Talking Allergies

This is my big allergy.

I first reacted to nuts at about age 6. My step dad was in the "dog house" and brought home chocolates. Of course mom offered one to each of us and we were eager to taste them. I bit down and spit. The rest of our day was spent at the hospital. I just learned to naturally avoid tree nuts.

Then I grew up and got married.

I was breaking out in hives, feeling funny and just generally not getting along with the married night life. Within three months we discovered that if dh ate nuts and kissed me I would break out in hives. It took another couple of years to discover that it also passed through his body. He had to make a choice, either continue eating nuts or have children. He chose to have children. We also discussed the risk of losing me with the nut contact through body fluids.

As I got older I started to notice more incidents of hives. My hands would get itchy when I worked out at the gym, so I started wearing gloves to work out. I also noticed that at some parties I would get dizzy and feel like I was going to pass out. So many more people are snacking on nuts now and just as many people are using creams and beauty products with nut oils. I have to read ingredients on skin products now as well as foods.

There is only one tree nut that I know I can live through and that is hazelnuts. Twice I have accidentally had them. Once was in a chocolate and the other time was in coffee cream. I avoid any chocolate or coffee now.

Hi ... tree nuts are the big one for me too and hazelnuts are the worst, although I have never been as sensitive as you are. I have to actually ingest the nuts to get a serious reaction. The strange thing is I really didn't have a major problem with nuts until about 5 years ago. I was really surprised that an adult could suddenly develop something like this. For most of my life if I ate a nut I just got a little itchy, no big deal. Then one day I accidently ate a hazelnut and within a few minutes my throat was closing up. I few weeks later I had an accidental encounter with a walnut and the same thing happened. Last year I was at a potluck (not a good place for people with allergies - like russian roulette with a bowl of salad I eyeballed this salad that looked safe. Turned out it had a few pecans in it and although there were none in the helping I took, I guess there was enough contact with the lettuce to make things a little more exciting than anyone wanted. Now I try to be more careful but, like you said, people are really into tree nuts and they sprinkle them in the most unlikely places and then announce, "its such a little bit - it shouldn't bother you."
cheers
Barb

Hello All! I also am allergic to tree nuts (walnuts, pecans and hazelnuts).
Heres my story:
I first discovered my allergy the summer between my grade 7 and grade 8 year. I was at a beachfront party with my dad's work, and decided I really wanted to try some nuts on my icecream (the gathering was catered). I had never really had the chance, because my brother was always allergic to peanuts, so we simply steered clear of anything related. I ate all the icecream, and then took a bite of the nut (we never learnt which one it was - the company that catered never told us exactly which nut they used). Instantly I spat the nut out into the garbage and felt extremely sick to my stomach (from the taste). As I walked to find my mum to tell her, my stomach cramped up. I informed her that I thought I might be allergic to the nuts. So, she had me rinse my mouth out, and then we left for the hospital (just in case). On the way, my throat began closing up ( and my voice got very hoarse).
When we got there, they put me in the observation area. I almost couldn't talk by this time. Not too long into my wait...a rash appeared on my neck. And then before I could resgister what happened...my face blew up like a balloon and my airway closed completely.
So, that is my story!
I think the hardest part of it all (after I recovered) was adjusting to having the allergy. The ease of eating *whatever* went out the door that day. Now, it has become second nature to ask waiters, call companies, and read every label...I can only imagine that if I had another reaction, it would only get worse. My mottos are "if you're unsure, don't eat it!" Because with tree nuts...as you said, they appear in the most unlikely of places!!

Tree nuts is one of my many allergies. As a child maybe 9 or ten my Dad at Christmas thought to give me nuts to help my allergies.
He stopped feeding them to me when I had swollen lips and a red line around them. I remeber not being able to breathe very well. I do not know if we ended up in the hosp.
He never did that again. I guess in the late1960's they had some strange ideas on how to treat allergies.

My 5 year old son is allergic to tree nuts (cashews & pistachios)
We first discovered it when I gave him a cashew one night about a year ago...he immediately told me that it was really hot and then started vomiting. his voice changed...it was so scary!! My husband took him to the hospital and I stayed home until a babysitter could come to watch our younger one.
The hospital is only anbout 5 minutes away but by the time they got there, his throat was almost completly closed and he was coved with hives. Once O gpt there, I wasn't alpud to see him until I wash my hands and rinsed my mouth since I was eating the cashews with him. This was by far the scariest moment of my life and thankfully, we have not had any exposure since

HI all,

I am a new member to the allergy family.. I am 33 and never had an allergy in my life.. that is untill 1 month ago.. long story short my first reaction (that i am aware of) sent me to the E.R. where I came home W/ an epipen. After testing I am now allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. I have 2 children that are fine as well as my husband.. Except for a totally new eating lifestyle. My son is 5 and has eaten peanut butter every day since forever.we are weaning him off for my benefit... but I have a great support team.

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Melissa
adult onset peanut and tree nut

Since my first post here, we have now found out that my son is allergic to sesame seeds along with tree nuts. We just had my younger son tested and he has no allergies thus far.

Hi Melissa,

I was just under 30 when I suddenly developed allergies to peanuts and sesame seeds. At that time I had two kids, and one of them was a pb fanatic. They are now in their 20's, and the one is still a pb fanatic. I did have to ban it from my home though, because he just wasn't being careful enough. What we used to do was, once in a while we would buy a jar of pb and a loaf of bread and bring it to his best friend's house. When he was a teen he helped that friend's parents put a patio in their back yard -- payment of pb&j.

Welcome to the club that nobody wants to join.

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self: allergy to sesame seeds and peanuts
3 sons each with at least one of the following allergies: peniciilin, sulfa-based antibiotic, latex, insect bites/stings

Melissa,
I am not sure if Peabutter is available in the States but if it is or an alternative nonut spread you could use this with your children. I was a PB lover prior to my daughter's diagnosis and I use Peabutter. It is quite close to the real thing.
Kate

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11 year old daughter -- lives with life-threatening allergies to milk, eggs and peanuts; seasonal allergies (birch, maple, ragweed); pet allergies; asthma; and eczema
9 year old son - no allergies

katec, peabutter is also really good to bake with. It is available in the states (or some of them anyway).

Momof2Alta, make sure you check out the sesame seed forum on this board as there is a lot of information there.

Be careful of anything breaded. Recently I discovered that M&M Meat Shops does label for cross contamination with peanuts, nuts, sesame, and several other allergens. There is a lot of food I can buy from them -- even some of their pies, but not all.

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self: allergy to sesame seeds and peanuts
3 sons each with at least one of the following allergies: peniciilin, sulfa-based antibiotic, latex, insect bites/stings

Thanks...I'll be sure to check it out.
I'm going to have to start making my own bead now as well since all of the ones I have found may contain traces of....

In the U.S. there is SunButter too, which I love. It's sunflower seed butter.

It's hard to get in Canada (we order it from Winnipeg) but I would think many health food stores in the U.S. would have it.

www.sunbutter.com

K.

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Karen, proud Mom of
- DS1 (12 yrs): allergic to cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, potatoes, some legumes, some fish, pumpkin seeds; OAS
- DS2 (1o yrs): ana. to dairy, eggs, peanuts; asthma