Who outgrows PA?

My dd wasn't diagnosed with the allergy until right before her 4th birthday. That was her first real reaction. However, she had always *hated* peanuts and pb, so my guess is that she's actually been allergic this whole time...but had no noticeable reactions during the gazillion times she had been exposed before.

Her rast #'s were very low ("unknown clinical significance", a 1 on a scale from 0-5). She does have slight asthma (that only flares up when she's sick...she's slightly allergic to our dogs...as am I). Peanuts/dogs are her only allergies. And the asthma is really b/c of the dogs-it did not show up on it's own.

They told me that b/c of her history and her rast #'s, that she could have better odds of outgrowing the allergy. We were told to strictly avoid...that if she has no reactions that she may be more likely to outgrow. I'm not holding my breath, but it made me feel slightly better!

I hadn't heard that age would have an impact on whether or not you outgrow...but I had kind of thought that b/c my dd wasn't diagnosed until age 4, that maybe she'd be unlikely to outgrow, but the allergist told me that if she did outgrow, it'd probably be around age 7-8ish. We don't go back to the allergist for 3 years, assuming we have no issues.

My son was diagnosed at 11 months after having a reaction to a taste of a desert that had only been cross contaminated with peanuts. That's the only contact with peanuts he's had. He's only had the skin test to confirm, but the size of the hive was quite significant. I was also told that because the allergy developed at such a young age it increased his chances of outgrowing it. But he's also allergic to eggs and soy, and from everything I've read having multiple food allergies and other factors such as eczema and asthma (both of which he's been diagnosed), his chances of outgrowing seem slim. Our allergist basically said there was clinically a 20% chance of outgrowing, but he thinks he has more like a 50% chance. I'm still confused as to why he thinks his chances are higher after everything I've read. All I can do right now is avoid like crazy and pray a lot.

My son outgrew, and was a good candidate to outgrow.

I was told that a low RAST, no other allergies, no asthma, and young at diagnosis raised his chances.

He had a .83 on RAST (<.35 being negative), no other allergies, no asthma, and was diagnosed at 15 months after severe lip/eye swelling upon eating peanut butter.

We practiced total avoidance (no may contains either), and were extremely lucky that he had outgrown it totally by his second birthday. It was nothing short of a miracle!

We still do not allow him to eat peanut butter if he's not with us, b/c I'm still fearful of the allergy coming back (he just turned 4) and his other caregivers not handling it properly. We are just now going to introduce tree nuts and shellfish which he has always tested negative to but has never eaten. We're praying no more allergies creep up.

Food allergies are very difficult to deal with as parents. I wish you all the best in managing the allergy as well as outgrowing!

A hope and a prayer!
My son outgrew his allergy.
I didnt know to get a rast test done. He had 3 positive spt and maybe 5 or so reactions by age 5. They were all GI reactions with intense vomiting except for the last reaction he had at just over age 5 where he thought he was choking on something(his throat) then vomited.
His dr said around puberty age we would do a rast tast. at age 10, he was negative(still brings tears to my eyes) and past a spt and a food challenge. The allergist suggested he eat some form of peanuts at least once a month to remind his body that it is ok.
He eats whatever whenever wherever and I am grateful.
Miss you all!

qdebbie1, thanks for the post! Stories like yours are our hope for our children. Glad your son is doing well.

Thanks for all the input. It's great to hear some success stories. I try not to have any false hope, but I have to have just a little hope, deep down! Does the fact that my DD developed the allergy after safely eating peanut butter several times decrease her chances of outgrowing? I should've asked our allergist, but didn't think of it. Thanks again!

DS was dx'd w/PN allergy at 11 months, after a reaction to egg. Positive for both at the time. Eventually, he was OK'd to have processed egg, and then later, any kind of egg, although he still had a postive blood test.

Last year, his IgE level was .82, down from 4.59 (?) over about 3 years. The allergist suggested a food challenge, b/c "his level has come down significantly, and we were made aware of the allergy b/c of the SPT, not b/c of a reaction." Great! Dr thought it was a good time since he'd not had any reactions, his level was so low, and he was entering kindergarten.

I counted the days til the food challenge, got there, and they did a SPT...and it reacted. I was devastated, although I knew it was for the best.

This year when we had the bloodwork done, it was .72. Down, but not significantly I thought, and the allergist agreed. I asked him when he'd do another food challenge and he said basically "when his IgE comes down more, or when the SPT is less significant." I said "OK, when will you do another SPT?" He said "We can do it today".

So ... they did the SPT ... we waited for the 15 minutes... no reaction. They did another one ... we waited 15 minutes, no reaction. The dr said "well, that would certainly encourage one to consider a food challenge."

We have the food challenge scheduled for next Monday, 6/14. I'm not really all that excited about it this time. If he passes it, he passes it...if not, life as we know it goes on, nothing changes.

I asked the allergist before if he had a better chance of outgrowing since he'd not had any reactions. The allergist said "no necessarily"

Last year, we found out that DS is allergic to cats and grass. We have 2 cats in the house (and have for 2 years) and grass doesnt seem to be a problem for him either.

