Adults - How did you *get it*

Hi Anna Marie,

When I was a kid, my family doctor told my parents and myself not to eat peanuts, since if I did, my allergy could result in my throat swelling shut and my possible death. This was enough of an incentive for me to "get it".

Hi Anna Marie,

I guess no one else "got it"? [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/tongue.gif[/img]

I got it after I had an anaphylactic reaction. Growing up I knew peanuts made my throat itch, so I avoided them - but I could eat creamy pb. 2 weeks before my reaction I siad something about it to one of my friend's who is a nurse and she said "You could die from an allergic reaction to peanuts". I had no idea - nor did my parents. While I was on the floor of the pub begging for air and a priest all I could think of was those words spoken to me just a few weeks prior....

I am not PA, but I am shellfish allergic, and that contrast solution they use for some xrays. The contrast solution is when the allergy was discovered. I was anaphylactic then, but it didn't dawn on me at all. (I was 22, more or less)

A year later, my friends took me to a pizza place for my birthday, and I ordered a pizza with anchovies. I love anchovies, well, loved at least. I spent my whole birthday evening in the restroom, on my knees throwing up constantly. That's when I got it.

Eric, I thought you were really young (around 2) when you had your reaction. I assume a child that's young wouldn't really remember anything about it. Were you older? Old enough to actually remember it?

Kind of scary that three out of four of us had reactions as adults to *get it*.

I was an adult when my reactions started, but I didn't really take it seriously until it started interfering with my day to day life, and eventually caused anaphylactic shock.

Quote:Originally posted by AnnaMarie:
[b]Eric, I thought you were really young (around 2) when you had your reaction. I assume a child that's young wouldn't really remember anything about it. Were you older? Old enough to actually remember it?[/b]

Hi Anna Marie...

Good memory. yes, I was two and a half years old. And I have no memory of my reaction... no memory at all....

But my family doctor told my parents who told me that I had to avoid eating peanuts as if I was to eat them again, it was possible that my throat could swell up and I could die. Hearing this was enough for me to know, even as a kid (I am sure my parents didn't tell me this until I was older than 2.. maybe around 5 or 6 years of age when I started school?).

So hearing about my throat swelling up was enough for me to get it and I have avoided peanuts since then (except for the occasional cross-contamination reaction that has occurred) so those are the only reactions I remember (but my reaction at 2.5 was the most sever of them al since I actually had a bite of a pb sandwich)

[This message has been edited by erik (edited May 09, 2003).]

Erik, that is so encouraging to hear that you have been able to successfully avoid peanuts and not have another full-blown reaction from accidental exposures!! Were your parents as diligent as the parents on this board seem to be, or was it you yourself that looked out for peanut stuff? Just wondering.

Hi Bootsy..

Yes.. both my parents and myself ahve always been careful.

But we didn't do half the stuff the people at these boards did. Never wiped down tables in restaurants for residue. Never skipped bowling alleys, parks, etc...

In fact, we even had some peanut products in the house (ie: bird food) but I was very careful... of course. I guess compared to most people here, we had a wider comfort zone..

But once again, were very careful. My main problem was baked goods which caused some cross-contamination reactions (sicne we did not understand that concept in the old days) but sicne I tightened up on baked goods (very strict now) I have successfully avoided reactions (with the exception of some airborne minor reactions)

So the answer is we were all very careful, but not as strict as most people on PA.COM

If this answer is not clear feel free to ask for more details. Avoiding PA is possible, and of course I probably had some luck too as in the old days there were no peanut-free places.

I have an opinion on why people [b]need[/b] to be more meticulous than in the past.

Most companies didn't make as many [i]things[/i] as they do now. For instance, we used to have Oreo's. Then Double Creme Oreo's, Chocolate Coated Oreo's, PB Oreo's, etc.

I don't think cross contamination was as much of a problem, partly because there wasn't as much to cross contaminate. But, obviously it did still happen.

Just MHO.

And Eric, I was such a pig-headed (now TH-headed) kid that I probably would have eaten a pb sandwich just to prove them wrong.

