When my older DD was diagnosed with a PA and NA, her younger sister was a baby. So we kept all nuts away from younger DD.
Younger DD was rast tested at age 3 and was negative for PA.
But at age 5 or 6, she accidently bit into a peanut butter cookie. She hated the taste and spit it out immediately. But some of it must have gone down the hatch, because a year later, we had her tested again, and she was just as allergic to peanuts as her older sister!
Younger DD has never had an actual allergic reaction to peanuts. She says that the smell of peanut butter makes her feel sick. She has touched peanut butter and had no reaction so thankfully there is no contact allergy.
The last time that older DD had a reaction (many years ago), she merely vomited. Neither kid has ever had an anaphalactic reaction.
Even though our allergist has stated that the allergy "can change at any time -- get worse or better," I feel fairly comfortable that older DD would probably only vomit if she had peanuts.
But younger DD is a total mystery, and it scares the heck out of me. I have no idea WHAT would happen if she accidently ate peanuts. All I know is that she is supposedly very allergic to them (highest reaction score on the rast).
Is anyone else on this board in my situation? Sometimes I want to have our doctor give her a challenge test, but other times the thought of it scares me (what if she went into shock and died?!) Is it better "not knowing" what her reaction to peanuts is?
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Two daughters, ages 10 and 13 who are allergic to peanuts, soy, all legumes, most tree nuts, and a few antibiotics.
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Two girls, ages 12 & 15, allergic to peanuts, soy, legumes, most tree nuts, and a few antibiotics.
Not the same situation. But I will share my story. DD (now 10) had a few hives around mouth at 18mths after eating a small cracker w/ PB. This is her only known reaction. She does not appear contact or inhalation sensitive. I have no idea how she would react if she ingested anything peanut. Our comfort zone was pretty wide before I learned more. Now it is tighter.
I am not curious about how she would react. We carry epi and Benadryl, never had to use either. They are insurance for us, something we need, but hope never to use.
If you are curious about your 2nd DD, perhaps test her again (if it has been awhile) to see if she 'tests' as allergic? Depending on the RAST results, maybe a skin test rather than oral challenge (too scary w/ known allergy).
I'm sure you will get lots of thoughts.
Sandi
Sandi