rebecca or Jeramie
Dewain
Give me a call in the next few days. We are on eastern standard time.
Here is the number for PeanutAllergy.Com
(207) 766-5292.
------------------
Stay Safe,
[email]"Chris@PeanutAllergy.Com"[/email]
[This message has been edited by Chris PeanutAllergy Com (edited April 24, 2001).]

Rebecca or Jeramie You sound like wonderful parents who have sacrificed alot to protect your son against any further peanut exposure. If our children have any chance of outgrowing the allergy, it is my understanding that we must guard against any exposure in those crucial transition years. Please, please reconsider an oral challenge. How old is your son? You don't want - in one day - to undue all the hard work, careful vigilence and emotional sacrifice you have made. Get a second opinion. Will the oral test be done at a hospital? Maybe a few more years of strict avoidance will give your son's body the time it needs - or, who knows, deliever some type of miracle cure for us all. Remember, this new allergist doesn't have to live with the consequences of his little office experiment. I wish your family the best. I have nothing but deep respect for all parents of children with food allergies.

to kristen 10
ask your allergist about the RAST CAP test in canada - if you are in ontario it costs $20 - at least that's what i paid - OHIP doesn't cover all of it -
good luck

I'm hopeful by reading all these postings but don't see any outcomes from anyone. My son is almost 2-1/2. At 19 mos he tested positive for milk, egg, peanut, wheat, barley, etc. both skin and blood. He has had mild but obvious reactions to milk and egg. Because of family history and his own allergies becoming apparent he has never been exposed to peanut. I'm quite fanatical about ingredients and we don't eat out so I'm as sure as possible that he's had no exposure (except thru breast milk). Since he's never had a peanut reaction I'm hopeful that we may be able to challenge one day and either the tests are false postitives or he'll outgrow. Any similar experiences? I'd be very grateful if some of those who posted last year would let us know the outcomes.

Hi Elaine,
My daughter is also now 5 1/2 and in kindergarten. As far as I know she has had no peanut reactions in the past year. I say this because a few months ago her eye swelled up within about 15 minutes of being dropped off at school one morning (when she left the car she was fine, by the time I parked and entered her classroom her eye was swollen), but her breakfast of oatmeal and milk had been peanut free and she has a peanut free classroom. I still don't know what caused this problem with her eye as she said she didn't hurt it or do anything to it. When I went into the classroom and saw this I did give her a Benadryl tablet, which seemed to decrease the swelling. Anyway, I am hopeful that she did not encounter some peanut product somewhere along the way, for example in the boot room, that morning and that this swelling problem was due to something else. I have worked hard at keeping her away from peanuts to increase any chances of her outgrowing this. I am still hopeful that when we orally challenge her in two more years her reaction will be negative. I did not mention in my post last year that at the age of 3 1/2 she had a CAP RAST test at my request, which showed that she was allergic to something which they did not determine but that it was not peanuts. I was under the impression that the blood test is not as reliable as the skin test and so I still consider her to be peanut allergic. I will keep you updated on her progress.

Here's a late response to the topic! My son is six and a half and had a skin test of 30ml. He has the the test when he was two. We never had the skin test done AGAIN! OUCH! But we did have RAST tests done and his blood levels have gone down steadly. However, he has not been re-exposed so it could be that the levels have gone down simply because his volume of blood has increased as he has grown and could have no relationship to "growing out of it".

Wow!! My daughter is now 7 and seems to have outgrown her allergy! A week-and-a-half ago I went to see her allergist for her annual appointment in order to get her form filled out for a peanut free classroom for Grade 2 (we've have to do this every year). I was under the impression that our five-year waiting period for an oral challenge was up in February, as that will be five years since her positive scratch test for peanuts. (See my earlier post). He said we could do it now as it is "about five years." Well, her scratch test came up as negative! So, he sent us for a blood test, which also came back negative. So, this week we spent two days at his office doing challenges. On Monday he tested the inside of her wrist, then the outside of her lip, and then the inside of her lip with no reaction (we had to wait for quite awhile between each test). So, on Wednesday he gave her about a tenth of a teaspoon, we waited a couple of hours, and then he gave her a whole teaspoon, with no reaction!! Even though I knew this would be a possibility, I tried not to get my hopes up too high for this and when it actually happened it was pretty unbelievable. He also said that the next day we could try giving her 4 1/2 year old sister peanut butter, which we did. She seems to be able to tolerate it and has now had it a few times but I'm very paranoid looking at every little skin bump I see after the fact wondering if this was there before and could it be from the peanut butter. So, with both my girls, this will take a lot of getting used to (for me). The seven-year old, who actually was allergic, has now had peanut butter every day since, as she says she really likes it, and also many things that "may contain traces" with no seeming reaction. I pray that this will not reverse itself, as if it did it would be worse now that she has had these things and, I'm sure, would miss them. I just wanted to let you all know that it seems to be possible to outgrow this allergy. The allergist, who is an older doctor, said that 25 to 40 percent of children outgrow this allergy and it would be rare to get it back - that this has never happened to one of his kids before. I have been very careful to keep my daughter away from nuts and traces of nuts and would definitely not have been able to do this without this Board and all of you who have posted so much information. I have not really posted very much as I never really had too much to say but have spent many hours reading here and gotten so much support. Thank you so much, everybody, and especially to Chris for making this Board possible! I pray that they find a cure for this soon and I really think they will. I will keep you updated on my daughter's progress and whether or not the allergy stays away or comes back.
Take care,
Sonia

Sonia,
That is so GREAT that your daughter outgrew the allergy. It's something all of us hope for. I'm not expecting it but if it happens I'll be thrilled. Doesn't it feel strange feeding her peanut butter??? I'm very happy for you and your daughter.