Hi. My son was diagnosed with PA in Feb. 2012. He was twelve years old at the time, but I believe his story goes back to when he was six.
He WAS NOT BORN with PA. Around six (probably following the series of required vaccinations for first grade), he developed what we thought was lactose intollerance. He later began having sores in the corner of his mouth that wouldn't heal. We treated him with lactose tablets and then took him to a dermatologist who tried to treat his mouth sores topically and NEVER ONCE mentioned a food allergy. It wasn't until his assistant noticed the lactose intollerance note in his file, that SHE suggested we might want to back off on milk products. We pulled everything milk-related out of his diet (which inadvertently elimated MOST things peanut-related.) His face cleared up!
It was only after my son had sudden onset of itching and swelling to his face following the ingestion of a walnut, that I decided I needed help from an allergist. (Note that this was also shortly following a Dtap booster he received when he turned twelve.)
His skin tests came back positive for peanut, chocolate, cherry, lima beans, and peas. The allergist told me to do an actual food test at home. The chocolate was okay (got a milk/peanut free pkg.) But the peanut really caused a reaction. We now have an epi pen.
Here's the problem: My son's is so sensitive that he cannot even go into a grocery store without experience swelling of his lip, cheeks, and tongue. Most instances resolve on their own, but not always. Cases, such entering a steaming shower where sunflower seeds have been left (RV Park bathroom, or or being right next to someone who has worked in a food repackaging plant all day, can send him right into anaphylaxis. We have been lucky enough to get a prednisone down him in time to control the swelling, but it was a very close call a couple of weeks ago.
My son IS the rare case of having airborne peanut allergy. IT IS not in his head because he hasn't even been aware of the presence of an allergen until AFTER the reaction. He is not able to go back to church (hot food is always being served and has cross-contaminents that fill the air), nor can he return to baseball. FORGET the fair or Disneyland. FORGET school...we can't even go to Costco! I took him to the grocery store, left him in the car while I shopped and upon returning to the car, his lip swelled. What could I have picked up in the store? (Except I DID have pass by the bulk peanuts in order to buy strawberries.
His allergist is suggesting peanut immunotherapy (IF insurance will approve a drug called Xolair to be used simultaneously.)
I BELIEVE his peanut allergy has been CAUSED by the
vaccinations he has been subjected to. Additionally, his reactions are NOT caused by his fears.
Is there anyone else with an experience like this?
I'm similar but not to that extreme. i used to eat peanuts all the time! then one day when i was about 10 we went out for dinner and ordered chicken sate (spelling?). my lips began to swell to the point my skin was wrapping. my throat and mouth was incredibly itchy and i had horrible stomach cramps. this happened multiple times of the years. one day during senior year i went down to the shops with my friends to eat lunch. about 15mins before lunch was over i began to feel my lips swelling and the usual itchiness and cramping. i thought it would go away within a few hours like previous times. however, i began to experience other symptoms for the first time. as i was walking to my locker, my tongue began to swell up. by the time i was at my locker it got so bad i thought, "i have to go find someone" (my friends had left because they were 'late for class...'). i tried to find my grade coordinator but she was nowhere to be seen, so i went down to reception to call my mum. at this point my tongue was so swollen she couldn't understand me over the phone and i had to keep repeating myself. she said she was on her way so i waited on the couch. as i sat there i got INCREDIBLY hot. i was sweating through my uniform! i could not sit up straight and just sat on my side. mum finally came but had to sign me out of school. they wouldn't let me go because there was a huge party on that night and people were leaving earl to get read, and they just assumed i was one of them. after seeing the deputy she finally let me go. when i got to ER they took my blood pressure and said it was dropping so they gave me epipen. for 3 weeks i couldn't walk properly because my leg felt as though it was going to give way as if the needle had deteriorated my muscle. i have had incidences where i react to just smelling peanuts if I'm on the other side of the house. its just strange how it took 10 years for anything to appear.
one of the hardest parts is inconsiderate people. they think "you can't expect the world to alter their ways to suit your needs" thats never what I've ever intended. perhaps you could stop ordering peanut dishes when we go to restaurants and then breathing in my face.
I don't believe there is any causal research showing the peanut allergy is related to vaccines. I was 28 years old before I had my first peanut reaction, many years after any vaccines.
Sign my petition urging vaccine manufacturers to disclose full ingredients list
http://www.change.org/petitions/merck-glaxosmithkline-novartis-sanofipasteur-pfizer-cdc-fda-disclose-full-list-of-all-vaccines-ingredients-and-if-peanut-is-used-in-them
Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, SanofiPasteur, Pfizer, CDC, FDA: Disclose full list of all vaccines' ingredients and if peanut is used in them
THREE MILLION Americans suffer from peanut allergy and experts are not sure why. Some theorize that peanut oil is used in our vaccines, causing hypersensitivity to peanut, later leading to peanut/treenut allergy. We need to know the truth. Even if only a minority of people vaccinated were to develop peanut allergy, this is unacceptable because this is a lifelong condition with no known cure. Peanut/treenut allergies cause extreme hardships and anxiety for patients and families everyday at every meal for the rest of their lives. Peanut allergy is the most lethal of all food allergies killing more people than any other food allergy. Peanut/treenut is ubiquitous in our society. It is in all schools, most restaurants and processed foods. Avoiding it completely is virtually impossible. Patients with peanut allergy are likely to have a reaction within three years (95% chance). The most important treatment, Epinephrine (Epipen), is not 100% guaranteed to work.
