On March 8, 2016 I took both of my kiddos for their retest for peanut allergy. They are to be retested yearly. I had high hopes that now that I got their eczema under control that their peanut allergy would have lessened or disappeared altogether. I know, call me crazy, but I was hopeful. My husband came with me this time for the skin prick testing. The idea was that if both kiddos passed the skin prick they would later do a peanut challenge where they are introduced tiny bits of peanuts in increments to see how they would react. I was hoping to get an all clear before the Fall school year started. I was very confused, frustrated and overwhelmed to see my kiddos peanut allergies both went up on the test and both to a 4+ on a 0-4 scale. While Andrew’s hives enlarged on his back he sat playing happily with his trucks while Adalyn cried and screamed, “It hurt” while her hives appeared.
After our kiddos backs were wiped and hydrocortisone applied the skin settled while my heart sank. I had so many questions. I wanted to know WHY? Why do my kids have this? What did I do? Why do both of them have this? The allergist was so patient with me and we talked quite a bit. She walked with me out of the office that day and told me to go home and digest everything and call her in a few days with questions.
I have done my fair share of research when it comes to eczema and peanut allergy about as much as any mother could do. And I know my personality is a bit relentless to say the least. But I question everything. I can’t help but ask why? Of course the first thing I do right away is point the finger at myself? Is it me? Was it my poor diet while breastfeeding that caused this? Did I have a leaky gut that I passed down to my kids? Is it their diet? Is it dairy or gluten causing inflammation in their gut causing their little bodies to overreact to peanuts? Is it the fact that they both have the sugar bug vein across the bridge of their nose that is known for making kiddos sensitive to sugar? Is it sugar? Is it Candida? Do my kiddos have poor gut health and have Candida overgrowth from antibiotics? Shouldn’t having them on probiotics be helping this? If you are an Eczema or Allergy Parent you probably have stumbled on the same research and have those same questions floating in your head!
I question the Why because I feel like it should help us figure out the how do we fix this? I have to tell myself again and again that I in no way blame my mother for my allergy to cats so I shouldn’t blame myself for my kiddos allergies to peanuts but I can’t seem to help it. I am their mother and I feel in some way that I should have been able to protect them from this or help them get over this!
I started researching about what parents are doing to overcome their children’s food allergies. I wanted to learn about how I could desensitize them to the point that if they ingest a peanut I would at least know that it may only cause a slight reaction. I have read about Homeopathy, Acupressure, OIT (Oral Immunotherapy), the effect Staph has on the skin, Alkaline diets, the use of probiotics to balance the good vs bad bacteria in the gut, GAPS diet and Gluten diets. I also question why when we did Adalyn’s blood work it comes back 0 but why she gets conflicting results with a skin prick test and they are two completely different ends of the spectrum. I put all of my thoughts in a letter to our allergist.
I was pleasantly surprised to have the doctor call me to discuss and I was even more grateful for the in depth conversation we had and how she took the time to actually explain things to me. She told me everything from her experience and what her thoughts were. She explained that she has never read any scientific data that proves acupressure works and warned that I may waste my money heading down that path. She didn’t discourage my path if I decided to find a private practice that did OIT. She simply said that they were not set up for it. She said they were not equipped with the 24 hour on call nursing staff needed to help parents experiencing reactions at home while doing OIT. She had no concern with staph being an issue relating to my kids allergy because I had gotten the eczema under control. She also explained that she had seen plenty of cases where children had the peanut allergy but did not have eczema. She assured me that my diet while pregnant and diet in general had no barring on their allergies. She told me that the only thing to blame is our genes. Where she provided hope was that she has read very exciting things about Allergy Patch Therapy which is showing promise and is in final stages of testing and may be available within a couple of years. Our plan meanwhile would be to keep my kiddos peanut free (Andrew also cashew and pistachio) and continue to carry an epi pen and Benadryl on hand in case. We would also schedule Adalyn for blood work to see what a repeat blood work test showed. If it still said 0 or read very low she may consider going through with a peanut challenge for her.
I planned on taking Adalyn for her blood-work the following Thursday when we had some time in her schedule. She was off of school that week and we had a jam-packed week planned for her. The Wednesday before we were out having lunch at one of our usual places and we ordered the same meal and items we frequently get. I have checked all labels and ingredients of these items. I looked at Adalyn after she ate and she had a hive above her lip and it was getting bigger. She then started to claw at her throat. With her hive continuing to increase in size we headed for the door and she was given a dose of Benadryl. Within a few minutes the hive and itching disappeared. I was ready though. I was prepared to give her the epi. I had always wondered how I would truly feel if I saw Ady react and if I would be strong enough to give her that epi pen. I can now tell you I would have been because I was ready. I watched her like a hawk and I would have done about anything in the world in that instance if her symptoms got worse. I would have injected her and not thought another thing of it. It really scared me. It was the first reaction I had ever witnessed Adalyn to have had.
I followed up with our Dr that afternoon. She suggested Adalyn came in contact with cross contamination was her best guess with peanut. It was decided at that time Adalyn was no longer a candidate for the peanut challenge and we should repeat the blood test in one year. Testing her now would only be putting her through it for more of a curiosity standpoint. I was to call again if I were to suspect any other allergies and keep her posted if anything like this happens again.
Adalyn slept all afternoon from the Benadryl and Andrew took his usual nap. I researched. I started googling about alternative allergy treatment near me. I came across a doctor nearby that practices something called LZR7 Laser Allergy Treatment. I read about it on the website and called to get a bit more information. The lady I spoke with told me I called the right place. I was extremely skeptical. She asked me to bring the kiddos in for a consult and just check it out. I scheduled it for the next day.
I went in skeptical. The person I met surprised me. He explained to me how his son had a severe allergy to milk as a child and how he was on a mission to help him when he was young. He came across this treatment and his allergy was treated. He described car rides and how he would have to pull over frequently when his son would get sick after eating dairy. As I told him Andrew’s story it was all too familiar to him. He wasn’t a salesey kind of guy at all but more like a dad talking to a mom about something that might help her kid like it helped his. I was intrigued but suspicious. I also knew when I learned about the cost that my husband would never in a million years go for it. I considered not telling him and taking the money from my savings account and just going through with the 12 treatments. But, I have to take a step back. I have tried so many things and we have spent so much money. I have scheduled to have my husband meet Doc on Tuesday. If he convinces him and we go through with this I will write about our journey. If it flops it will save other families from the same mistake. Oh but if it works… If my kids no longer have to deal with food allergies and eczema I will share that with every parent I can find.
Update: We started our 1st of 12 treatments on 4/14/2016. We will complete treatments in June and I will update the results and our journey at that time.