Quote:Originally posted by AnnaMarie:
[b]Most companies didn't make as many [i]things[/i] as they do now. For instance, we used to have Oreo's. Then Double Creme Oreo's, Chocolate Coated Oreo's, PB Oreo's, etc.[/b]

Hi Anna Marie,

Yes. that is true... these days we have peanut varieties of many things, so it is not as easy to avoid as it was in the past.

I guess I was more easily scared as a child than you.. the idea of my throat swelling shut kept me in line regarding peanuts.

Hi,

I didn't "get" it until I visited this site!

After a couple of "minor" reactions three years ago - big swollen eyes - after eating peanuts, I went to the doctor and he said "don't eat peanuts anymore". So I didn't.

For about a year I avoided peanuts and treenuts and may contains and thai/chinese food. However, I never considered cross contamination issues or not eating food from other restaurants and I was not aware of things like HVP or natural flavourings etc. Also, I never thought about the risks of things like kissing people who had been eating nuts or sharing plates etc.

Then I started looking things up on the internet about allergies and was shocked to discover all these new things to be concerned about. Obviously, it's better this way, but I was upset that my doctor never warned me about all these issues.

I've never actually been formally diagnosed as PA, as I got the run around from a lot of ignorant doctors. I don't have an epi pen at the moment since the one I managed to get from my doctor expired a couple of months ago. I've never had another reaction since the first three and I'm extremely cautious but I know I should try and get referred to a specialist (again for the third time). Not having any health insurance doesn't help of course.

So anyway, the point of this is that it didn't take a serious reaction for me to "get" this allergy, just a lot of reading and research (especially here).

Take care,

Michelle

Quote:Originally posted by erik:
[b] I guess I was more easily scared as a child than you.. the idea of my throat swelling shut kept me in line regarding peanuts.

[/b]

Growing up with three big brothers, and one of them thought I was his personal punching bag - I had to learn not to be scared [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/wink.gif[/img]

But, we are all glad that you did *get it*.

Hmmm, come to think of it, even as an adult I really didn't *get it* for a long time. Still pretty pig-headed I guess.

I really can't remember the exact details very well any more, so what I post here may contradict (a little) that which I have posted before.

I was 42 when it first happened, some 4 yrs ago. I have always eaten every nut available, by the handful. I had PB on toast most weekends for breakfast. In fact, I can say I ate EVERYTHING edible (even had sheep brain curry ... and snails on a pizza!).

A group of us went out to an Indian restaurant. I had Chicken Tikka Masala, which from that restaurant had almonds in it. I also had the Naan with almonds. After the meal, we walked for about 15 mins to the railway station to go home. I made it, just, as far as the Taxi waiting area, feeling REALLY ROUGH. My head was spinning, I couldn't breathe, my heart was thumping, my lips were swollen up, my eyes itched.

I sat down to recover, the rest of the group left me, as I said I'd be OK. The next thing I know was coming round as they helped me into the Ambulance. I had fallen off the seat and hit my head, too!!. Cutting a long story short, they kept me in overnight, did some tests (heart etc.) and said that it must have been something I ate. As a couple of the rest of the group had "strange" reactions, we assumed that it was excess food colouring.

Twice more over the next 6 months or so, I had the pounding heart, swollen lips, trouble breathing. The last time, I passed out and my wife called the Ambulance. The Paramedics gave me Piriton (antihistamine) on the trip, as the rash had started. I felt fine (well, almost) by the time I got to the Hospital, where they gave me more antihistamine and watched me for a very boring 2 hours, then sent me home.

I then sat down and put 2 & 2 together and made 64.5 [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img] I worked out that nuts were the common thread, so went to the Doctor and took advice. He sent me to a specialist, she agreed with my self-diagnosis(!), arranged the RAST test and then told me that I had a high reaction to peanuts, almond, cashews, walnut, hazelnut ... and Sesame!!

