[Zipper]

As the title suggests I am completly new to living with a nut allergy and I have a few questions.

DD 3.5 was asking for a cashew nut (I was eating some as a snack) and I gave her one (I give my children peanut butter sandwhiches but that is about it for nut products). Immediately she started screaming that her tongue was hurting and within 30 secs her face and tongue had started to swell and she was getting short of breath. I immediately panicked and put her in the car (I know, I know completely wrong decision which I absolutley regret but I just wasn't thinking at all!) and drove her to the hospital. After a rather busy 5 mins of getting her stabilised I got a rather stern (and deserved) lecture from the dr about not calling an ambulance and some education on using an epipen.

We are seeing my GP tomorrow to get an appointment to see an allergist at the childrens hospital. So I suppose my question is do I now have to avoid all products that say they contain tree nuts even though she regularly ate them prior to yesterday?? Will her reaction now make her more heightened to traces of tree nuts? I'm looking for others experiences.

Thanks so much

[ubermum]

I would avoid all nut products until you have seen an allergist. Pistachios are also closely related to cashews and many people with an allergy to one have an allergy to the other. Be careful of not only nuts, but their shells. Allergies often get worse with every exposure. Good luck.

[runlikethewind]

Hi Op, my DS is not allergic ( that we know of, actually havent tried them) to tree nits but he is to dairy, wheat and eggs. From my experience, and from what his specialist has told us, allergies can get worse with each exposure. For example, first two times DS had dairy he vomited. By the third time he was almost unconcsious and had a tingly tongue, swollen lips and so on.
We have been given info from the RCH Mel that states that some parent do allow their children products that " may contain" but personally we haven't with DS. He only needs to touch wheat, eggs or dairy and he breaks out in a rash so there's no way we would allow him to ingest any of it.
I would avoid until you have seen a specialist.

This post has been edited by runlikethewind: 04/03/2012, 08:02 PM

[Zipper]

Thank you so much. I'm terribly nervous now about letting her eat anything!! Obviously as time goes on I will feel more relaxed about food in general.

Thank you again

[boy0hboy]

Oh you poor thing that sounds horrible!! Glad that it was all ok in the end though and you have an Epipen now.

My son has a cashew nut allergy. Like you he'd had peanut butter with no problems before. Our allergist (well respected from the Gold Coast) actually said it was better to keep him eating peanut butter so that he didn't become sensitised to it as he'd never reacted to it.

I would wait though and get the testing done first just for peace of mind and so you can get the professionals advice as these things are sometimes different for different cases.

Like a PP said pistachios are to be avoided when you've got a cashew allergy. We still have products that say "may contain traces of nuts" however I do avoid products that are made by companies who have lots of cashew products - like dips, cereals, muesli bars.

Good luck with it all and hope you can get in with the allergist asap.

[Jenflea]

I thought cashews weren't actually a NUT, but the stamen or part of the flower on the tree.
But I'd avoid nuts until she has the skin prick test at the allergist.

[Akatara]

My dd has reacted to cashews and pistachio before.

She is also peanut now too. She has developed that one as the first time she was negative for peanut. Unfortunately my dd is testing positive to more and more nut types each time we get tested.

We have an epi pen, but haven't had to use it yet. But her reactions do seem to be getting worse each time she is exposed.

If you are in melb, the rch has very good training on using the epipen. I found doing a first aid course and later epi pen training helped me relax more.

[30bt]

As other PP's say Cashews and pistachio are very closely related. They are both tree nuts, if your DD hasn't tried any other tree nuts, just wait until she is tested. Peanuts are a legume not a nut, if these are already in her diet, keep them in, there is no need to remove them and can do more harm than good!

My DD has peanut anaphylaxis we have been dealing with it for almost 10 yrs. She can eat all nuts as only has a peanut allergy.
Our allergist does not believe in avoiding "may contain traces" as everything does- we are more careful with things that are hard to clean from the production line like chocolate and ice-cream and some sauces, she has had anaphylaxis twice when she has eaten or put in her mouth something that contains peanuts.
We still eat things with peanuts in it- although not when she's around!

All the best and as long as she doesn't eat a cashew or a pistachio she will be fine!

[Zipper]

Thanks again all!

I have made an appointment for her to see a pead allergist. I was shocked to learn of the waiting list times!!! We are in Brisbane and the waiting time for one of them was till NEXT MAY!!! WOW!!! I just can't wait that long to be honest, so I found one that came from a recommendation that can see her next week.

I have been driving myself crazy with reading labels and to be honest I take my hat off to all the parents dealing with children with intolerances/allergies to certain foods. There seems to be only a small range of food that she can eat!

So far so good and I really hope that we get more answers to my million questions next week at the doctors.

[Zipper]

Edited for a double post

This post has been edited by lollie2: 06/03/2012, 10:18 AM