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Peanut Allergies

soupcan Jul 13 2005 01:50 PM

Please don't take this the wrong way but what the fuck? When I was a kid I don't remember anyone having a peanut allergy. We never were instructed not to bring in PB&J sandwiches. There was never a sepaarate table for people with nut allergies. Never knew anything about it. Now I'm a parent and holy crap - you can't go anywhere without some kid having an allergy to tree nuts. My son's best friend has an allergy that according to his parents could send him into anaphalactic (sp?) shock if he gets a whiff of a shelled legume. We've had the kid over a bunch of times and that epipen always comes along (sometimes secretly I hope he eats a peanut so I can go all Vincent Vega on his ass). Is everyone overreacting? My son's friends parents say that the kid has never had a 'bad' reaction but their doctor assures them that the kid is off the charts when it comes to whatever test they do to determine sensitivity. And now I am asked to not toss my shells?! What am I supposed to do with them - eat them? Don't laugh, I had a girlfriend once who ate her peanuts with the shell on. No joke. So, wolfie? What can you tell me?

PatchyFogg Jul 13 2005 01:52 PM

I also remember everyone being quite tolerant of lactose back then, too.

Johnny Dickshot Jul 13 2005 01:57 PM

I'm an uncle-to-be (any minute now) and at the recent baby shower my brother received two car seats. We recalled as kids long car trips in the back of a stinky family station wagon with a rusted-out floor that you could chip off. We could see the highway going beneath us!

Centerfield Jul 13 2005 01:59 PM

When I was a kid, we never had shellfish at home...lobster, shrimp...I just figured my parents didn't like it. As I got older, I realized I LOVE shellfish...all kinds. One time, when I was at a restaurant w/ my folks, I ordered the lobster, to which my mother replied "But you're allergic to shellfish..."

cooby Jul 13 2005 02:04 PM

My brother eats peanut shells too. Lotsa fiber there

ScarletKnight41 Jul 13 2005 02:11 PM

I also find it puzzing. It's also difficult on the other side of things - peanut butter is one of the few things my boys will eat, plus it doesn't spoil quickly, so it's ideal to send them with peanut butter sandwiches when they have field trips. It's hard for us when we are asked not to send peanut butter because some other child can't eat it - what is my child supposed to eat instead?

cooby Jul 13 2005 02:12 PM

Apple butter

soupcan Jul 13 2005 02:16 PM

Johnny Dickshot wrote: I'm an uncle-to-be (any minute now) and at the recent baby shower my brother received two car seats. We recalled as kids long car trips in the back of a stinky family station wagon with a rusted-out floor that you could chip off. We could see the highway going beneath us! Me too. I recall not even wearing seatbelts in the back seat as a kid. Now, if I'm driving and my kid unclicks their belt for a second to grab something off the floor I totally frewak out. "What are you doing! Buckle your seatbelt! You're gonna get killed! AIEEEEE!" Amazing how we get conditioned to things. Dickshot - Why two carseats? Two cars or twins?

PatchyFogg Jul 13 2005 02:19 PM

I do remember babysitters refusing to let their charges eat peanut butter lest they choke or suffocate.

MFS62 Jul 13 2005 02:23 PM

It was only a few years ago thatyou could go to a Lone Star steak house and theywould put a metal bucket of peanuts on your table with the menu. You were told you could toss the shells on the floor. Now they don't even give out peanuts anymore. I asked a waitperson why, and was told that they thought it was because someone might slip on the shells (the wait staff does country line dancing in the aisles about once an hour). Now I'm thinking it was discontinued because of the emerging prevalence of those alergies. Later

cooby Jul 13 2005 02:24 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 13 2005 02:25 PM

cooby Jul 13 2005 02:25 PM

A lot of places use peanut oil for frying too, which is something to keep in mind.

Johnny Dickshot Jul 13 2005 02:26 PM

]Dickshot - Why two carseats? Two cars or twins? Not twins. Maybe 2 cars? I don;t know anything about kids, or car seats for that matter.

MFS62 Jul 13 2005 02:46 PM

"I don't know nothin' about birthin' babies, Miss Scarlett." One of the great lines in movie history. Later

