reactions that cause changing comfort zones

I'm not clear whether I have a strict comfort zone or not. I do not allow any peanut products into our home or any products that say "may contain". I do not, however, check with manufacturers to see if a product has been processed in a plant that has peanut products in it. I live in a very small town and that somewhat controls my environment and what my son is exposed to to a very great degree. I do, however, go to the donut shop where there are peanut products rather than the one that doesn't have them. We have one family restaurant in town that we know is "safe". And this is all with my son having had two anaphylactic reactions. I do not expect a "peanut free" school for him; I do expect a "peanut free" classroom. I do not buy any tree nut products because of the possibility of cross-contamination. I'm fairly sure that this is one minor area in which I may have changed. His 1st reaction was very mild and I do remember still making my Christmas turkey stuffing with almonds in it that year. But, after his 2nd anaphylactic reaction, that was the end of tree nut products in our home also and that is only a minor change. I don't want to regurgitate my whole comfort zone thing that I've already posted, but I wanted to get the thread started for Tkiaml because I think it's an excellent question. I could go on to surmise how my comfort zone would become stricter depending on the circumstances of his reaction. I really hope this thread gets some good input because I'm sure a lot of us had to unexpectedly tighten up the reins when another reaction occurred. Best wishes!

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My son had a reaction two years ago that snapped us into reality. Prior to that we were very relaxed about the allergy. Our relaxed attitude was definitely due to ignorance!
He had a mislabeled cookie, we ended up in the ER with an ignorant Dr. Finally after 1.5 hours another Dr. checked him an ordered immediate epi.
That was when I started to really educate myself. I found this site and have been here almost everyday ever since. The strange thing is that I never even realized how ignorant I was in regard to PA. I trusted the Drs. to tell me what I needed to know! Duh!

Ditto PattyR! My son's pediatrician was not too worried about the peanut allergy when my son had his first reaction at 12 mos. He told me to just keep him away from peanuts and put a little dab of pb on his arm in 3 mos to see if he had outgrown it yet!! The sad thing is that I did it--I didn't know any better. Anyway, when my son had his anaphylactic reaction at 18 mos (trip to the er and a shot), we became better informed. For one thing, his pediatrician finally said it was time for him to see an allergist. The allergist gave us a lot of information and FINALLY an epi-pen which we should've had from the start. Deanna

Hi

I'm not in the same position as you, in that I'm the one who is PA and not my dd. I have never needed to be hospitalised for a reaction either.

I think that sometimes I dochange my own comfort level. For instance, sometimes when I'm eating something I'll feel that tingling in my mouth, itchy throat and upset stomach. Once I experience that from a food, I can never eat it again, even if I've eaten it for years (with or without warning label). I think it may be a bit psychological, but I just can't bring myself to eat it again. Examples of that would be chocolates like Rolo, Lion Bars and a few others I used to eat. I also used to eat curry (made at home) but after a small reaction to a frozen variety, I don't even like the smell of curry anymore! You'll probably find that this is also the case with your kids as they grow older.

Gwen