Are peanut allergies always serious, or can someone be mildly allergic?

My son is 13 months old, and we found out today from a skin test that he is allergic to peanuts, which threw me for a loop. The Dr. said that the reaction looked pretty mild, but thats no indicator of how serious it may be. He even prescribed me an epi-pen, just in case. Im hoping and praying that perhaps he could just have a slight peanut allergy, but from what I've been reading, it seems that reactions tend toward the severe. Does anyone have a mild peanut allergy?

terraluvsdavid-

While it IS possible to have a mild peanut (or any other food) allergy, most people stay away from their allergens to prevent any sort of reaction.

More than likely the reason you are reading or hearing of such severe reactions is that people with mild allergies don't tend to frequent forums like peanutallergy.com so you are more than likely only reading the point of view of those with severe allergies.

Your son is still young and if the Dr. said the skin prick is pretty mild there is a chance your son may outgrow his allergy in time.

You should still carry your epi pen with you, keep your son away from peanuts, and in time you'll get use to the allergy and hopefully you'll be one of the ones that outgrow it.

It seems like a lot to deal with now I know, and the stories can be frightening-but you'll find in time that it is not so hard living with peanut allergy-it will become second nature.

Best of luck and welcome!
Ruth

You are more than welcome! It really is overwhelming and frightening at first but this site and others offer tons of information and support. You'll get the hang of it it in no time. He's young so you have a huge head start!

Any questions along the way-feel free to ask! We are all here to lend a hand and help.

Ruth

We also just found out two days ago that my 14 month old has peanut allergies. The doctor told us there's no way of knowing how extreme the allergy is. This is all so frightening!! I guess we just act as if it's severe?

She got a blood test b/c I gave her a peanut. She'd been accidentally exposed to peanut butter two times and didn't seem to have a reaction (at least that I saw). So, I gave her a peanut and she got a rash around her mouth. I feel like a terrible mommy....if I hadn't given her the peanut, would she have avoided this allergy? I feel like there's so much to learn!

Random question....should we avoid eating anything even manufactured near peanuts even if we're not around Caroline? (i.e. my husband eating M&M's while at work).

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!!!

:-) Rachel

My husband and I have decided to not eat peanuts even when away from our peanut allergic son...the reason is because even a trace amount of the peanut protein can potentially cause a severe reaction. If you do decide to eat peanuts (or peanut products)even while away from your daughter you should rinse your mouth after and wash your hands after eating the peanuts.

Please don't feel like a terrible mom for giving your daughter a peanut..you did not cause the peanut allergy. Sounds like you are a great mom, after all you are on this site educating yourself to help your daughter:)

RachelIP-Welcome to peanutallergy.com, glad you found the site and sorry to hear of your daughters allergy.

First of all-you absolutely did not cause her peanut allergy. No one knows for sure what causes food allergies but there is nothing proven yet that one given thing like feeding peanut too early or eating peanut while breast feeding causes food allergies.

We avoid peanuts in our home. We also avoid may contains products like m&ms. We do occasionally eat peanut products out of the home away from our son. My son is 6..so our direct contact is more than likely less than a 14 month old.

This is of course a judgment call based on your comfort level and how clean you feel you can be. Some people feel that they can contain peanuts in their home and be clean about it. We personally don't, but do feel we can be clean about it outside of the home away from our son.

That being said-the issue with plain m&ms is that they are processed in the same facility as peanut m&m's and may contain peanut protein. In my opinion (and I'm not an allergist) your husband eating plain m&ms at work away from your daughter more than likely causes very little risk as long as he is clean and safe about it.

Hope that helps!
Ruth

My son had several exposures to peanuts before he had his first reaction. I keep peanuts away from my son, but he can still eat M&M's if they are plain. My son does seem to do fine with that, but I do keep an epi-pen around all the time. I do feel that he has a mild case of PA, because he was diagnosed last February and hasn't had any problems since. Good luck with your son.

mayoung-just wanted to mention in case you didn't know-plain m&ms are made in the same facility as peanut m&m's.

I am glad your son has not had a reaction to date. But just keep in mind that he could in the future depending on the batch of m&ms and how well they cleaned the lines they are made on.

Someone could be mildly allergic, while another individual can be severe. ... What dangers exist from a peanut or tree nut allergy? ... Always remember to read the food labels ingredients on food products each time you purchase them. ... First Aid Supplies | Earthquake kits | Personal Emergency Kits | Earthquake Emergency Kits | First Aid Kits

My four year old has a PA, We had a skin test done,he reacted with in 2min to peanuts. A year later we had him checked again with blood test. He was a 5 on the scale 1-6. but he has not had a bad reaction to peanuts yet. We watch what he eats. We do keep peanut butter in the house for my older son (9years old). Is it true that everytime he is exposed to peanuts he makes his allergy wroser? I was told this by another mom of a pa child.

My daughter had her first known exposer to peanuts at 13 months. After one tiny bite of a pb&j sandwich, her lips swelled and turned blue, her tongue swelled, her ears swelled and a rash ran across her face and down her back. She began to wheeze. This happened within 1 minute of the bite! I removed her from the pn area and called my doctor who directed me to give her benadryl. The reaction stopped and we began avoiding peanuts. When she was tested by blood for her PN allergy, the doctor told us it was the worst first reaction he had heard of. She was classified as having a "potentially fatal PN allergy". NOT something a parent wants to hear! The allergist said her test came back in the "400's" What does this mean?