An EpiPen followed within 2 days.. and the rest is history!! Boy, do I CRAVE all those nuts, still! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/frown.gif[/img]

Quote:Originally posted by Nick:
[b]Boy, do I CRAVE all those nuts, still! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/frown.gif[/img]
[/b]

Well, keep on visiting PA.COM - lots of nuts here. haha [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/tongue.gif[/img]

Seriously speaking, thanks for posting your experience. Very informative.

Quote:Originally posted by Nick:
[b]I had a high reaction to peanuts, almond, cashews, walnut, hazelnut ... and Sesame!!

An EpiPen followed within 2 days.. and the rest is history!! Boy, do I CRAVE all those nuts, still! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/frown.gif[/img]

[/b]

Hi Nick!

I only actually know about peanuts and sesame, but I stay away from all nuts. And I understand the craving. I really miss pb. and for me it's been about 15 years.

Funny, I don't miss sesame seeds [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img]

Quote:Originally posted by AnnaMarie:
[b] And I understand the craving. I really miss pb. and for me it's been about 15 years.
[/b]

I guess that is one good thing about a lifelong allergy - I don't miss the taste of peanut butter since I have no idea what it tastes like.

I understand how you feel Nick, I ate peanut and peanut products for 27 years boy do I miss the peanut butter toast. I did not get it because I had not a clue. My nephew is PA and my brother said that when I had my children to watch them for excezma whent the are babies and never give them PB until they were at least 4. So as a good mom I took them trick or treating and just took out the PB issues even the may contains and let them have the lollies and such. I ate the PB products thinking what can be the harm they were in bed and I would be clean before they got up. I did not know or understand what was happening to me my tastbuds on the back of my thoung swelled to the size of pencil erasers and my throat started to close.My husband called 911 and the rest is history no nuts for me. My girls have never had Peanuts and I dont think they every will after what happened to mommy. I think it scared them as much as it did me.

Allergic@27, how old were your kids when you had your reaction?

My kids (I had two then) don't seem to remember anything about my bad reactions. For years I suffered hives - all over - but couldn't figure out the cause.

They were with me when I went in to ana. shock in a mall. DH dropped me at hospital then drove them to my sisters and came back.

Now my oldest (20) has developed a latex allergy, so I warned him to watch for signs of reaction when he eats banana or kiwi. Suddenly [i]it seems to me[/i] he is eating a lot more of those fruits. Then a few weeks ago when his girlfriend and I were trying to get things through to him he said not to worry, he just gets a lot of phlem at the back of his throat when he eats a banana. I don't know whether he's serious or joking. All I have succeeded in so far is to convince him to carry around two benedryl as well as the anti-histamine he takes for seasonal allergies.

Now, where did he inherit that pig-headedness from?

I have been allergic to peanuts since I was about 2 1/2 or 3. I have no memory of that reaction, but I remember my mother telling me that I couldn't eat peanuts. Until I was 21, I never had contact or inhalation reactions. I was also 21 or 23 when I had my firt anaphylactic reaction. When I was a kid, my mother had a relatively wide comfort zone. We had peanut butter in the house, and my sister could eat it while I was sitting next to her. Now, that will never happen--I am reacting more and more to the smell of it alone.

I guess I never had to "get it" b/c any reaction I had scared me. Most of my more recent reactions have been from accidental exposure or from dumb people who don't get how serious it is for me. I am extremely careful now, b/c the first anaphylactic reaction scared the living daylights out of me and I NEVER want to have another reaction like that again.

Quote:Originally posted by fuzzyfurball:
[b]I guess I never had to "get it" b/c any reaction I had scared me. Most of my more recent reactions have been from accidental exposure or from dumb people who don't get how serious it is for me.
[/b]

Now I understand. I never thought about all the reactions over time. I was thinking that if a reaction happened at 2 years old you wouldn't remember it, so how do you make it through the rebellious teens. But, even if you don't have ana. reactions all the time, there are the [i]hopefully[/i] minor reactions.

I became severely allergic to pollen at about 27 yo. Began to react to apples and peaches, and found out I had Oral Allergy Syndrome. I noticed that nuts and peanuts were on the list of possible reactive foods, and thanked my lucky stars I didn't react to them.

