Repost re: hives in child

[deenie1]

My DS (4.5), who has eaten PB frequently for the past year, broke out in hives last Mon. It started when we came in from outside playing with leaves. Had PB again for lunch. He had a few marks on his face that seemed to itch and I thought were bites. He napped and then at dinner (no nuts), a rash spread across his face and his torso. I gave him Benadryl and they went away. The next day he ate lunch (PB&J), I noticed it again but they were on his face this time. More Benadryl. I took him to the Dr. who gave me an epipen and a referral to an allergist just in case it's related to peanuts all of the sudden.

Long story short...he's had them on/off for 4 days following the last exposure to PB. They go away and then come back in a different spot. The Dr. said it could be anything and related to his cold/cough last week and still had fluid in his ears.

I read that food allergies are usually more acute, even though hives aren't considered chronic until after 6 wks. The only other allergy he has (unconfirmed) is mango because he got red splotchiness by his mouth the only 2x he had it as a toddler. I've read there's a cross reactivity between mango and birch pollen (we had 3 birch trees planted in the yard last year).

I'm keeping him away from nuts until our appt but dread the dx of a peanut allergy, given how serious it is. Still, does this seem likely? I mean, he broke out 3-4 days after eating peanut butter.  It goes away, sometimes with just one dose of Benadryl, and then shows up sometimes in a totally different spot.

Also, when I go to the allergist, if it is a nut allergy, can they tell me the likelihood of how serious an allergy it is? I'm petrified it'll be deadly. He always ate it without a problem. Just hoping it's a coincidence. Thanks.  

[deenie1]

Thank you...I appreciate your input.  My DS did go to the ped allergist today and they did a scratch test on him with peanut, among other things and he didn't have any reaction whatsoever, even though the control spot did develop a welt (to make sure he didn't have antihistamines in his system, they said). The Dr. felt strongly that it had to do with his bout with a URI a week prior and called it "reactive uticaria."  Hopefully this will be the end of it.  Thank you again.

[National Jewish Health]

The key action here is for your son to be seen by the allergist.  Then the determination needs to be made of whether he does or does not have true peanut allergy.  There can be a cross reactivity between birch pollen and many foods, including mango, apple, carrot, cherry, pear, peach, plum, fennel, walnut, potato, spinach, wheat, buckwheat, peanut, honey, celery, kiwi fruit, hazelnut, anise, fennel, coriander, cumin.  Studies have shown that this cross-reactivity does not lessen when the foods are cooked rather than eaten raw.

Another source of information that you may want to pursue is the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network at http://www.foodallergy.org or [phone].  They have high quality and reliable information regarding food allergy.