheduled for the same day! Ours is at 1 PM - when is yours?
Fingers crossed for both of our kiddos!
GN, its at 8 am.... they said to expect to be there for most of the day....
Will be thinking of both of you! :)
J, that is great! Best of luck at the challenge!
GN - good luck to your DS too. We. Will miss you by about a week - baked egg on the 9th.
Mary, it would have been so awesome if we were there at the same time! Can you imagine? ;D
GN, thst would have been so cool!
soooooooo we had the food challange this morning......
wait... for it......
SHE PASSED IT!!!!!!!!!! NO MORE PEANUT ALLERGY!!!! :happydance: :happydance: :happydance: :happydance: :happydance: :happydance: :happydance: :happydance: she doesnt like the taste pf peanut butter....lol...buts thats ok...plenty of other stuff to eat
he wants us to introduce very slowly and at least one peanut product a week...once a week and increase over time as we feel comfortable.....and to keep carrying the epi pens for at least a year as a precasution (hes that savy!!) but its a go!!! first thing she wanted? M&M's...:D
So happy for you guys! We're in the waiting area right now, waiting for the almond challenge.
Woo-hoo!
Thrilled for her. :heart:
thank you so much!! she cant top smiling!!!
gn thnking of you!!! and crossing everything ive got!!! we need a finger crossing button!!
OMGoodness!!!! That's wonderful news, J!!!
Congrats to your DD and to your family!
Hurray!!!!
:happydance: What a wonderful Christmas present, J!!
Oh man, that is so fantastic! Congratulations!
Oh wow!! Wonderful!
Congrats. That's great news.
Congratulations!!!!!
Yay! So happy for you.
Oh, I am so happy for you!
Congratulations! I'm very happy for you & your dd.
Tell J that it took DS1 years to building up to liking peanuts. He is still ehh, on peanuts as a whole product. But the transition to peanut butter was eased because sunbutter was so similar. I think I mixed the two in cup and just kept adding more peanut butter.
M&M's are a great place to start though. I am really happy for you guys! Now I need to pick J's brain on how she made those snowman cookies :)
congrats!!! DS working up mentally for our challenge. I canceled the first appt because he didn't want to do it. I told him to just let me know when he's ready!
Great News here!!
Very exciting!
So happy for her. :thumbsup:
well she had her first kit kat bar ever last night....no issues...and she truly enjoyed it...( they are a may contain here) but still first step yay!!!
i dont think she will ever like the taste of peanut butter...as she dint even like the sun butter or the soy nut butter....but still it opens up a whole brand new world for her....
ykw... the snowman cookies are....sugar cookies...jus make a batch if them.. and use a tad bit of cookie ice-ing or frosting to the underside of the marshmellow to get it to stick to the cookie and then decorate it... its thats easy...:D
Oh that's so great! I came here in the hopes of seeing good news this morning and it's so great to have TWO board members celebrating!
Way to go, J! Just don't be surprised if it takes you months (and maybe years) to completely get ride of all your avoidance behaviors.
Jmarc, sorry if you already answered this, but is she supposed to start with just "may contains" or is she also allowed actual peanut/pb stuff?
Speaking as someone who developed this allergy after fully enjoying so many Peanutty things....if I could have just one thing....it would be a dry roasted peanut in the shell. I guess if she's only supposed to have a little weekly, that would be a waste to buy a whole bag. But, if she does try an actual whole peanut, please let me know what she thinks of it.
That's wonderful news! Congratulations!
she is to start off slow, may contains(traces) each week with adding one peanuty thing to the mix once a week. very slow indeed...which is ok by me....
i kept saying to her.. you can try this and this and have this..and lo and behold they were all thinga that are safe..lol....cant seem to get out of the safe mode..omg...
she still doents like the tatse of peanut butter or the smell of it...i think that is going to take some time and getting use to....she did enjoy a kit kat bar ( main contain) the other night and was in heaven and had no issues....yay!!
That is funny that you keep looking at things that have always been safe.
There might be some may contain cereals she would like to try. Although...maybe I avoid them because of nuts not peanuts.
Ice cream!! Donuts!!
Thai restaurant. I'd burn a trail there.
so far so good....no issues!!
she really hates peanut butter cups!! we tried them and the face she made was priceless...she ended up spitting it out...doesnt like the taste of it... m&m's and kit kat bars..so far are her favorites....she wants to try thai food...(so do i, i love it) still taking it slow..