This past Wednesday Jaya and I went to see her allergist in Burlington for a peanut challenge. It’s her fourth oral food challenge since last year:
July 30 2018 – Skin Test for peanut, individual tree nuts, cow’s milk and egg.
August 29 2018 – Passed Almond challenge
September 24 2018 – Passed Walnut challenge
April 3 2019 – Passed Hazelnut challenge
The peanut challenge was next. I was really nervous because her wheal on the skin test was 12 mm and Peanut IgE from December 2015 was 5.87. But she had never ingested peanuts so it was possible she was sensitized and not truly allergic.
For the peanut challenge we brought Kraft Only Nuts Peanut Butter & Premium Plus crackers. In order to pass the challenge she had to eat 20 grams of PB (the amount in the cup).
Dose 1
11:20 am – Jaya ate a “spot” of PB. Shortly after she complained that her tongue was stinging, and her tummy was hurting.
Dose 2
11:37 am – 1/4 tsp of PB
11:45 am – sneezed once, nose felt stuffy, tummy ached increased
11:57 – throat hurt, slight cough, she started to clear her throat
Dose 3
12 pm – 1/2 tsp PB on a cracker
After eating her lunch Jaya felt better and her tummy ache was gone. Perhaps the tummy ache had been due to hunger.
Dose 4
12:25 pm – 1 tsp PB on a cracker
Dose 5
12:38 pm – 2 tsp PB with 2 crackers
12:53 pm – sneezed once
Dose 6
12:58 pm – Ate 2 crackers covered with PB
Dose 7
1:15 pm – Ate 2 crackers covered with PB
Jaya complained of a stomach ache on & off until 2:30 pm and fell asleep for about 20 minutes during this time. Her breathing and heart rate were normal.
Jaya was assessed by Dr Mack 2 hours after her last dose. She passed the challenge but he recommended giving her 1/2 peanut daily to start and then slowly increase to maintain tolerance. Her system veers towards allergy so we have to incorporate the allergenic foods in her diet after passing the food challenges.
After the challenge we decided to visit Kelly’s Bake Shoppe. We’ve been to Burlington regularly since 2016 but hadn’t visited the Shoppe yet. Everything in the store is safe for Jaya!
After eating our treats we walked around downtown Burlington.
It was a lovely end to a tiring & often trying day.
I’m so proud of Jaya.
Next: blood tests for milk, egg, cashew & pistachio to decide next steps for these allergens.
Our Allergic Life 
How amazing that you are freed from yet another allergen! Especially since Sahil has completed peanut OIT. I love reading your blogs unfortunately the notifications all get sent to my junk folder. I’m just wondering has Jaya reacted to cashew, pistachio and egg or where these also just tests results? And I’m wondering why the food challenge was continued even after symptoms where expressed? (Amazing you still passed!). Where we did my dd food challenge there they stopped it once she complained of itchy mouth and throat and red tip of tongue.
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Yes it’s amazing. Thank you for reading! Jaya has never ingested cashew, pistachios or egg. We were told to avoid be her previous allergist at 1 yr old based on only skin prick & IgE testing. Except for the stomachache the symptoms she experienced during the food challenge were mild & subsided quickly. The stomachache may have been from too much food – lots of PB & crackers. Too be safe I’m not feeding her PB yet. Just 1/2 to 1 peanut daily and she’s been eating that amount without issues. They monitored her breathing & heart rate and since they were fine they continued.
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So awesome! Since milk OIT is slow for Jaya would you ever consider doing egg and/or cashew and pistachio OIT if Dr Mack decided she was truly allergic while holding the milk OIT dose until she is finished with them?
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Yes for sure
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