Yes almonds are different from peanuts. you will hear about tree nuts and peanuts (which are actually from the lentil family). Tree nuts are nuts like almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts (all the nuts from trees) whereas peanuts come from the ground. My daughter is allergic to peanuts but not tree nuts - however to avoid confusion the allergist just told me to avoid all nuts regardless because there is a higher chance for her to develop tree nut allergies as well if I expose her often enough. Hope this helps.

Thanks for clearing that up! I guess my girls aren't allergic to tree nuts, but to be safe, I will avoid them. But I'm still reeling from the fact that I gave them Honey NUT Cheerios when they are allergic to nuts! I was just thinking Cheerios, you know?
Also, just to clarify, my girls haven't had an anaphylactic episode. I gave them pb on bread at 14 months, just a bit smeared on a slice which I quartered. A few minutes later, Lillian was broken out on her face. We are not sure if any pb was actually digested, but had her tested to be sure.
Beth
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Beth
Audrey and Lilian 11/25/00

Hi Beth,
Welcome to the board. My son is 4 1/2, and he was diagnosed his peanut allergy at 22 months. Until that point, an eating disorder kept him from eating just about anything but dry Cheerios and milk. His favorites at the time were Honey Nut Cheerios. We had given him the other "flavors" too, but tried to stay away, since they are laden with sugar, and if it's the only thing your kid eats, then we preferred it wasn't sugar-filled.
Anyway, when he had his initial reaction, we were unsure as to whether it was peanuts or almonds that he reacted to. (He had a lick of vanilla ice cream that had peanuts and almonds mixed into it.) The ER doc said it was more likely peanuts, but we should keep him off almonds until we knew for sure.
I was flabbergasted, because the kid got almonds all day, every day in those Honey Nut Cheerios.
Long story short, he has nothing now but the PLAIN Cheerios. I won't even let him have the no-name plain Cheerios. (He can tell the difference, anyway!) However, his babysitter "accidentally" fed him Honey Nut Cheerios one day a few months ago, with no reaction.
I'm not sure if that answers any questions, but I thought you might like to hear of a similar scenario to yours ...
Good luck with everything!!

Hello NoPNuts! Welcome.
I am fairly new also. You're best bet is to put some time aside and read through as many previous posts as you can. I learned a lot that way. If you haven't bought the book "The Peanut Allergy Answer Book" yet by Michael Young, I recommend it.
And yes, my allergist also had said the last time I was in that a shot of some sort was due out around now for PA. I will ask her when we go in a few weeks. Anyone have more info on this?
Grace

Thanks for the reply. I just read recent postings and the information is very helpful. There appears to be some very informed and considerate people on this site. Thanks for the input everyone.

HI! I agree with the other poster-read the boards, but I can also tell you some things.In my intro I mentioned that I was 21 before my pa affected me too much, so I don't know how much certain places will affect me when I go.
I can tell you to read, read, and read some more on EVERY label of food he eats. You don' say how allergic (airborne, contact, or just ingestion allergic he is.)
I know some foods he should avoid: M&M's plain (they DO have peanuts in them!!)Natural ovens bread (just found that out-that they use the same machines for all their products. MIlk duds, the soft chips ahoy cookies (made with peanut flour). There's more, but I am drawing a blank right now.
I've been to a couple ball games and didn't have problems.
I can eat Dairy Queen-I will only get a cone or dilly bar-something like that.
Hope that helps a bit.

<p>My name is Kelly, and i have a 4 year old who is anaphylactic to peanuts, allergic to penicillin, and sulfa drugs, as well as some tree nuts. He was diagnosed at 19 monthes and is getting ready to start school in the fall. Looking for advice on how to feel comfortable about sending him to school with his allergies</p>

Parents Guide... by M. Barber is great, Peanut Allergy Answer Book by Dr. Young is also good. This is the best site for peanut allergies. Here are some other useful links:
[url="http://www.aaaai.org/default.stm"]http://www.aaaai.org/default.stm[/url]
[url="http://www.theallergyreport.org/reportindex.html"]http://www.theallergyreport.org/reportindex.html[/url]
Foodallergy.org
In the links section of this board there are several useful links including one which is a summary of all the recent research conducted on peanut allergies- very useful if you want to know the *science* of the allergy.
Hope these items get you off to a good start.
Be aware that you may find in time that your child has more than one allergy, so once you learn the symptoms- keep your eyes peeled. Some children are *just* allergic to peanuts, but many of us deal with several different allergies.
[url="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/POFAK"]http://groups.yahoo.com/group/POFAK[/url] is a site for parents of children with multiple food allergies.

A very warm welcome, Joan Marie! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
It is so great to hear from veteran families like yours! Your posts are particularly valuable for those who are so new to all of this that they are unsure of what a "reasonable" and "sustainable" lifestyle means. Even those of us with some experience often find ourselves wondering what changes the years ahead will bring, as our children want more freedoms.
I was also so relieved and thrilled to find a place where there were so many people on the same page (more or less- of course, it wouldn't be interesting or informative if we agreed *all* the time [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/wink.gif[/img] )... definitely helps with those days when you have the willies!
I will look forward to seeing more posts from you soon! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
Shannon

Hi Susiesmom:
You shouldn't feel guilty. Nobody knows the reason why PA is happening and increasing. In fact I've been hearing about adults who are suddenly developing the allergy. The breast feeding theory is a big fat guess---that's all.
Also, as for feeling you introducted pb at too young an age---well, your daughter was bound to get traces of it anyway. You know how much it takes to avoid it. How can anyone possibly avoid it without adopting the lifestyle of the peanut allergic outright?
Anyway, welcome and I hope you find strength and information from these boards.