When my son was a year old, we were visiting my Aunt and Uncle's house in Baltimore. When we got there, I let him crawl around the floor. They had two dogs that were very affectionate and loved to lick my son. His height was the perfect level for them. After several kisses, he got hives all over his face. I picked him up because I didn't know what was going on. I took him downstairs to get him away from the dogs. I thought his allergy must be to dogs. Once he was away from the dogs, his hives completely cleared up.
Later, I took him back upstairs where the dogs were and the hives reappeared. Not sure what to do, I just held him. It was at that point that I looked in the middle of the floor and noticed something that looked really weird. I asked my Uncle what it was and he said that it was a peanut butter bone for the dogs. I looked at my mom and asked her if she thought he was allergic to peanuts. She said didn't know because no one in our family has a peanut allergy.
Some time later, I took my son to eat at a buffet. Again, he ended up with hives. Since I suspected a possible peanut allergy, I asked the staff at the buffet if anything had peanuts in it. They said they did not believe so.
So, after these 2 experiences, I decided it was time to take him in for allergy testing. Not surprisingly, the diagnosis was a peanut allergy.
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4 comments:
We have similar experience with dogs and their peanut butter bones. If you ask around, you will be surprised to find out how many dogs have those. I personally do not like this idea, peanut allergy or not, too much fat for the dogs. My grandmother, who lives in asia and knows Chinese medicine, told me peanut is considered very toxic. Even though they are common in food (for every culture) but they are not good for you. But again, western culture considers it a healthy food. I often think our little ones are the proof of how nature works, their bodies reject the toxic food!
Actually, a lot of dog food in general has peanuts as an ingredient. I have to scan my mom's dog's food whenever my son wants to give him a treat. If it has peanuts, he isn't allowed to touch it.
Also, dog food doesn't have to be labeled like food for human consumption, you really do have to look at every ingredient.
The longer we live with this allergy, the more we find peanuts and it's byproducts in the craziest of places.
Ant traps? Yep made with peanut butter. Most of them anyway.
OK, I guess I was clueless on this one. My husband is very allergic to dogs so this has never been as issue in our home. But, now I know when we go to the homes of others to be careful. I didn't realize peanuts are even were in their food!!
I have to say the same thing happened to my PA son. We were at my aunt's house and her daughter's dog was licking my son and he had a reaction. For over 1/2 hour the hives kept getting worse. We gave him Benadryl and watched him the rest of the night. Needless to say, no more dog kisses for him.
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