Where Did You First Get Your Information Re PA?

First was our allergist (we have since moved), then was our SIL who "knows someone with PA" so she thought she knew all about it (WRONG), then came FAN (only 1 A at that time!!), then this site.

PA.com has far surpassed all the others put together!!

Tammy

We got ours piecemeal... at the ER, we were told by an outstanding elderly family practice doctor that this allergy could easily kill and that we should read labels and rid our home of all pn products, including oil.... later, our pediatrician gave us the epi Rx based on the pediatric allergist's insistence that we have one even before SHE saw us... she told us about FAAN and gave us some the Sampson articles to peruse. Very scary stuff. Her assistant recommended Lisa Cipriano Collins' book (which was then brand new)... a godsend.

Our original allergist (the one who diagnosed him) gave us a pamphet, told us not to eat PB around him (but told us it was probably okay to keep in the house - NOT!) and sent us on our merry way!

I was then told by our family doctor about the AAIA and contacted them, where I got quite a bit of info.

By far the best place has been here, where any question you have will be answered and I have definitely learned much more then anywhere else!

My son Drew was tested for foods in the allergists office. He tested positive for peanut.

The doctor gave us a prescription for his epi-pen jr told us to get it immediately and also handed me a brouchure for FAAN and recommended to us to join it immediately. He had on the wall in the waiting room about m&m's having traces of peanuts. He told us to read the labels and to say away from Peanuts or anything with them. The one thing that I was upset was that he did not tell me that he could die nor explain much more about the allergy.

Never knowing about food allergies, I at first shrugged off the allergy to a point. NOw don't get me wrong, I started reading labels immediately for Drew's sake and have never stopped. It was this site that gave me so much more information than the doctor.

Thank you Chris [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

Best wishes,

Renee [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

I remeber reading when I was pregnant a question someone asked that if you eat too much PB while pregnant can it make the child PA. The answer was no, that is absolutly false! I now disagree!
When my daughter had her reaction we took her to her pcp and he very lightly told me to keep her away from peanuts and that was basically it. I was still nuring at the time and had to ask him if I should not eat peanuts either and he said, "yeah, I guess you shouldn't eat them either."
I had heard how serious PA can be a while back and as soon as we got home from the doctor I hit the internet! When I first came across this site I just browsed it and went by because I thought I had to be a member to look at it. I later realized I didn't and found these boards!
I had to beg my daughter's doctor for an epi-pen, he prescribed one, reluctantly, and told me only to give it only if she is blue and getting no air at all!
I then went to an allergist and had her tested and the allergist gave us more epi-pens and so on. But I must say, at least 80% of my knowledge, SO FAR, on PA I obatined from this site! Thank you Chris and thank you all!!! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img]
kcmom

This site is where I first got any reliable information. We were not on-line when we found out she was PA at 1 1/2 yrs old. Two different doctors blew it off. They told me not to take her to an allergist. There was no need. "Just keep her away from peanuts". We were not told about cross-contamination, touch reactions, or epi-pens.

At 3yrs she had her first severe reaction. Then we got an epi-pen. Still no info. from the doctor.

I found this site right before she turned 4. It changed everything. I am so grateful for all the information found here.

I have to say that despite the excellent information that I am able to get in print from AAIA and other places (i.e., FAAN, etc.), I find THIS to be the best place. I think it's because it's a bunch of PA parents interacting and discussing and questioning.

Also, there's the support, caring, concern, encouragement and everything else you get here that you don't get as readily elsewhere.

Best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

------------------

KCMOM: When my son's pediatrician told us we didn't have to do anything but watch him when I suspected PA (he threw up immediatly after having some peanut butter and then got hives), I dumped her and went to a new pediatrician who promptly sent me with Max to an allergist. There he was diagnosed and we were given an RX for an epipen. What are these doctor's thinking??!!!

pattmommy, welcome! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img] It's quite obvious that your first doctor wasn't thinking and at least you knew to switch. I feel really badly for people that trust their doctors implicitly and don't know that they can change or get a second opinion.

Last week I was dealing with someone re a school situation and the allergist who had told her that her child's test scores were "off the charts" re PA would only put down that he had a mild-to-moderate allergy to peanuts. It made no sense. Thankfully, in her case, she has another doctor that she can get the proper paperwork from.

