Our first allergist appointment/Primera visita con el alergólogo

I thought I would share our experience with the allergist here in Spain. Our son had his first (and so far, only) reaction at 15 months when he got ahold of his brothers' peanut butter. He coughed a bit, made a face, sneezed and had a sudden explosion of runny nose, but then seemed fine. A short time later, though, I noticed that he had hives on his face and neck, and I took him to Urgencias at the local hospital, where they examined him, gave him a liquid antihistamine (Aerius, I think it was called-- it's like Claritin) and observed him for an hour, at which point all symptoms had disappeared. The discharge report recommended a follow-up visit with the pediatrician and referral to an allergist, continued use of the antihistamine for three days, and the total avoidance of all nuts. This was back at the end of May.

I took him to the ped the next day, and she gave us the referral, and at my request, a Rx for an Epi-Pen (here sold under the brand name Altellus, and also referred to generically as "adrenalina autoinyectable"). She also said to keep him away from peanuts (her exact words were along the lines of "don't let him anywhere near them", though she didn't mention checking for traces.)

So about a month later I got the call that we had been granted an appointment at the end of September. It was at a children's hospital in Madrid, and they did testing that same day. (Prick test only-- when we got the results, he said it wasn't necessary to do blood testing at this point in time.) I asked them to test for sesame as well, which they did, as well as for a whole list of tree nuts, but I forgot to ask about soy and it wasn't in the panel they did (maybe because I had said he tolerated lentils, peas, garbanzos, etc?) The full list they tested for was: sesame, walnut, hazelnut, pistachio, cashew, pine nuts, chestnut, almond, sunflower seeds.

And the verdict was, allergic only to peanuts! The doctor gave another Rx for the adrenalina and showed me how to use it, and also gave a Rx for Polaramine, the antihistamine of choice here for food allergies. He said that they joked that peanut allergy was the "American allergy", since here it's not very common. I had already gathered as much, though I have seen others with PA in the patient advocacy group for allergies. We have to go back in a year.

Obviously I am very happy with this news-- it does put my mind at ease somewhat, since here it is much more likely that he will encounter almond or hazelnut as ingredients rather than peanut (more likely, but not foolproof, so I know I can't let down my guard.) I am hopeful that I may even be able to find some turrón made by a company whose almond supplier does not deal with peanuts, and maybe even some other products that are now possibilities. Though most nuts are likely to have potential traces of peanut, as do most sunflower seeds, raisins, and other dried fruits, so it doesn't change things all that much.

I will, however, post here about any nut products I find that are peanut free (if I find any-- I may be overly optimistic.) Many labels say "trazas de frutos secos" without specifying which ones, and since technically peanut is not a "fruto seco" but rather a "legumbre", it's not 100% clear as to whether the general warning refers to peanut. Sometimes I have seen peanut specifically mentioned along with the tree nuts: "frutos secos y/o cacahuete." But without further reliable information from the manufacturers, we will still be avoiding traces of nuts-- especially since those nuts could themselves have traces of peanut, depending on the suppliers.

I am glad to be able to put Tahini back on the list, though!

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Escribiré un poco sobre nuestra experiencia con el alergólogo. Nuestro hijo tuvo su primera (y de momento, única) reacción a los 15 meses cuando encontró una galleta con crema de cacahuete de sus hermanos. Probó un poco pero lo rechazó, con un poco de tos y estornudo con muchos mocos, y luego parecía estar bién, hasta un poco después cuando noté que tenía ronchitas en la cara y cuello y el dedo. Le llevé a Urgencias donde le dieron un antihistamínico y estuvo en observación una hora, y le desaparecieron las ronchitas. En el informe de alta recomendaron seguir con el antihistamínico durante tres días, consultar con el pediatra, y pedir cita con el alergólogo, y que evitase todos los frutos secos. El día siguiente la pediatra me dio el volante para el alergólogo, y le pedí la adrenalina autoinyectable.

La cita con el alergólogo fue el lunes, y le hicieron las pruebas de piel (prick test) para cacahuete, sésamo (eso porque se lo pedí yo), y otros frutos secos: castaña, almendra, anacardo, pistachio, piñon, nuez, avellana, y pipas de girasol. Por suerte, ha salido negativo en todo menos el cacahuete, y no tuvieron que hacer pruebas de sangre. Me mandaron dos recetas (Polaramine y Altellus, la adrenalina) y tenemos que volver dentro de un año. Dijo que la alergía al cacahuete es poco frecuente en España, aunque yo creo que sí que existe, a lo mejor es más común entre personas que tienen a la vez otras alergias a alimentos.

De todas formas, me he tranquilizado bastante al saber que tolera el resto de frutos secos (sé que el cacahuete es un legumbre, no un fruto seco), aunque por el tema de las trazas quizas tampoco podrá tomarlos. Sí tengo esperanzas de poder encontrar alguna marca de turrón, por ejemplo, y si encuentro marcas de otras cosas que llevan frutos secos sin trazas de cacahuete, avisaré aquí. Me gustaría poder encontrar una marca de pasas que pueda tomar, pero de momento no he podido.