[SeventhSon]

I'm sure some will say that I am a jerk for this but I do not understand where all these peanut allergies we are seeing these days could possibly be coming from.
My son brought home a letter Friday from school indicating that he is no longer allowed to bring any sandwiches that have peanut butter on them. Evidently there is a belief that if he has peanut butter on his hands and he touches a doorknob he could kill someone. :taped:
Funny I and every kid I knew as a child grew up on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and I don't remember any fatalities...
I work at a large office with around 4,000 employees and the cafeteria recently had to stop cooking with peanut oil because a group of ladies in one of the departments threatened a law suit if they continued. Also no more peanut butter cookies are allowed to be sold there. There are signs all over one corner of the building saying that all peanut products are banned. I spoke to a girl I know in their department about it and it turns out that these three ladies all decided they were "deathly" allergic to peanuts and spoke to a lawyer about it. Amazing how they all sit right next to one another and developed this allergy at the same time.:xeye:
Is this some type of mass hysteria?
Sorry I love all things peanuts and I just do not get this.

 

[awildchipmunk]

Don't know about the three gals but I do know some folks are very allergic to them.

This happened to a friends sister in law, she was so allergic she almost died, her husband ate some peanuts at work before going home (no nut aloud in the house) she didn't know and he didn't think about it. She kissed him when he got home and her airway closed up.

 

[Sweeper]

Don't know about the three gals but I do know some folks are very allergic to them.

This happened to a friends sister in law, she was so allergic she almost died, her husband ate some peanuts at work before going home (no nut aloud in the house) she didn't know and he didn't think about it. She kissed him when he got home and her airway closed up.

Now THAT sounds like love!! :thumb:

 

[anne36]

Its the same at my kids school too.

Its weird, peanut butter and jelly was never an issue when I was growing up either. Its strange that this isnt an isolated issue, because the policy never changes at my kids school. So that must mean that evey year there are kids allergic to peanuts enrolling in school. Dont you think thats odd? Its not exactly a common allergy. More people are allergic to cats or dogs and yet pets havent been banned.

 

[BudgetSurvivalist]

More people are allergic to cats or dogs and yet pets havent been banned.

You don't need to carry an epi-pen around with you to stop you from dying of an allergy to pet dander.

 

[jaygriff]

My youngest son has this.
Has to have an epi-pen with him at all times.
Poor kid Only has to touch the damn things to come out in a mad rash. I dread to think what would happen if he ate some by mistake.

 

[thoughtgirl]

my daughter asked if her friend could come for tea one evening, and she told my daughter that she was not allowed nuts because she is allergic to them, And would she let me know So i was carefull what i cooked with, made sure my other daughter new, and didnt have a peanut butter sandwich after school as she usually did, and all went well.
The next time her friend came round my youngest daughter forgot and had some ice cream, she then began to put chopped nuts on it with her hands, i panicked grabbed the ice cream out the way and washed my daughters hands.
I said to the girl "im sorry about that i know you are allergic" she replied "thats okay im not really allergic i just dont like nuts"
What could i say:taped:

 

[jaygriff]

No ice cream for you?

 

[thoughtgirl]

I was very good i didn't swear i just consold myself with a large spoon and the jar of peanut butter:

 

[jaygriff]

You must have the patience of a saint

 

[thoughtgirl]

No just a sticky face:

 

[anne36]

Budget, thats not true, my nephew has a severe reaction to cats and especially to dogs. He has ended up in emergency room a few times because of this. Cant breathe, and ends up in an asthma like state.

 

[BudgetSurvivalist]

Budget, thats not true, my nephew has a severe reaction to cats and especially to dogs. He has ended up in emergency room a few times because of this. Cant breathe, and ends up in an asthma like state.

Does he react to secondary contact, so if one of his schoolmates has cat hair on his coat, he can get a reaction?
Severe allergies suck, especially for little kids.

 

[SeventhSon]

Any theories on why this has become such an epidemic so recently?

 

[Becka]

I think it has alot to do with what we're eating these days. If you look at it, most kids are being fed prepackaged junk full of additives, preservatives, and artifical colors and chemicals, while not getting enough "real" food. Look on the back of any package of fruit roll ups or lunchables. I'd guarantee there's stuff in there you don't want to pronounce, much less eat. I wonder how many kids actually eat whole grains every single day? There are nutrients in whole grains we need to stay healthy that we can't find elsewhere.

I think our immune systems are getting affected more and more and it's really hurting our kids. My youngest is very allergic to eggs and almost died after eating a tiny bit of cake that had eggs in it. My dh and I have always eaten eggs and nobody on either side of the family has had a reaction from them like she did. The only thing we can figure out is maybe she's allergic to something the manufacturers are feeding the chickens. I don't know, but food allergies are very real and very scary.

 

[SurvivalOfTheFitte]

I've found that some people aren't actually alergic to things, they just like to create a situation to make themselves feel special.

 

[speedofl33t]

A lot of illnesses have become more common such as cancer, autoimmune and allergies.

Would it be too much guessing to think it's because we DO something with our immune system that we shouldn't do? Maybe the stress from pollution, additives and overwhelming daily impressions (like advertising) makes us more sensitive to ANYTHING bad. The immune system is old fashioned and very fragile. The other thing is maybe we keep it too germ free, so the immune systems can't go to immune system school.

Not in every case, but in rare cases, allergies have a link with your mental state. I had a cousin that was extremely allergic to cats but wanted to pet mine anyway, she'd rather take an itchy face than not pet the cat. This was for sure not a faker. Then I have another cousin that was actually OK UNTIL she heard my cat passed where she stood, 10 minutes prior, and she started having an allergic reaction from the knowledge. She didn't fake symptoms, but they were mental somehow.

I had allergies to all fuzzy animals as a kid. I just didn't ACCEPT it. I think I desensitized myself by mixing with animals anyway. When I was 8 I was OK and got a cat and have never been allergic since. Just once when my friend got her dog. I started feeling a reaction. But I snuggled my face into the dogs fur and breathed and told myself this is just dog hair, it's nothing bad. And the reaction stopped! Talk about mind over matter!

I don't recommend doing this! It's just for crazy people like me that don't have a normal sense of danger.

 

[speedofl33t]

SS, surely you are not a jerk. It's a valid thing to ask why allergies are so severe now and so common.

But they already happened, so what can you do? You can't risk a kids life.

Allergies to peanuts and nuts are so bad because it only takes a fragment of a nut for someone to die. That is the scary part. It only takes the kids holding hands after lunch and the kid has a little PB on her finger, passing it on and the next kid licks her finger. Not a lot of allergenes work in this small scale.

 

[Farm boy]

Im allergic to peanuts & walnuts big time ! If I eat just one, my lips and tongue get bigger than Obamas (no joke)

I had to be rushed to emergency the first time it happened, I could hardly breathe so I rolled down the window in the car at 70 mph.
My wife started laughing & said, dont let the wind catch your lips, they could beat you up ! (honest truth)

I almost lost it that day:

 

[jaygriff]

Becka
Some good news for you , My Boy withe the nut allergy was also allergic to eggs and had eczema. Poor kid we had to put long socks on his hands and arms when he was a baby or he would wake up in a pool of blood after scratching all night. Anyway the egg thing has gone. The nut thing remains and his eczema is much better(almost non-exsistant) so it may well be that your youngest may well grow out of the egg thing. My boy almost died when he had a reaction to eggs so be positive and have allergy tests done regularly my boy loves cake now and his favorite breakfast is scrambled eggs.