Hi Kara, welcome! You've got lots to think about right now. I'm sure you will find advice and expertise here, there are many people willing to help here. I'm not that new to PA but pretty new to these boards and it's been very helpful so far. I am in a similar situation - my 4 year old has severe PA and many other serious food allergies. I also have a 2 year old and infant twins who will be one month old on Saturday. Good luck to you!
Siobhan

Welcome! Well, you do have a steep learning curve ahead. But it will get easier with time. An allergist visit should help. Ask for advice about food and about how to treat reactions. Ours gave us a Food Allergy Action Plan that spells out symptoms and when to give just Benadryl and when to give an Epi-pen injection, too, and go to the ER. It has lots of information and we give a copy to everyone who takes care of our DD when we aren't there. Make sure you get an Epi-pen prescription and have the Epi and Benadryl with your son at all times. We keep an Epi-pen (actually 2 now) and a bottle of Benadryl at home at all times and I carry duplicates in my purse, but if she goes somewhere with her dad, they bring them along in a bag, even if she isn't planning to eat. The school had 2 Epis and a bottle of Benadryl kept there this past year, too (kindergarten). I'd recommend reading the book "The Parent's Guide to Food Allergies". I checked it out from my library. It was so helpful to me in really understanding what I was supposed to do and what kind of risks we were facing. All the other information I got from the doctor and this website was useful but piecemeal, but the book gave me a comprehensive overview, which I really needed. You will have to read every label every time. It's a pain, but it gets faster with practice. The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) has a helpful website, especially when it comes to knowing what to look for on an ingredient label. We've gotten comfortable with certain brands, although you still have to read the label each time to be sure they didn't change the ingredients. And some things we know to always avoid, which makes those decisions faster over time. Watch out for cross-contamination: peanut food touching his food. If a knife with peanut butter goes into a jelly jar, the jelly isn't safe. If a knife is used on a peanut butter sandwich, wiped off, and used on a cheese sandwich, the cheese sandwich isn't safe. If peanuts are picked off the top of a dessert, the dessert still isn't safe. There's lots to figure out, and it freaks most people out pretty badly at first, but it does get easier to handle.
We, too didn't figure out what DD was allergic to for a while. At first peanut butter didn't cause any visible symptoms for her, so we thought we knew she wasn't allergic, so what could be giving her hives? I took us years to figure it out and more years before we understood it was life-threatening. I wish you all the best as you learn how to handle this. Ask any questions you want here, and use the search feature, too; there are lots of topics we've discussed before that are helpful.

Welcome!
Things will be a little rough at first, but once you get the flow of things, it will get easier. Educating your child will be the best. Dont lie to them, and let them know exactly what to expect. My parents were very upfront with me, and I was my best defense while growing up. I checked everything I could, didnt eat what I didnt think was safe, and would tell the teachers and my parents everytime something happened.
Living the PA life isnt that bad, it just means you have to be on guard a littel more than other people. Use the allergist as much as you can, talk with teachers, principals, and the school board. Keep your child involved. It might seem overwhelming at first, but it will get better.
Everyone here on the board is helpful with suggestions and support. Keep coming back, and read all the information you can. I wish this board was around when I was a child so my parents had a better support group when I was growing up. This is a great place.

I just started having allergic reactions to peanuts by process of elimination. Have not been to the Dr yet as I am in between Dr's (mine moved), but have had 3 reactions in 3 wks and they are getting worse each time. Most info that I find on peanut allergies pertain to kids. I am 42 yrs old! Does anyone know the statistics on how many people acquire this allergy as an adult?

Welcome! It is so hard at first to figure out how to manage this. It will get better with time and information. I'd recommend the book "The Parent's Guide to Food Allergies" by Marianne Barber. In case I messed up the title, I know it's been discussed in the Books discussion board! It helped me the most in figuring out what I needed to avoid and how to manage life with this allergy. My 6YO DD developed PA at age 1, but it took us until she had an anaphylactic reaction at age 5 to really figure out that this is serious and that we need to take serious precautions. She got only hives for years, and the doctor was not helpful. Many people with PA get increasingly serious reactions with additional exposures, although it may not be a steady, regular increase. It's pretty unpredictable, so it's best to be very careful about not letting him eat anything risky and always having your Epi-Pen and any other meds recommended by your doctor (probably Benadryl) with him at all times. Boy, that stinks that there are peanut shells all over at your other son's baseball! We'd have to steer clear of baseball if it was like that here. My son has been in it for 2 years, and my PA DD is starting this year. My main concern is that the parents take turns providing snacks at the end of games, so some things may be peanut stuff. But I've seen actual peanuts only once in 2 years, and we can always avoid the snack, and everyone leaves immediately afterwards with the snack in their hands. Yes, visiting people can be a challenge. I have to admit, I'm not much of a visitor, so I don't run into trouble regularly. We stopped doing playgroup in the neighborhood before we even knew about DD's allergy, but I can see that being a hard thing. Visiting relatives who make peanut butter desserts has been my challenge. We have discovered that peanut butter traces left by other people can cause my daughter to have a reaction! But everyone is different. You'll learn his thresholds over time. Best of luck to you!

