We became a nut free family in a rather unusual way. O had been diagnosed with milk & soy allergies at 8 weeks old. We were told that there was no reason to suspect a nut allergy & follow the new AAP recommendations of introducing nuts at 1 year old. I finally worked up the nerve to try nuts when O was 22 months old. He coughed, wheezed & developed a rash. I was told to try them again at home. He coughed, wheezed & developed a rash. We were sent for allergy tests. O tested negative to peanuts (PN) & tree nuts (TN) on both the skin prick test (SPT)/scratch test & the blood test (RAST).
Our allergist decided to have him do an in office challenge. Prior to the in office challenege (IOC) he was given a SPT with the fresh peanut butter (PB) that would be used for the challenge. The nurse claimed the test was negative, though I STILL think he had a small reaction. We preceded with the challenge. The IOC starts with a miniscule amount of PB on a tongue depressor (so small that it is almost impossible to get off the tongue depressor). Every 15 minutes the amount of peanut butter consumed increases slightly. After the 3rd dose, O began reacting. His skin got very red & blotchy, he began grabbing at his throat & tongue. Thankfully, the nurse immediately gave Benadryl & stopped the reaction. Despite having tested negative to everything, he clearly reacted & was diagnosed with a peanut allergy. The allergist recommended that we also assume he has a tree nut allergy, since we can't accurately test for it unless we do an IOC. O's PN & TN allergies were diagnosed in March of 2009.
Until O was diagnosed, I ate peanut butter every morning (except while pregnant, I was too sick to eat anything). After his diagnosis, I would still eat the occasional Reese's or something when I was at work. In an attempt to get healthy in the fall of 2009, I began eating Kashi & Luna Bars. I had an evening snack one day & headed to bed. As I lay there, I felt my throat swelling & had increasing difficulty swallowing. I felt like my heart was barely beating. My head was killing. I had to call my husband on the phone b/c he was still upstairs & tell him to give me O's Epi-Pen (Jr) or take me to the ER. We went to the ER & I was given several meds to stop the reaction. I was told I would likely never know what caused it. I went to work the next day, feeling tired from a long night in the ER, but fine. While driving home, my throat began tighting again, my head & stomach began throbbing. I drove myself to the ER, was again given meds to stop the reaction & sent on my way. I saw my PCP the next day & she advised me to avoid the top 8 until I had an allergy test. Several weeks later I went for an SPT & was again told that I may not find out the cause of my reactions. Luckily, I did find out!! I tested positive to peanuts & tree nuts in October 2009, at 29 years old!!