2 years later, my mouth began to tingle when eating almond candy. A few months after that was eating fresh shelled hazelnuts and my throat began to swell. Was tested and am allergic to walnut, hazelnut, and almond. Stopped eating them-continued to eat pb-every day.

Then began to react to pb, but mostly gastro intestinal. Argued with doc about it, who TOLD me to try eating plain peanuts. Stupidly, I did and my sinuses swelled right up. Had it gotten any worse I would've used my epi. Haven't eaten any nuts of any kind since.

Anna Marie'
I am so sorry for the delay in my answer I was taking some on line courses for work and they just ended.. My oldest child was just 2 and then the baby was just that a baby 4 months. I was lucky to have a friend on the fire department who herd the 911 call and called his fiance to watch my children while my husband went to the hospital with me. I have watched my children like a hawk, my oldest is six now and has never had a peanut she will even ask if there are nuts in something if her teacher gives it to her. If there are she will tell the person no thank you my mommy could get very sick if I have that. My little one goes to a nice preschool that has a peanut free class and they put her in it just for me.The school has 2 rooms per age group and the 4 year old class this year is peanut free as was her three year class last year. There are 3 other PA kids in the class and they treat my daughter the same it is a blessing.
I am sorry to hear that your daughter has developed such a dangerous allergy. How does she handel having to go to the dentist or Dr. She has to be so careful OH-MY Latex is like peanuts it is every where you don't expect.

Again Anna Marie sorry about the very delayed responce and I look forward to talking to you soon I am playing catch up on the boards looking at what I missed over the last month or two.

OH-MY Anna Marie please forgive the error stated above I typed daughter I am so sorry I am so used to my two being girls I goofed....

SORRY

My son (so far) doesn't have severe reactions to latex. His work supplies him with alternative gloves (they cost more, so other employees are still supplied latex gloves).

As for doctors and dentists, he wouldn't tell the dentist about his allergy (he said it was his problem not the dentists). Needless to say, I got furious. I contacted the dentist and informed them of his allergy - so it's now in his chart. Our regular dentist and some of the hygenists have latex allergy, and usually that's who was doing his cleaning, so they didn't use latex anyway, but, he's just soooo stubborn.

I did get him a new medic-alert with the latex allergy added, so at least if they read it they'll know.

Hey Anne Marie.

Interesting to see you here. I'm actually starting to recognize people's names in this place.

I just joined the PA team a few days ago, and I'm now catching up with the "Adults with PA" board.

Anyway, depending on how you look at it I "got" it either about four weeks ago, or this past Monday.

I was never a big peanut eater. Always hated peanut butter. Love chocolate but avoided the ones with peanuts or coconuts. And quite frankly, when I first moved to the USA and saw someone eating a PB&J sandwich, I wasn't sure if I should throw up, or just dope-slap the guy while asking "what the hell are you doing?"

Last year, I was unofficially living with my girlfriend (hereby referred to as "Claudia" [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/wink.gif[/img]), while keeping my own little "bachelor heaven" which I would only visit once a month to pay the rent, and to play the role of "single dude living in his own domain" for a day or two. Anyway, during that period, while playing the role of single dude, on two occasions I just rented an excessive amount of crappy sci-fi movies, got a few beers, disassembled a bicycle or two just to play with my tools, polished some of my swords, opened a few bags of peanuts, and had a ball. Till the next day that is. In both occasions I woke up during the night feeling violently ill. I'm still not sure if I should blame the peanuts, the beer, or the movies I rented. At least none of them had Pamela Lee in them. And if anyone ever accuses me of watching Bikini Carwash, I'll plead innocent until proven guilty!

Since then, I continued eating peanuts occasionally, without any noticeable side effects. And since my old bachelor heaven, Claudia's old place, and our new place together are all in some of the best restaurant areas in NYC, I've had plenty of meals in peanut-rich environments. Every time I go to my favorite Malaysian restaurant, I always order the Malaysian peanut pancake for desert. And some of the Thai restaurants nearby are just amazing.