Some people can have a reaction from simply being in the area of peanuts i saw a person have an allergy attack on a plane which was pretty scary. But other can have mild reactions, i know working at a drug rehab centers we can't serve some patients some foods

Dear terraluvsdavid (and for Gottabeeme as well, because this post basically answers your question),

I certainly hope that your son has a mild allergy to peanuts, or a false positive skin test. However, I feel a strong need to warn you about something. I was allergy tested for trees and weeds when I was about twelve years old. The allergist threw in a nut test after I complained that walnuts made my mouth itch. It was a complete surprise to me and my mom when I came back positive for peanuts. I had never had a reaction and had been eating peanuts regularly my entire life.

Against the doctor's advice, I continued to eat peanuts, without problem, for nearly ten years. Then at the age of 21 I had my first reaction- head to toe hives that lasted for days. I remember the doctor telling me that it didn't matter that I had never had a reaction- a person with a peanut allergy can go fifty years and never have a reaction, and then suddenly have one. If your son's peanut allergy is confirmed, I would recommend being extremely careful, even if his reaction appears to be mild to nil. It is very possible that his allergy might take the same course that mine did, and finally make itself known ten years down the road.

My 5yr old was just blood test for tree nut allergies and his dr decided to go ahead and test for peanuts too. I wasn't worried about the PN since he has never had any reaction to them before. In fact he ate pb&j's all the time when he was younger, now a days, he won't eat them. Says he hates peanut butter. Anyways test results came back and he scored a 5 on the PN and very high all some other tree nuts. I'm really confused as to why he would show an allergy to PN when there has never been a reaction or anything to ever make me question it. I don't know which type of blood test that was done, either the RAST or the ImmunoCAP. Is it possible that this result was a false positive?

It is the blood test that test for the ige that gives false positives and not the skin prick. The skin prick is exact either it reacts or it doesn't. My son has a peanut allergy and he has never had a violent reaction to it but i still keep it away from so he does not have a flare up. He does not even eat Mcdonalds because they use peanut oil. But the allergist will be able to tell you for sure.

Mom4 - Where do you live? On McDonalds website it doe not state peanut oil in any of their ingredients. Did they tell you that in a local shop?

Is it possible to have a false positive with a score of 5? I guess I could see a false positive if his score was between 1-3 but a 5 is very high so I'm confused? He was suppose to be seen by is asthma/allergy specialist today but after only 2 days of kindergarten, he got sick and his asthma flare up. Now I have to wait until the end of the month to see her. I'm hoping she'll go ahead and do the skin test right there in the office at that visit.

Because of an immune deficiency in which my body doesn't produce the right antibodies or enough antibodies, most of my tests - skin and RAST - come up negative. Food allergies are often initiated by an IgA response in the gut. IgE responses are usually the first ones at the point of inhalation. At least this is what I understand from my ENT. I developed my peanut allergy about three years ago starting with salmonella-tainted peanut butter that led to my appendix coming out and then my gall bladder. Then later in that year, I ate a seemingly harmless "sugar" cookie and had an asthma attack. It tasted like it had peanut and my mother said it smelled like it had peanut. Last year, it got worse. I was sitting in the waiting area at my car dealership for maintenance and two people on either side of me were eating some peanut butter crackers. First the itchy throat, then the watery eyes, then the cough, then the sneeze, then the throat swelling, and before I knew it, I felt suffocated. At the moment I inquired into another waiting area, my car was done, but I am angry that my dealership still carries products with peanuts for amenities.

Reactions can be mild from itchy mouth and tongue to severe and near fatal or fatal.

But don't rely solely on any one or two tests from the doctor. Do also take in consideration actual symptoms and if it's safe a food challenge.

Hi my son is 4 he was diagnosed with a peanut allery at about 1 yr. A 1 this was with a prick test then last yr had a blood test done and he stated he had a .36 allergy to peanuts. The nurse said that was pretty much almost a non-existent allergy. My question is we are having a family party for my grandparents at logan's which we all know have peanuts laying around everywhere. But they do not coo in peanut oil. Would it be safe to take him there to eat? he is around peanuts all the time at family parties and he pretty much eats everything besides peanut buter itself and of course things with peanuts directly in them. Any advice would be much appreciated it.

My 10 year old son is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts and sesame. Although we had a feeling that he may be allergic for about two years now, we recently had him tested. I know that a lot of children have this allergy, but I am so saddened by this. Of course I don't let my son know how I feel, this is hard enough on him. We were told not to take him to places like ice cream parlors etc... because of possible contamination. Although we don't eat out at fast food often, he no longer can eat his favorite foods, Panda express, Chinese food, and most fast food. I am trying myself to come to terms with this so that I can help my son deal with it. I should say that thank goodness he is at a moderate level and his reaction this far has been itchy throat and upset stomach nothing more severe, but I am so worried. And I know no one with this allergy to talk to, so here I am.