We were very fortunate in that when Jesse had his first reaction at 18 months, they gave us a prescription for an Epi-pen Jr. right at the emergency room. However, through dealing with three different family physicians, an allergist, and an ER doctor, I was never given any *real* information re PA. My last family doctor, when I would try to discuss peanut oil in asthma inhalers (Jesse has asthma as well), would look at me as if I was an alien.

I guess to put it in perspective though, regular family doctors and perhaps even allergists may not have spent a lot of time learning about food allergies in medical school.

That's why I find this site so great. We can all kinda compare doctor's notes and figure things out for ourselves and I believe that's okay, as long as you have your Epi-pen prescription.

This isn't the only area either where doctors don't have all of the information we would like them to (migraines come to the forefront for me only because I suffer from them), so I really do think it's a matter of the patient educating themselves. For us, we almost lost our son because we hadn't educated ourselves well enough, but now at least we continue to do so.

Sorry to go on, but I wanted to really try to make the point clearly.

Best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

------------------

Here!! Before finding this site, I had heard from an online friend who had met a woman at a park whose son was PA that "PA is one of the worst to have" and that this woman carried a "shot-pen" because of that. Asked our dr about all that and he told me the "shot-pen" was not necessary and even if it was didn't come in small enough doses. Just said to not give him any more pb+j sandwhiches.

I knew enough to not give him obvious peanuts (Snickers bars, peanuts themselves, etc) but I knew nothing else.

Literally EVERYTHING I know about peanut allergies came from this site...even if in a roundabout way.

Hello All,
Although we are quite worried about Max (PA, soy & eggs)and outside-the-home contamination, since we homeschool (grades 8, 7, 1 (cashew & guava allergic) and PreK) we won't have to deal with schools and their "policies".

Some friends have no idea what living with PA means. I guess we have to be the diligent ones and do the educating!
-patt

I have always known I was allergic to peanuts and refused to eat them as a child. I didn't quite understand the severity of this allergy until I was an adult. Although, it was a scary situation, I must admit, sometimes you have to see the humor in a situation. I was getting ready to take my court reporters exam (8 years of night school, 2 kids, and a few family deaths later). I was alone. A week before, I had cut one of my fingers badly but didn't take a chance on stitches in case it affected my writing speed. The night before the writing exam, I found an old friend and we decided to go out for dinner. Went to a Chinese restaurant (I know --duh!?) and, of course, I ended up accidentally eating a fried noodle that was fried in peanut oil. I realized it right away and didn't swallow it, drank lots of water and tried to "minimize" the affect by eating white rice. (As if!) You guessed it - in a matter of minutes my face was swelling up, my tongue, my lips, my eyes and I basically felt like I had been run over by a truck. Up to this point, I had never had such a severe reaction - only itchiness, numbness (mouth) and extremely watery eyes. I had no idea what to do but I knew my test was very early the next morning so I didn't want to take anything that could make me drowsy. I went back to my hotel. Took a couple aspirins and figured I'd sleep it off. (Boy, was that the wrong choice!). I was lucky. The next morning, half of my head had gone back to normal, but one eye was still badly swollen and the one side of my face was still not back to its normal size. I went ahead and took my test. After removing the bandage from my cut finger and hoping that the bleeding doesn't get in the way of the writing, and angling my chair so I could see all the speakers (4), I wrote like my life depended on it. I know I got a lot of stares, but after 8 years I was determined not to miss this opportunity.
When I returned, I casually mentioned it to my DH and asked him to mention it to his allergist the next time he goes in. The allergist was pretty alarmed and asked to see me ASAP. He gave me 2 epipens, and referred me to FAN. (I guess they changed to FAAN since then.) I followed FAN for a while but when I wrote to them about airborn reactions after reading one of their articles that basically defended a schools position regarding removing peanuts. FAN believed at the time that we need to take responsibility for our children's understanding of their allergies and that "we cannot expect everyone to police our children's allergy." I mentioned that I was allergic to the smell of peanuts and that this type of allergy would require a "school effort" to protect our kids. They wrote back (not too kindly) that they had never heard of that and that I was not going to change their mind. (I have my copy somewhere). That's when I stopped my subscription and started wondering about my allergies until I found this terrific site and found so many other people who also have had experience with airborne reactions!! Now I have renewed my determination to protect myself. I bought a medic alert bracelet, carry Benadryl, an epipen and keep a PB free home and work environment. Thanks PA.com!!! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img]

[This message has been edited by gazun (edited March 16, 2002).]

gazun, welcome! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

Best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

------------------