The Almond Allergy is back, are words that I never thought would be coming out of my mouth. But it is true, my little guy’s allergy is back.
My world has been turned upside down a few times in my life as a food allergy mom. The initial diagnosis was rough as it is for most food allergy parents. When my youngest son initially got diagnosed I was very surprised at the diagnosis of the nut allergies. Looking back, I should have seen it coming, but I didn’t.
Around a year ago, my little man’s almond allergy was not even detectable by blood. Our allergist (whom is awesome) suggested that we try an oral challenge at the hospital. So we did. The little man ate 3 full servings of almond butter that day with NO reactions. He passed this challenge with flying colors. We were able to remove almonds off our list! Hooray!
We tried feeding him almonds in all shapes and every fashion we could think of, but he had no interest. We tried raw almonds, salted, almond flour, almond milk and almond ice cream. So he had some almonds but not a lot. He would often complain that he didn’t like then and he would cough when he consumed them. Sometimes he would describe the feeling of them being stuck in his throat.
Fast forward a year, my husband brings home a certified gluten-free bar for him to try. After all, the only thing we were avoiding at that time was gluten. He took one bite and ran to the bathroom. Coughing…. gagging….
“It is stuck in my throat,” he said.
Then the hives came. I knew this was not good. He got hives around one side of his mouth.
Thankfully, things calmed down. We did not have an auto injector since we were declared “able to eat nuts.” However, if we had one, I would have needed to use it, per the old plan since TWO systems were involved.
Things calmed down for him and did not need to call the squad. So it brings up the point that each allergic reaction is different. I would have needed to inject him per our plan, but it turns out he didn’t really need it. Honestly, acting on the side of caution does give me more peace. This is something you can’t come back from.
So I made an appointment with our allergist. We confirmed via skin test that his almond allergy did come back. Almost one year to the date, he ate 3 servings in the hospital.
Oddly, he does eat other nuts without a problem such as cashew and more. Which makes me question things even more. Typically, you are instructed to avoid all tree nuts due to the cross contamination issue. But he’s not reacting to the other nuts.
We did run a blood test to have a baseline for when we retest in one year.
We got some pretty crazy results when our blood test came back. A year ago his almond levels were undetectable, that means they were lower than .10 The results came back and his almond is at 41.5 The HUGE jump seems impossible. It is unreal to me.
He also had other nuts come back high that he is currently eating. Our plan is to continue to eat those nuts because he seems to be sensitized to them. BUT with major caution.
This all has been such a whirlwind. It is amazing how quickly those food allergy parent feelings come back. That worry, that thought that is always in the back of your head.
Looking at the positives:
- I’ve been down this road before.
- I am equipped to handle this, right!?
- We found the allergy before it, made a bad entrance!
So in a couple of weeks, I am off to little man’s school as he is starting Kindergarten. I will be meeting with the 504 team to develop a legally binding document of ways to keep him safe.
My little guy writes his own book. I mean that he doesn’t go by the book on most anything in life. When it comes to his food allergies, his asthma and more. His body does things in its own time and he reacts differently than many medical people would predict. Phew, that makes it difficult sometimes!
So any extra prayers for us are appreciated, as we enter back into the food allergy world with a very nut-allergic little man!