seawolf17 Jul 13 2005 02:55 PM

Yes, it does seem like peanut allergies -- and tree nut allergies, which are not related and sometimes not as severe, although I do have both -- are more prevalent these days. I think there are a lot of factors at play (media exposure, changes in food processing, obsessive overparenting, etc.), and I'm not going to say I know enough about the cultural anthropology of it to make any definitive decision. All I do know is that I'm allergic, it can kill me, and I stay the hell away from them. It's not a joke, and it's frustrating when parents who are trying too hard to protect their kids invent allergies that aren't there to prevent them from -- well, I don't know from what, but it happens. Something has to trigger a food allergy; they don't just come out of nowhere, and like most diseases and medical conditions, it's probably genetic. My mom has had a peanut allergy (but not a tree nut allergy - she eats walnuts like they're going out of style) forever. I must have had a reaction as a kid, so they got me tested... turns out I not only got her peanut allergy, but added the tree nut allergy to the equation. (My mom's brother is allergic to tree nuts also.) I got re-tested four years ago, just to see how it had progressed; the peanut spot on my arm blew up so big, it obscured the tests on all sides of it. People do outgrow food allergies, but not all the time, and mine has stuck with me. (I think peanut allergies are the worst offenders when it comes to outgrowing them; I don't know if it happens at all.) I just take whatever steps I can to avoid them... I read packaging, I move my seat when the moron next to me is flipping peanut shells all over the place, and I stay out of Thai restaurants. I know there are no guarantees; my wife read a study that says as many as 1 in 6 packages without the nut allergy warning still contain nut products. She wishes that I would never eat Twix bars, but I just can't give them up... I'll take my risks with the stuff I "know" is clean, but if I've never eaten it, I probably won't, just to be safe. I'm almost 30 years old and I haven't died yet, so I think I'm going to be okay. I'm smart about it -- I know what I can do, and I know what I can't. I can also tell right away -- before I even finish chewing -- if I've eaten something containing almonds, for instance, and I can spit it out and gargle for a few minutes with a carbonated liquid and I can usually avoid any real reaction (although the taste lingers for a long time). Studies are split on what "causes" allergies in kids. If my wife and I get pregnant, she can either eat peanuts or not. Some studies say that if you eat them while you're pregnant, the child will not develop any sensitivities; some studies say the kid will definitely develop them. I don't know; I'd think we'd err on the safe side and avoid them, in hopes that our kid doesn't have to deal with it. Honestly, having this allergy sucks. And if I could make it go away, I would. But I can't, so the least I can do is to be careful about myself, and to spread the word where I can. If the kid's been tested, then he's probably legit. And you can't tell other parents what to do, so all you can do is be careful. Honestly, I don't remember it being a big deal when I was a kid; I just didn't eat anything I couldn't definitely identify as not being a nut product. And all my friends' parents knew that, so we just didn't eat PB&J or anything. Weird corollary: my sister is not PA (peanut allergic), but she can't eat them. It turns her stomach. She just grew up without them in the house, and as a result, she's developed some sort of weird mental block about them. Odd.

Frayed Knot Jul 13 2005 09:10 PM

I read recently that peanut allegies are on the increase but I don't remember why. It seems odd to me that something like this that's not environmentally related would suddenly increase in frequency but whathtefuck do I know. George Carlin has a routine involving stuff like this. He claims that his generation of kids inured themselves from most things by swimming in the bacteria laden Hudson river. The thing about those car seats is that the hospital now warns potential parents that they won't allow the child to go home unless you have an approved and installed car seats - and yes, they inspect. So if you don't have one does the hospital keep the kid until s/he's like 7 years old or whenever you no longer need them? That would sure solve some babysitting problems.

Edgy DC Jul 13 2005 09:21 PM

MF's diabetes. Seawolf's peanut allergies. This is going to get embarrassing pretty soon if we keep fessing up to medical conditions. (OK, it'll get embarassing when we get to me.) Who's next? Vic Sage's Bell's Palsey? Silverdsl's wandering eye?

Frayed Knot Jul 13 2005 09:38 PM

I'm a lesbian trapped in a man's body.

PatchyFogg Jul 13 2005 09:51 PM

I cried during Beaches.

holychicken Jul 14 2005 06:55 AM

I have some kind of fruit allegeries. When I eat apples, cherries, pears, strawberries and a slew of other fruits, at least my mouth itches (and is impossible to scratch) and, at worst, my throat closes up which makes it difficult to breath. One time, after eating a cherry, I almost called 911 on myself because I was having such a hard time breathing, but resisted and ended up being fine (obviously. Well, at least physically, mentally you all might beg to differ). I also get allergies during the spring and fall and have allergic reactions to mold. On top of that, I have a mild case of asthma, which is triggered by my allergies. Boy, my parents really f-ed something up. However, none of the allergies that I have are severe nor is my asthma very bad. I don't take any medication other than having an inhaler around that I use maybe 10 times a year and benadryl just in case I can't sleep (but I haven't taken that in 5 years). So, I guess, I got somewhat lucky.

soupcan Jul 14 2005 07:09 AM

] I almost called 911 on myself Not sure why but that statment cracked me up. My physical ailments? Hmmm, none really other than getting old and creaky. OH! I've had a vasectomy so I'm fertily-challenged. It was done by choice though so maybe it doesn't that count.

Willets Point Jul 14 2005 11:08 PM

As long as we're revealing our maladies, I have recently been diagnosed with TWO different sleep disorders. It's kind of a relief in the sense that it means I'm not just a lazy schmuck.

Bret Sabermetric Jul 15 2005 01:03 AM

I'm an insomniac. (and I'm agnostic and a dyslexic, too.)

ScarletKnight41 Jul 15 2005 06:54 AM

My eyes aren't even - one is nearsighted, and the other is slightly farsighted. It's hellish for depth perception.

cooby Nov 29 2005 07:15 PM

Girl Dies After Kissing Boyfriend who Just Ate PB Sandwich http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=21d447ab-df7e-4919-b385-a7c50cf68888 This is actually very sad; I'm not poking fun at all, but I guess it underscores how serious it can be. A man in upstate NY told me about this today and prompted me to post it here

Benjamin Grimm Nov 30 2005 06:58 AM

I completely understand why parents of kids with peanut allergies are so jittery. And I also understand why airlines have mostly (if not entirely) stopped serving peanuts on flights. I don't have any idea why nut allergies have suddenly become more common, but whatever the reason, it's happened. I do know of a few kids who have peanut allergies. Doctors recommend not allowing children under the age of three to have any nut products. They think that maybe early exposure to peanuts can cause the allergies. We kept both of our kids off peanut butter until they turned three. This wasn't as well known back when my son was born in 1996. When I told the day care providers that I didn't want him to have any peanut butter, they thought I was crazy. It was one of the staple foods that they provided. I remember they had a big "No Peanut Butter" note taped to his clipboard. Now, they won't even let peanut butter into the building. Kids who bring their own lunches can't have peanut butter in their sandwiches. It sounds weird, I know, but it's very serious.