Do you have an epi pen? If not, get one now. I am amazed at how many people I have heard about that have PA and had minor reactions and don't carry pens, it is unpredictable. I was wondering if you can talk to the park where your son plays ball and request that an area, say one set of bleachers have not nuts around them? We attend a play group that is nut free (thank goodness), but people still bring things with trace nuts (that can be hard to avoid) and so my son doesn't share snacks, and we leave after snack time. My son was 2.5 when dx and I have been talking to him since, he knows, and just seems to accept that some things can make him sick. He told me today, those are safe for other kids but not Joseph. WIth a 14 month old, it is tougher, because they are not able understand as much, so for awhile I think it will be hard, but start talking to him now, tell him, even if you don't think he will understand, as repitiion will help in the long run. In my playgroup, I trus the person who rund the group and one other person if I needed someone to care for my son. That number is small. Most people don't know and don't realize, and I think it is our job to educate. My SIL oldest has PA and TNA and so grandmas house and SIL house thank goodness is safe. Due to other allergies, we eat at home. Your world seems so small at first, but it does get bigger again.
Glad you found the boards.
Therese

Thank you both for replying!
Yes, I have epi pens, they go with us whenever we leave the house. I hope things open up a bit at some point, it is frustrating always having to "secure the area" kwim.
Karen

Hi Kara, welcome! You've got lots to think about right now. I'm sure you will find advice and expertise here, there are many people willing to help here. I'm not that new to PA but pretty new to these boards and it's been very helpful so far. I am in a similar situation - my 4 year old has severe PA and many other serious food allergies. I also have a 2 year old and infant twins who will be one month old on Saturday. Good luck to you!
Siobhan

Welcome! Well, you do have a steep learning curve ahead. But it will get easier with time. An allergist visit should help. Ask for advice about food and about how to treat reactions. Ours gave us a Food Allergy Action Plan that spells out symptoms and when to give just Benadryl and when to give an Epi-pen injection, too, and go to the ER. It has lots of information and we give a copy to everyone who takes care of our DD when we aren't there. Make sure you get an Epi-pen prescription and have the Epi and Benadryl with your son at all times. We keep an Epi-pen (actually 2 now) and a bottle of Benadryl at home at all times and I carry duplicates in my purse, but if she goes somewhere with her dad, they bring them along in a bag, even if she isn't planning to eat. The school had 2 Epis and a bottle of Benadryl kept there this past year, too (kindergarten). I'd recommend reading the book "The Parent's Guide to Food Allergies". I checked it out from my library. It was so helpful to me in really understanding what I was supposed to do and what kind of risks we were facing. All the other information I got from the doctor and this website was useful but piecemeal, but the book gave me a comprehensive overview, which I really needed. You will have to read every label every time. It's a pain, but it gets faster with practice. The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) has a helpful website, especially when it comes to knowing what to look for on an ingredient label. We've gotten comfortable with certain brands, although you still have to read the label each time to be sure they didn't change the ingredients. And some things we know to always avoid, which makes those decisions faster over time. Watch out for cross-contamination: peanut food touching his food. If a knife with peanut butter goes into a jelly jar, the jelly isn't safe. If a knife is used on a peanut butter sandwich, wiped off, and used on a cheese sandwich, the cheese sandwich isn't safe. If peanuts are picked off the top of a dessert, the dessert still isn't safe. There's lots to figure out, and it freaks most people out pretty badly at first, but it does get easier to handle.
We, too didn't figure out what DD was allergic to for a while. At first peanut butter didn't cause any visible symptoms for her, so we thought we knew she wasn't allergic, so what could be giving her hives? I took us years to figure it out and more years before we understood it was life-threatening. I wish you all the best as you learn how to handle this. Ask any questions you want here, and use the search feature, too; there are lots of topics we've discussed before that are helpful.