About a month ago, December 10th or so, while trying to save some money for rent by cooking at home a little more often, I decided to prepare some chicken saut

Quote:Originally posted by Joao:
[b]Hey Anne Marie.

Interesting to see you here. [/b]

[i]She's everywhere, she's everywhere[/i] [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/wink.gif[/img]

You've made it all the way to *Adults*. I assume we'll be seeing you in OT soon? Be sure to bring your sense of humour. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img]

I think I've just "Gotten it" as of the yesterday at the age of 24. I haven't had peanut butter since I abused the stuff when I was in grammar school and no longer really find it tasty. But on Sunday the 9th of January I didn't feel like cooking lunch and threw together a couple of pbj sandwiches. I began feeling very tired and a little ill but chalked it up to lack of sleep. After laying down for a short while the fun began. I spent the rest of the day vomiting and blaming all the other symptoms on that. I was flushed, seemed to have a rash on my torso, dizzy, headache,shortness of breath, etc. These seemed to me to be the same basic sympoms of a stomach bug, even including the rash because my skin is very sensitive and breaks out in hives when I'm stressed. After spending the day trying to get someone to put me out of my misery (I'm a real baby when it comes to vomiting) I finally was able to keep something down. The following day I was still very listless, dizzy, foggy-headed, headachy,etc. But the hives were still present which was unusual. Then my left eyelids began to swell to twice their normal size and I began to think. I hadn't had anything to eat but peanut butter, which I haven't eaten for many years, jam which I eat a couple times a week, and water. I decided to try an at home test of the peanut butter and applied some to my forearm. It felt tingly and kind of burned. When I wiped off the butter there was a large welt followed by a few small ones around it. I still have to see my doctor but I'm fairly certain that I'm allergic, and it would really explain why I have chronic stomach pain and bouts of vomiting for "no reason." I eat almost all peanut products excluding peanut butter on a regular basis in small doses. Excluding this one time where I ate a lot of peanut butter at one time. I'm ready to deal with the allergy though it will take some getting used to, I just kinda wish I actually liked peanut butter so that the reaction would have been kinda worth it.

Quote:Originally posted by SteffiG:
[b] I just kinda wish I actually liked peanut butter so that the reaction would have been kinda worth it.[/b]

You went through all that - and your sense of humour is still intact. That is such a good sign. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/wink.gif[/img]

Have you booked an appointment with your doctor yet? Don't delay.

It does sound a lot like an allergy. You might want to pick up some over the counter antihistamine to have on hand, just in case.

When you see the doctor, you should also talk to him/her about an epi-pen. I carry two for myself (peanut and sesame allergy) and my son carries one for himself and has one at the school office (insect venom allergy).

My son has never had a life-threatening reaction, but since it is common with his allergy (like peanut) the doctor and I feel it's better to be prepared.

*********

Welcome to the board. Look around, there's lots of information. Post questions if you can't find what you're looking for.

When I was a kid, peanut butter and peanuts made me feel "funny". In our house, if you didn't eat what was served, you went without. I was always extremely skinny and would throw up if I got too hungry, ie skipped a meal. But, I knew that the toast and peanut butter were not for me. (Mama used the same knife in the peanut butter as the jelly and contaminated it. When she made toast, she used the same knife in the butter as the jelly, thereby contaminating the butter, too. It was hopeless, ya know?) I would go sit on my bed until mealtime was over rather than eat. When I was 6, a teacher made me eat a peanut butter cookie. The entire cookie! I almost died. I barely remember the ambulance taking me to the hospital. It scared me to death. After that, there was no way of not getting it. To this day, I still can't eat toast with grape jelly - I know it's silly, but... what can I say?

I ate peanuts all my life till I was 49. Then it started with a swollen sore and very lumpy tongue. And a few months later I was eating peanuts at a party and I had a worse reaction - swollen tongue, mouth, throat, racing pulse, red on face and body. Luckily there was a nurse there and she gave me an anti histamine tablet and rushed me down to the duty doctor (who luckily happened to be my own Dr), After 1/2 hr I started to feel alot better. Now - I am totally peanut free. He said - who knows how bad it would be next time.
Since then, my daughter and her 18 mth old son have been told they have a slight intolerance to peanuts too.