Vaccinations are important and they do save lives, but we need to develop safer vaccines for EVERYONE. We should not be iatrogenically producing uncurable diseases in ANY patient receiving vaccines. We have very advanced science and we cannot find a safer alternative adjuvant to use in vaccines besides peanut oil? That is hard to believe. We are The United States of America! In addition, we have the right to know what substance we are injecting in our bodies. Partial vaccine ingredient disclosure is unacceptable. Vaccine manufacturers cite "trade secrets" as justification for witholding complete vaccine ingredients information.
Childhood vaccines are universally mandated in U.S. schools. More and more vaccines are being recommended for adults, as well. If we do not make sure that our vaccines are safe and free from peanut oil, many more people could keep acquiring and dying from peanut allergy. IF YOU DO NOT SIGN THIS PETITION, YOU, YOUR CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN COULD BE NEXT TO BE AFFLICTED WITH PEANUT ALLERGY, AN UNCURABLE AND DEADLY ILLNESS.
For my daughter who suffers from peanut allergy as well as three million more Americans it may be too late. But perhaps it is not too late for saving countless others from this fate.
I humbly thank you for your signature.
Some resources for references on this topic include: Heather Fraser's book "The History of the Peanut Allergy Epidemic," and New York Times articles from 9/19/1964 and 11/11/1966 announcing successful results in thousands of patients receiving vaccines containing peanut oil.
I'm surprised your comment that you believe your son's PA is due to vaccines has been allowed to be posted and hasn't yet been removed. Most people who try to voice opinions along these lines are labeled "crazy anti-vaxers" in an effort to discredit them. I noticed on the Food Ana. Network there is a warning to not discuss vaccines or post will be deleted. So, good for you to speak up for what you believe, but don't be surprised if it is removed. My son recently was found to have a peanut allergy, no one in my family has ever been known to have allergies (well over 100 people through my grandparents), and food allergies in schools was unheard of when I was growing up. I work in schools now and there are MANY children with food allergies, because it is so common place now, people think it is the "norm" and don't question it too much. But, a generation ago, we did not have these problems, nor some of the other problems our children face now days (think of some of the other A's). I know many veteran teachers with 25-30 years experience who say they had no kids with food allergies when they started out, they weren't even aware of it until recent years. Genetics don't change in a generation or two, not even in a mere hundred years. So, I think PA and other food allergies are a man made problem, either due to modern medicine (vaccine, antibiotics, etc) or the modern food industry (GMOs, processed foods, etc). Only the environment can make such an impact in a short time span. If people were dying from eating a peanut hundreds of years ago, they would have stopped cultivating peanuts because they would have been identified as poisonous as soon as the first person dropped dead from eating one within a few minutes (it's not like they had the epi's back then). So, I don't know for sure, but I suspect medicine, the food industry, or a combo of both are to blame. As for my son, he received very little processed foods as I have made all of his food including baby food, and we eat organic, he has, however, had most of his vaccinations against my better judgment. I can't undo and will probably never have science to support it because those in power will never want to know the cause. I can only hope that the people who created the problem will be motivated to find a "cure" to fix it when they realize their is money to be made in fixing it since so many people have allergies. I will gladly sign your petition, but sadly, in my heart, I feel our government was bought out long ago by big pharma and other business.
Thanks for signing. I wonder if I picked a good time to post my petition (Friday night).
I think we are too quick to blame vaccines for a lot of stuff. The vaccines were just as full of crap 40 years ago as they are today, and most of us are just fine and healthy. My son is almost 14 with a peanut allergy, autism, and a ton of other issues.... Sure id like to know why? And how? But I know it was not from shots...( even though I do not give them anymore... We have had titers done and he is still well protected) I think our environment is just very different, the food is all crap, the air we breathe is polluted, and things just are not as pure as they used to be 40 years ago. I am an advocate for making your own choice on shots for your kids.... Some people choose to give them, some don't.... To each his own.
My son is six with a severe peanut allergy and he hasn't had a single vaccination. That's just one case, so who knows, but just wanted to put that out there. :)
Thank you both for comenting. Even if we find out vaccines have no peanut in them, we will still advance science on peanut allergy if we can rule out vaccines as a cause of peanut allergy epidemic. Currently, we cannot make an informed decision beause we do not have knowledge of the full ingredients in vaccines. At some point, my petition to request full vaccine disclosure borders on civil rights request for freedom of information.
I would have to disagree with the assumption that a severe peanut allergy is caused by vaccines. First of all because when a child goes through puberty allergies tend to A)Get Better or B) Get worse/develop new allergies.
I have 3 children who have/had a pn allergy. My son was dx'd at 11 months old and is every bit as severe as you describe your child as being. He is now 17 years old and we have had to use the epi pen 5 times over the years. My 16 yr old daughter who was allergic to over 20 foods (10 anaphalactically), outgrew ALL of her allergies including peanut when she went through puberty. My 15 yr old daughter also outgrew a pn allergy but not her fish and shellfish allergy.
So, here is the kicker :) NONE of the 3 have ever had a vaccine! (ooops! My son had a tetanus shot a few years ago when he was attacked by a dog). We stopped when my oldest was 15 months old and the younger 3 have never had one other than the one tetanus shot.
Hope this helps!
I would also like to add that buying any kind of fruits or veggies in a grocery store that has an open bin of peanuts is risky. I have watched people literally run their hands through the bin of peanuts then walk around and touch the other produce while shopping. The other problem is that as people are running their hands through or putting some in bags they tend to drop some on the floor (and not always near the bin). I accidently stepped on some one time and my son had a reaction :(
I am also allergic to peanuts and had to leave the store a few days ago because there was apparently residue on the handle of the shopping cart. My hands got bright red with a mottled appearence and my eyes and lips swelled.
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