New2 PA,

what were his wheal sizes at all of his SPT's?

My daughter just outgrew her egg and peanut allergy after 4+ years. She was diagnosed at 18 months. She is now 5 1/2. We did 100% avoidance, very careful, when in doubt, went without. No bakeries, no ice cream shops,no Chinese food, no "may contains" or "shared equipment." All of her schools were peanut free. We hardly ate out and never ate at restaurants with peanut butter on the menu. That is how I handled it. Coincidentally, there was a boy that outgrew his allergies there today too.

She was prick tested many times and always got a gigantic wheel, rated as a 4+ wheel (the biggest size on her test), but her RAST numbers were just over the "allergy" mark, they were low numbers.

She was oral challenged today to PB in the Dr's office! They did prick and RAST tests a month or so ago and they came back negative. While her allergist was 95% sure she had outgrown them, he highly recommended an oral food challange, which was done today. She is NOT allergic any more!

Any "chance" to outgrow a food allergy is a "chance" and that, together with "hope" is what kept me going every day - hope that maybe, just maybe she may be one of the "lucky ones."

Statisically speaking, and this was true for my daughter, if your child has never had an anaphylactic reaction, does not have asthma and has lower numbers on the RAST, they are a good candidate to outgrow their allergy. With PB, it's less than a 20% chance, but to break it down, it's 1 out of every 5 children. So why not your child....keep hope alive, think POSITIVE and do everything you can to educate everyone involved in your child's life and practice 100% avoidance...that is my advice, it worked for us.

I hope you the best. Keep doing what you are doing and think positive. The way we looked at it is, if she has not outgrown it, we'll keep doing what we are doing, no big deal. It has become who we are, it's our life and it's managable. It was important for us to know that either way, we would be okay. Good luck!

Mom_of_Olivia, congratulations!!!!! I am so happy for your family. Thanks for sharing your wonderful news.

what is considered lower on the RAST? like under 5?

My daughter's peanut was 0.25 - it was a class one. Her wheal on the prick test, however, was a "4" which was the highest number. When she was re-tested, the blood work was negative and the wheal on the prick tests (she had 3 total, 60 days apart) were a 1 which is not significant. She ate approximately 2 tablespoons on peanut butter without a reaction. I think I am still in shock.....

sorry, I dont know the size of the wheal ... the Dr didnt say. I personally didnt think it was the bad...being new to food allergies, but the dr later made a comment or two that lead me to believe it was a significant size. I'm thinking a 4 or a 5, as best I remember, it seems like it was about the size of a pencil eraser.

my son had a wheal size of a 3 which i was told was a lot better and a good possibility he could outgrow his peanut allergy, but, his rast was a 91.
anyone ever have a number that high?

Hi Logan welcome to the board. Actually it is very common to have a rast >100. My dd has tested over 100 until this past year when she was down to 57. The allergist is cautiously optimistic as this is the first decline in numbers and a major decline. This took 9 years to get there though with trying to do total avoidance and no further reactions.

thank you so much for the email. It seems as though most people i speak with state their child scores much lower on the blood tests, so at first i thought for sure it was a mistake. But it was the same the next year ( he is 3 1/2) the good news i thought was that his skin test was dramtically smaller.
I am assuming your daughter is 9?

My dd is 10 and was diagnosed at 1 year. Her allergist will not do another spt until her rast number is under 5.

i wonder if the skin prick test was so low and the rast so high if it means he will not outgrow. When i asked, the doctor only said - no, it means we should test again next year to see if there are any changes. in th mean time, keep doing what you are doing.

Went for the oral challenge on 6/14. They did another SPT. And he reacted! I could not believe it. The dr really couldnt believe it either. They did histamine, saline, and peanut butter on one arm, with the PNB really close to the histamine. Dr wondered if it *might* be b/c the PNB was so close to the histamine, but there were 2 seaprate wheals. We did another on one the other arm (FWIW, the same arm we got 2 neg SPTs 3 weeks ago) and it still reacted. I could not believe it!

They gave him an injection of Epi, and some Benadryl for the itching. The dr said the wheals we 4+. The 2nd one was oddly shaped, I thought.

But that's OK... I was prepared for it this time. I wasnt upset that he didnt pass or that he didnt even get the chance, I'm just curious on why he had 2 neg SPTs 3 weeks ago and then 2 very positve SPTs yesterday. The dr was just as surprised as I was.

It was done at a different location that the one before ... same practice, just a different location. The allergist wondered if maybe they had used 2 different brands on PNB ... he said it might be that one brand roasted the peanuts more b/c the more roasted they get, the higher allergenicity (?).

that is crazy.... i just dont get this - some of it makes no sense at all!

I'm so very sorry he had a positive SPT before the oral challenge. Even though you had that happen before I'm sure it is still a letdown and disappointment. I do hope that his numbers continue to come down and hopefully sometime soon in the future he won't react and will outgrow.