Hi Rainbow. Welcome to the board.

I'm in to cross-stitch too. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

Do you find companies label well in your country?

All food is labelled really well in NZ. There is a law about it. The only products I am wary of are the foreign ones with labels in a foreign language (even if some of it is translated). Maybe in NZ things are labelled a little too well because nearly everything "may contain traces of peanuts". I am OK with this food and only really have to worry about obvious peanutty things. I guess it safe guards the companies having this warning on - but it can be a huge pain for me !!!!!!!!! I find companies are very careful about contamination here and Australia and do their best to stop it.
When I ate my 1st "may contain traces of peanuts" food item (chocolate) after I found out I was allergic to peanuts, I sat in the car outside the hospital while I ate it, just in case, but I was fine.
A few weeks ago I had exactly the same allergic reaction while eating a bit of battered fish from a fish and chip shop. I took an antihistamine (sp?) tablet and was fine 1/2 hr later. The next day I went in to the shop and asked the owner/manager if they used peanut oil for cooking and she said no. She was horrified that I had this reaction and has no idea what caused it. So maybe there is another allergy lurking out there for me. I have eaten fish before this time, and after - and no problems.
What annoys me is that my daughter in law has asked me to make the grandkids peanut butter sandwiches on the odd occasion. I did the 1st time (scrubbing my hands straight after) but now I delegate the job. She knows about me and peanuts - she just doesn

In Canada, if there is peanut oil in the vegetable oil it has to be on the label. Is that true in NZ as well? Is it possible that the vegetable oil contains some peanut oil?

That's totally unfair of your daughter in law. My grandson's mom never feeds him peanutbutter before he comes here for a visit. In fact, she wasn't letting him have *may contains* before he sees me, but i told her that wasn't necessary. And when I'm at their house, if he asks for peanutbutter, his mom says no - and offers him something else. At my house, I give him peabutter and he can't tell the differance. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img] (He really shouldn't be eating peanutbutter at his age anyway - especially with pa in the family. But, I refuse to harp about it non-stop. I don't want her to not want to let me see my grandson.)

AnnaMarie - I dont know about the vegetable oil here in NZ. I will check it out. But I am 99% sure if it has peanut oil in it - it would be on the label.

As a matter of interest a couple of weeks ago some makes of Easter eggs were recalled off the supermarket shelves because they "may contain nuts" and it was omittied from the label.

I dont think some people realise just how dangerous allergies of any sort are. My daughter is allergic to penicillan and since she was a wee tot she could never eat mushrooms. She said she couldnt swallow them (was that her body warning her not to?) I think the mushroom thing and the penicillan thing are related - but thats a subject for a diff web site.

I am 33 and have a know peanut allergy since the age of 3 - so I've been living with it for 30 years and before it was well known and understood.
My mother would make me peanut butter sandwiches (since there are no allergies in my family - at all) and after the 1st taste I would stop eating it. I would sit and stare at the sandwich and refuse to eat it. I was a fussy eater so my mother would make peanut butter sandwiches for me, but I would just stare at it remembering how it made me feel the first time I tried it. Fortunatetly, I wasn't anaphylactic at the time. I don't know what would have happened if my PA was as severe back then as it is today.

Hope this helps.

At that time did your mom know you were allergic? or is it looking back it was realized you had been allergic that long ago?

I must admit that at first your post really shocked me. But, then I realized that even 20 years ago a woman I knew (and her mom) both fed her son foods that he was allergic to. They never realized his reactions could become life-threatening.

Goodness. What a different world we live in.

Hey, and welcome to the board peanut_mom. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img] If there are any treats you haven't been able to find safe - these boards are the place to find them. Just verify that the information you are reading is for products in your country. Sometimes the same company labels differently between Canada and the US - and sometimes the products are actually made differently. And if you can't find what you want - ask.

