Instead of nuts? | Imamother

yaelinIN

Mon, Jul 14 2014, 11:51 pm

seeker wrote:

I would be much more skeptical of this OIT for tree nuts than for peanuts, because it is not so rare for peanut allergies to be outgrown with or without help whereas for tree nuts my impression is that it's unheard of. Peanut allergies sometimes get milder with age, whereas tree nut allergies tend to get more severe with each exposure - which has indeed been the case with my DD, who went from hives in the first known episode, to lip swelling, to facial swelling that might have been also anaphylaxis (it was treated as such just in case), to having a facial swelling reaction from only secondhand exposure and an eye allergy episode from what I believe was an airborne exposure though you can't really prove these things.

You can be skeptical if you want, but there are children (and some adults) going through tree nut OIT as we speak/type; there are "graduates" as well. It is relatively rare to outgrow peanut allergies as well; less than 20%. My daughter's peanut allergy wasn't going to go away. Her RAST tests showed Class 6 peanut allergy and the wheals from skin testing were immediate and huge. I chose to pursue OIT her benefit as well as our family's; we were not ultra-paranoid about her life but had one accidental exposure (aside from the initial one at 9 mos) at age 4 (breathing difficulties, hives, facial swelling, shakiness/shock) and an almost exposure (from a grandparent) last year right before OIT began. We traveled, we sent her to camp, we lived life, but I know I always had a vein of fear running though my body about the "what ifs". Now I don't have the worry at all. Thank G-d for OIT. I hope your child grows out of their allergy, mine is now safe through OIT (and BTW, studies show that most people who have graduated OIT will eventually lose their allergic response to their allergen completely, not just toleration. It is happening now with graduates of OIT from 1.5 yrs to 4+ years ago.).