I have a question. We have just recently entertained the idea of moving our family from Michigan to Oklahoma. Our oldest son is allergic to peanuts. I have just discovered that they farm peanuts in Oklahoma! Is this going to be a problem? This scares me especially during harvest time.
First of all, thanks for asking this very thought provoking question. I will be the first to admit that I do not have any personal experience in this area. I have read quite a bit and read stories of people who have had "issues" (I am unsure of the severity of them) being around peanut farms.
We currently live in Michigan, however I am originally from the Oklahoma City area. Tyler has visited there twice and had no problems. Even though I am a native Oklahoman, I did not realize that there were peanut farms in Oklahoma. (I admit, however, I was completely naive to peanut allergy when I lived there growing up. I moved away 10 years ago.)
I would definitely consult your allergist on this. In fact, I might even get a second opinion, particularly if your child has ever had an air borne reaction. This is a sticky issue but I know places like Georgia are full of peanut farms. Although I don't know any personally, I imagine there are children with peanut allergies that live near peanut farms that don't have any problems.
I would love to hear from my readers on this issue. Do you live near peanut farms? Has your child had a reaction as a result? Do you know others who have peanut allergies that have had issues near peanut farms? Please leave a comment so we can discuss this important issue.
5 comments:
I have a blog friend who lives close to a peanut plant in Georgia and her daughter has a peanut allergy and has problems at certain times of the year. I've emailed her about this post asking if she might be able to offer any information or advice. Hopefully she'll be able to help! :)
WOW! I could write a book on this!LOL! I live in GA literally a block away from a peanut mill. Our town is a farming town. When my daughter was 2 yrs old she was diagnosed with RSV and ended up in the hosiptal. After 2 days in the hospital they determined she had asthma. She went into respiratory failure that night and was put on a respirator and sent to Macon hospital where she stayed in a medical induced coma for 2 1/2 wks. This was in October. She had occasional flare ups during Feb when she would get a cold. Anything small cold she gets flares up her asthma. The following year about the same time she got really sick again. This time they did allergy test and found she was allergic to peanut dust. She can eat peanuts(weird huh?!?!) After this they put her on Clairitin and Flonase. This year was actually the first year we have not ended up in the hospital or doctors office during peanut season and shes 8 yrs old. We're actually hoping she is growing out of her asthma. But for the past 6 yrs everytime we hear the peanut mill fire up for the first time dread goes through our house! Along w/the peanut mill a block from us there are several fields in our town where when they turn the fields also used to cause problems. hope Ive been helpful!
Wow--interesting question! Thanks for sharing.
Very interesting perspective Shannon!! Thanks for contributing to the discussion. I wonder if a reaction in this situation would be tied to the combination of asthma and peanut allergy??
Tyler does not have asthma (thank goodness) but he does have terrible eczema at times. I wonder if being near a peanut farm during harvest would flare his eczema up.
Hmmm...this topic is really on my mind this weekend. I would love to hear from others. Those of you with problems, is there an asthma element, as well?
I live in GA but have no idea where the nearest peanut farm is. We've only lived here a year. I am originally from OK, and I did not know until recently that their were peanut farms there, lol. My son does not seem to have an issue being around peanuts, but we've never been around a LOT or during a harvest (well we were around quite a few in a Texas Roadhouse and a Logan's, Logan's is where he ate the peanut and had the reaction, but did NOT react until he actually ate it). I worry about going places here (fairs/farms/any festival) because boiled peanuts are a HUGE thing! We did go to a pumpkin patch/farm around Halloween and things were fine, carried the epipens and made sure to wash his hands well after leaving and ate NOTHING. A girl was eating peanuts on the hay ride we took and it made me nervous but we were not sitting next to her and I made sure my son was remotely aware (he's 5 yrs old). His allergist here never actually mentioned anything about peanut farms etc...might should ask about that next time we go!
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