I was diagnosed with PA when I was around 2 years old. (I had a nut cookie and my eyes swelled shut, and mom took me to ER). My mom had a pretty wide comfort zone. I was, at the time, only ingestion allergic. I only had a couple of reactions that just consisted of hives, and some asthmas symptoms.

My first anaphylactic reaction was when I was around 21. I didn't know that's what it was until I finally got a hold of my allergist. I always took my allergy seriously. When I look back, there were a lot of foods that made my mouth itch and I never knew why. NOW I do--it was probably cross-contamination. I can't say that it was a specific time that I *got* it, but this site and what the dr. has told me is helping me to take it more seriously. I do know that after 2 anaphylactic reactions, some cross-contamination reactions, that I am WAY more careful than ever. I also agree with poster that there are so many more foods made with peanut butter today and that's why we need to be more careful. I think it's really sad that this society seems to think that peanut butter is the best thing in the world and it has to be in EVERYTHING!

Although I found a miracle yesterday. I was at a scrapbook expo and there was booth for fudge. I asked how safe it would be to eat their fudge. They said that they do have peanut butter in some of their fudge, but they said they use different mixers for Peanut/NUT fudge from the nutless fudge AND they clean out the containers before they mix new fudge in them!! I was in shock, almost passed out, b/c it seems that candy is so difficult for me to find that is safe!

Anna Marie,
Your response to my post reminded me of something I should have said in my original post. Like I said I don't remember that first reaction or much about the allergy until my adult years. I just knew I was allergic to it and I had to stay away from it. But, in hindsight I think deep down I knew PA was nothing to play with. I remember now sometimes I would eat certain things and my tongue would feel itchy. I didn't understand why, but now I think I was having a mild reaction (b/c that is the first sign I've had something with peanuts in it. ) I've eaten things now that I've always eaten and i sometimes get an itchy tongue adn I think it's a may contain. I am very careful now about eating stuff with may contains. I think I was always careful because I was always sick wehn I was a kid, so probably I somehow knew that I shouldn't be eating them!

My mother also did not make a big deal out of it either.

I stopped eating PB after my lip swelled after eating a reeses pb cup. After a few months, I realized that I was no longer getting heart burn- which I had been getting often.

I still wasn't *sure* until I got tested several years later... the doc diluted the already diluted solution by 10x and I still had a 4+ result...

Tara P

I have adult onset PA that I found out abuot two years ago (I'm in my late 30s now). I've known my DS is PA since he was 1, and he's 7 now.

Since I was a kid, I've had some problems with pecans and other tree nuts, but not enough for me to stay away from them. The problem amounted to an itchy mouth or swollen parts of my lips which sometimes occurred--and I knew that eating acidic foods prior made it worse. I still eat them unless I've had acidic foods prior.

I found out about my PA 2 years ago in a circuitous way. I had an allergic reaction after putting on some Everything Nice lotion at an Origin's store in the mall. We'd gone out to eat beforehand and had had wine and a red sauce over pasta. About 15 minutes after putting the lotion on, my hands started swelling up and my nose began running. By the time we got to the car my lips and tongue were very swollen. I always carry a vial of Benadryl with me for DS' PA, and so I drank some and let some just swim around in my mouth for a while, and things improved. When we got home, I took more liquid Benedryl and called the store. If my son were having those symptoms, I would have used the EpiPen on him, but for some reason I didn't use it on myself. Luckily, things turned out okay in spite of my stupidity.

I went to an allergist for testing, and he suspected chamomile (based on the lotion ingredients and other foods that I said I was sensitive to, like avocados and tomoatoes, etc.) So he did a skin test. I was positive for chamomile, so he prescribed an EpiPen for me. He said having the wine and the tomato sauce before putting on the lotion ripened my system for a worse reaction.

I was absolutely shocked when he said, "And you're a 2+ for peanut." I actually laughed. I hadn't known they'd even tested me for it. I told him about my son.

