Can children outgrow peanut allergy or does it just get worse?

[Sneezecakesmum]

DGS 14 months has excema and has had reactions to egg and cheese in the past which he now seems to tolerate with no more hives (the only symptom).

He also reacts to peanut butter with hives and itching. Obviously we don't give him any but yesterday he got hives on his arm where DD touched him after giving DGS 1 a peanut butter sandwich, so a very tiny amount and needed piriton.

DD is still bfing and has a spoon of it now and then to help with tolerance. He doesn't seem to react to that.

Do they ever outgrow peanut allergy or are we looking at eventually getting an epipen?

[TheAmazingChandler]

Some people outgrow it but most don't. There is a newish component blood test which pins down whether the specific protein he is reacting to is likely to produce a serious systemic reaction.

[neolara]

I've read that approximately 20% of kids outgrow peanut allergies.

[Sneezecakesmum]

Amazing ...thanks I think we will ask for that test so we know where we stand, and hope he is one of the 20%. Hopefully if it's so far limited to hives we might be lucky.

Thought of a kid having to carry an epipen is scary

[anotherdayanothersquabble]

With his history of reactions, if he still has eczema it is likely he is reacting to something in his diet.

I am curious as to whether your DD's continuing to have peanuts is under advice? I didn't realise DS was allergic to peanuts until he ingested some himself but in hindsight, he was reacting to my peanut consumption, I just didn't realise at the time. It wasn't the same kind of reaction as to when he ate some (hives, vomiting, red round his neck / wrists, eyes lolling etc) or was touched with some but he was particularly grumpy / unsettled and kept putting his fingers down his throat.

I like the sound of the blood test that proports to predict if the reaction is likely to be systemic but at present, there is no way of predicting how serious a reaction can be and in my experience, if you put a number of complicating factors together, the reactions can be unexpectedly more serious than previously experienced.

[Sneezecakesmum]

DD hasn't been given any guidance about eating peanut butter. She did through pregnancy as you are supposed to do that now just for a change!

Not really thought about a food intolerance re the excema or peanut related. Dgs2 was ebf until 6 months and I think he had excema then but I will mention it to her as the poor mite is very itchy and this warm weather won't help

[scriptbunny]

Hi Sneezecakesmum. Sorry to hear about the potential peanut allergy. My son was tested and diagnosed after a similar reaction just after he turned two. We now have to carry Epipens everywhere, which has taken some getting used to! You might want to get your DGS checked out just in case you are advised to do something similar.

Unfortunately our allergy consultant also said that the estimate that 20% of peanut allergies could be outgrown, was now largely discredited and that we shouldn't hold out any hope that it will go away by itself. On the plus side there seems to be a lot of promising research going on for a treatment, so fingers crossed!

[Meglet]

7yo DS's nut allergies are improving, some of them have gone. He's developed an apple allergy and hayfever now .

I have my hopes pinned on puberty to do something to his body that improves his allergies. The thought of him dragging epi-pens everywhere with him scares me. I want him to be able to eat foul kebabs with his mates and travel a bit. I can't see how that would happen with allergies.

[eragon]

meglet, your child seems to be following a fairly predicted pattern of allergy that matches our son ( and many other multiple allergic people I suspect)

our son has grown out of baked egg allergy at 7 and some tree nut allergies ( very mild to brazil nut at 18 now) and low levels to some previously high legume allergies. However environmental allergies and dog high. Dog very very high, then dropped to a manageable rate at 12/13yrs
OAS in teens, high environmental allergies. out of his list of food allergies peanut is the most lethal.
His food choices outside home are much easier than his sister, who during her teens developed milk allergy , very very high dustmite allergy and tree pollen and hayfever. Both my 3 and 4th kids have all the environmental allergies.
Basically the allergies change, and develop and what gets grown out is a bonus. but a multiple allergic child usually is a allergic adult.

[ukey]

I would be asking for a referral to an allergy clinic for testing and avoiding peanut butter completely as kids can react thru breast milk, which can be an eczema reaction x

[SarahS12345]

Very interested in the test you mention TheAmazingChandler. Do you have any details? Has you DC had it?

[bruffin]

Ds 18 grew out of peanut allergy by 12 but not tree nuts or sesame and suffers a lot from hayfever and other environmental