In the last week or two peanut allergy has been back in the news quite a bit in the last week. The peanut desensitization I wrote about last year (you can read that here) is really nothing new.
The gist of the treatment is to give very small amounts of peanut flour that increase over time. After a year or two some of the children can tolerate up to 13 peanuts. (If you haven 't read about it before, check out the links above)
I would like to spark a discussion among my readers this weekend. Would you consider this treatment for you PA Kid if it were available to you to today?
I will chime in later this weekend with my own thoughts on this subject in the comments section. But, I am very interested to hear your take on this somewhat controversial therapy.
19 comments:
As my daughter is only 2 -- I would say no. I believe a child would need to be able to talk and express what they are feeling -- itchy throat/tongue, etc. and my daughter is not at that point. The whole idea scares me -- I guess I'm holding out for a cure. :)
I think I'd be open to it. We're already doing the drops under the tongue. My peanut allergic son has only had one reaction ever--at 11 months of age. He turns 9 next month.
I wouldn't do the treatment now, because my son is only 2, but when he's a little older (maybe around age 5), I'll be all for it!
I would do it. I would wait until my son was able to talk (he's only 20 months) and tell me what he was feeling. It would also depend on the severity of the allergy. If the child has several severe food allergies and they ran in my family, I don't think I would do it. My son has does not rate severe with his 2 food allergies- tree nuts and peanuts- and we have no family history. Its something each family must decide for themselves, based on what they feel comfortable with.
I'm undecided. My son's peanut allergy is so bad I would be afraid of how he would react. Epipen or not, there is never a guarantee it's going to end well. He's also 6 years old and if i told him we were giving him peanut traces he would be up and out of that office so fast!! I'm anxious to hear what you think about it Robyn. Karen in NC
My 3 year old's PA is off the charts (beyond Class 6)- - doctor says he wont' touch her at this point. We have to wait and see. If it dissipates at all, we're interested. It could be life-saving for us.
Not now but maybe around five or six years of age. If a study showed that earlier was the best chance of a cure I would reconsider.
My son is only two right now and with out a large study I couldn't see doing it any earlier.
Emily
My child is not a science experiment. Until studies have conclusively demonstrated that this would cure my PA kid, I will continue our current lifestyle of avoiding peanuts.
(Thank you, Robyn, for keeping this blog. You have provided tons of useful information since my child was diagnosed several months ago. It is so good to know there are others out there dealing with this with us.)
Andrea
I discovered that they were conducting a similiar trial in my area at Johns Hopkins. They, however, do not accept anyone under the age of 12 and you cannot have a history of anaphylaxis.
Absolutely!!! If it means that my child and our family can have peace of mind when he is out in the world without us...a resounding YES!!!
I'd like to see data on reactions and severity given the child's history (i.e., whether kids who'd had anaphylactic reactions in the past and who rate 5+ on the scale also had reactions during the treatment). If, considering that information, it looked promising for my son, I would DEFINITELY do it. He's just 2 years old now and I hope that by the time he enters peanut butter-laden elementary school, or at least by the time he goes to friends' houses for snacks and goes out to eat without us, there will be a cure, vaccine, or something to lessen reactions.
I agree with Steph. It would be nice to let him go to friend's house or eat at a restaurant without such anxiety and risk.
YES YES and YES.
With a medical team around and prepared, I am sure the treatment is under a lot of cares.
It definitely is better than dealing with the constant anxiety in every second of the day, it will improve the quality of life in everyone. Sometimes I feel so stressed from the worries (of the peanut allergy) that I find myself not able to provide my child my 100% positive self, and that is really a shame.
I would absolutely consider this for my son. Whatever I can do to help him be safer in this peanut filled world.
Teresa V
I would consider it, if my daughter qualified. I trust our allergist. My daughter is four now, but has very high numbers. Either way, I don't see this even been an option for us for several years. . . but I am open to learning more about it. This treatment seems to be the only research our allergist finds promising.
i am definitely going to consider it. i have been experimenting on my own with this allergy. i have waited longer to take my medication after every reaction and i have been able to wait longer and longer. granted, my allergy is not that sever but it still works. And now i will be able to apply this theory with my own.
My son is 8 and he has his 2nd to last visit with this program today. We have been using peanut butter because he didn't like the taste or texture of a peanut. Today he will eat the equivalent of 9 peanuts. So far, we have had NO reactions.
He had not had blood work prior to starting the program. We had blood work about a month ago and it showed his level as a 2. His skin test prior to starting the program was a 4+. A month ago his skin test was a mild 3.
I absolutely love the peace of mind the program has given my son and my family.
Absolutely!!!! My son is only 16 months right now and I understand this won't be available for a few years yet. We will absolutely do it if it means we can live much more anxiety-free. It could very well be a life saver.
My son who is 12 has just started in a desensitization study at Johns Hopkins. I've been waiting for this for years and it is finally here. In some ways, I'm glad that he is 12 because if he was 6, let's say, and had a reaction during th program, he might be too afraid to continue. But because he is 12, he knows how his peanut allergy has limited him in life and he knows how life threatening it can be if he accidentally injests it. So despite the blood draws and having a quite significant reaction at the first food challenge (requiring one shot of Epi, 50mg of Benadryl and 40mg of Prednisone), he will do anything to be more tolerant to peanuts and is very committed. I'm very proud of him for that.
We are very much at the beginning of this process but so far if you ask him, the worst part of being in the study (by far!) was the day he was challenged by placebo (oat) because he had to eat increasingly large bowls of chocolate pudding that were flavored with mint (to mask any peanut flavor). If it were just chocolate, he'd have been fine but the mint flavor really turned him off to the point that the last two or three bowls took every bit of effort to finish. But fortunately he made it through to the end (gagging the whole way)!
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