It made sense. After business lunches at Thai restaurants and business trips where I would buy cruncy Peter Pan and Welch's Concoord Grape jelly and indulge, I would often have bad GI problems. I thought it was because I so rarely ate peanuts that I'd developed an intolerance to them.

But you know--and this is difficult to admit--I don't know that I've "gotten it." I totally get my DS' PA and have a very strict comfort zone and go to great lenghts to protect him. I'm very diligent for him. There are no may contains in our house.

The other night DH (and in this instance that stands for Dumb) bought some chips and didn't read the label, and they were fried in peanut oil. Our DS reacts to peanut oil. One of his severest reactions was to it. I hadn't read the ingredients before taking a bite, and it tasted just awful. So then I looked, yelled at DS, and threw the bag away. I didn't want it in the house.

As far as not getting my own PA yet, I'll sometimes eat a may contain. And I might go to a Chinese restaurant with a group of adults. And last year I had a Snickers bar at work. I'm just not as careful for myself as I am for my DS. And sometimes I wonder what it would be like if I did have an ana reaction. Would I be able to identify with DS better? Would I be able to tell him about how the EpiPen feels and that it's not so bad? What makes this worse, is that I have asthma that's not being controlled well right now (I'm trying several different meds to get it under control), and I know the higher risk for PA and asthma.

I know this sounds crazy, but all of this goes through my head. I do not have a death wish. I've also not had a severe reaction. And I know the next one could be--I know all about that. I just haven't fully accepted the PA dx for myself.

[This message has been edited by McCobbre (edited May 17, 2005).]

McCobbre - you and I have some similarities in accepting PA but also similar histories. I was diagnosed in February. I can't believe I'm the one warning someone else to be careful...but our histories are so similar. DON'T EAT A SNICKERS!

So this is how 'I got it'.

I also had years of unexplained GI problems - almost always when I was away from home, eating out. (My diet at home is pretty basic.) I can think of a dozen different occasions when I was SO sick on trips...some of these times I remember eating PN prior to but I never made the connection. I thought perhaps garlic with the culprit.
No other symptoms but GI.

One of my New Year's resolutions was to eat healthier meals - so through the day I would munch on 1/4 cup of raw Spanish PN. I felt really lousy. Simultaneously, we had flooding in the area where I live. I use well water and heard they were warning people to boil their water....so I decided that I must have cryptosporidium or giardia.

Most nights I couldn't eat dinner I was so nauseated. I thought the peanuts were aggravating the situation so I tossed them. BUT I had a bag of trail mix! I ate that daily - avoiding the peanuts in the mix and still felt sick. (Hmmm - still sick from cross-contamination!) By now I'd been sick for 3 weeks and was scared. I called my GI dr. and made an appointment. In the meantime, I ran out of trail mix. Felt much better!

A week after feeling back to normal - thought I'd recovered from giardia - I bought another bag of peanuts and ate 1/4 cup on the way home from the grocery store. By the time I got home I had stomach cramps. Within 20 minutes I had horrible cramps, vomiting and diarrhea. I was soooo sick. This was when 'I GOT IT'. (I'd only had one other thing to eat that day - much earlier - which is how I made the PN connection) duh!

I drove myself to the Urgent Care...it was closed. Drove to the ER - arrived behind 2 ambulances and was told it could be up to a 4 hour wait. So crawled home and fell into bed. (can't believe I drove myself...) Thank God it didn't kill me! 6 hours later I was back in the land of the living.

I found PA.com and posted a question...could this be PA? Cancelled the GI dr. appointment and made one with an allergist and got a positive skin test. Allergist said that it WAS ana, even though it was all GI.

So - though you haven't had ANA, I can bet you wouldn't have to ingest many PN to push you over the line. I can understand you questioning the 'may contains' - I do too but then I remember how horrible I felt eating trail mix contaminated with PN.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one having trouble accepting this. Be careful! Please don't eat any more Snickers.

p.s. Since eliminating PN's from my diet, I can't believe how great I feel! No more GI problems at all. Amazing.

[This message has been edited by Adele (edited May 17, 2005).]