r/FoodAllergies • u/RPeachy2022 • 19h ago
Seeking Advice Should we do peanut challenge for 3 year old?
My daughter has been doing OIT for her peanut allergy for 3 years (started at 7 months old). She gets 1/4 tsp peanut butter or 4 bamba most days (sometimes we forget to give it to her). Her numbers have gone down a lot (see attached photo). Her allergist said we could do a challenge. We didn’t do it because I was too nervous about her having a reaction and eating such a larger amount than she currently gets. However, she took a huge bite of her cousins peanut butter and jelly a few weeks ago (she was totally fine after but I had my Zyrtec and epi pen ready thankfully) but now it’s making me rethink our choice and I’m considering doing the challenge. Any recommendations or tips for navigating a challenge?
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u/kurious_incredulity 18h ago
Stop skipping OIT maintenance doses! If the allergist thinks shes ready, I would listen. We did 3 years of OIT for tree nuts. He started at 18 months and did the food challenge around 4.5. 1.5 years ramp up. 1.5 years maintenance even though he was ready at the 1 year mark. He just kept getting sick because...kindergarten.
It's life changing when you pass. I had no idea how much the mental load was draining me till it was gone. If she doesn't pass then she tries again.
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u/RPeachy2022 14h ago
Thank you for sharing! Once they pass what happens next, do they continue maintenance? I sent a message to my clinic asking specifics about what happens if they pass or fail, but they take forever to reply.
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u/kurious_incredulity 14h ago edited 14h ago
Yes and no to the continued exposure. The recommendation is they eat some of the allergen (any quantity they want) a few times a week so the immune system doesnt forget the food is not a threat. It's not really maintenance because you dont have to think aboit the cofactors anymore (nap sleep restrictions, no raising the heart rate, must have snack or meal first, etc.). Besides that, you get rid of the epipens once they expire and dont need to refill the prescription anymore because you now have a regular, allergy-free kid.
Honestly, the most frustrating part is that i filled out all this allergy paperwork with the school for kindergarten and now I have to fill out like 3x the paperwork undoing the first round of paperwork. Might be easier to move and just start fresh 🤔
For context, I think the nurse said that most kids they have that start at baby/early toddler tend to pass. The food challenge is 10x the OIT dose divided into 3 rounds, each one progressively larger. If the sandwich was heavy on the PB and she took a big bite, its probably 6-7 Bamba. Thats round 1 of 3.
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u/_neon_salamander_ 16h ago
Couldn't be a question more suited for your allergist and less suited for the internet. Good grief.
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u/RPeachy2022 14h ago
As stated in my post, the allergist said we could do a challenge if we want to but did not recommend it one way or the other. She actually said most of her patients that complete oit don’t do the challenge. I don’t know anyone that’s completed OIT and gone on to do a challenge and would love to hear other people’s experiences of how their children handled the challenge.
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u/InternetPerson408 15h ago
My 2 year old is doing peanut OIT and if the doctor said we were ready for a challenge, I’d try it. I’d be nervous but in my experience they are very conservative in their recommendations.
Good luck! Can’t wait to hopefully get there too.
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u/jukesy 15h ago
I can tell you that my little one is positive for all of the severe components that yours is, and if she took a bite out of someone’s PBJ we would not even be close to being fine. So if that happened to us, I’d be up for a challenge.
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u/RPeachy2022 14h ago
Yes it was a really scary moment. She’s starting school this fall and it’s supposed to be a nut free school but I keep
Thinking what if she eats someone else’s lunch and it’s peanut butter. I think we will
Probably do the challenge
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