Laurie, I'm in the same boat with my son right now. He has had two reactions, the second being the worse. That time he had held a bite of pbj sandwhich and within 2min his face and hands started turning red and swelling up. His nose started to run, sneezes, and watery eyes. And my hubby just reminded me last night that he had been rubbing at his mouth too, so maybe it itched??? (I've been digging around on the site and from looking at the topic about anaphalactic(sp?) definitions I'd say his second reaction was, by definition, anaphalactic) Anyway, our doc did the same thing "stay away from peanuts", only we did NOT get an epipen. And, like you, I didn't realize we needed to worry about cross contamination and things like that until recently (within the last couple of weeks). So, I've kinda been freakin out about it too. =( He hasn't been tested yet either, but I'm in the process of trying to get his health insurance started by 11/1 so I can (hopefully) get him in to an allergist by Thanksgiving.

MomofwonderfulPAboy, I think I got that right. Thank you so much for the info. I did look that up and feel so much more informed. I guess I feel now like they are right. Why get them tested! My Dr. did say that if the test showed negative now it doesn't mean that they wouldn't start being allergic a year from now, so it might give us a false sense of security. Anyway, thanks again. You have all been so helpful.

I notice a few of you are wondering why your children can eat foods that may be cross-contaminated and not react. My experience has been that the same product doesn't always make me react, with the exception of a few things like M&M's. Also, your children might be reacting and you just don't know it. Usually manufacturer cross-contamination makes me get an itchy throat - not really bad, just annoying. Your children may get something similar and just not notice or tell you. I know that my 4 year old son tends to be so busy doing stuff he hardly notices stuff like an itchy throat. Or they could get a little stuffy in the nose or a slightly loose BM the next day. Things you hardly notice.
Rebekah

I'd been wondering about that the cross-contamination thing too. I've been doing a LOT of reading on these boards the last couple of days though, and had noticed a lot of the adult PAs had mentioned a tingling mouth when they eat certain foods with traces of peanut in it. Then I noticed that most ice creams are NOT peanut safe (I didn't know this). Matt has NEVER liked ice cream. We keep giving it to him, thinking surely he will grow to like it. Don't all kids?? But after reading here, I wonder if it makes his mouth tingle. He'll take 2 or 3 bites, then refuse the rest. Anyway, now that I know that there is at least a possibility of it being contaminated, and making his mouth tingle or something, I'm not going to be giving him anymore. I feel so bad for having done it this long though. =( I wish I had known all this a year ago when we first figured out he was allergic.

WELCOME! This is a great site for great information. The "Search" function works pretty good and is a good tool to look up some specific questions you might have. Of course feel free to ask anything! Welcome!

Welcome!! This is one of the best places you can find info on PA. It has helped me tremendously get more educated about what other parents do in my situation. I hope you'll find the same thing.

Hi There
welcome! this is a great site! lots of info.