Peanuts, Treenuts, Coconuts Vs Seeds, Legumes & Soy

[Weezer]

I am in my early 30's and I have only just been diagnosed with a Peanut & Tree nut allergy. Its safe to say my GP here in London is not the greatest. I had a reaction and was taken into hospital but there was a further delay in being given an Epipen (i had to have a blood test done  ) so I received the RAST test results and its a Nut Allergy with Peanut and also Coconut. As the results were high in a Grade 4/5 range I was told to also avoid Seeds (cross contamination), Legumes (Peanut & Soy are both Legumes). In addition to this I was told to do a total detox in which I avoided the 8 protein allergens. So this special diet started in May 2014. In which i had to avoid all legumes as well.

The special diet which I lasted only 2 and half months as I was not getting any nutrients to give my body energy and I just could not function. Is anyone else avoiding all legumes due to the peanut connection?

Have you had further tests done to determine the connection? or detect other allergens?

[SilverLining]

That sounds much more restrictive than necessary.

I am allergic to peanuts and sesame seeds.  I also avoid all nuts, though I'm not sure I am allergic to them.

I eat other seeds and legumes.  Many people allergic to peanuts eat soy nut butter in place of peanut butter.

Are you able to see an actual allergist rather than a GP? 

[Weezer]

Sadly no, I'm currently looking for a private specialist. Just not sure it's worth investigating further in tests. I'm just so paranoid about food and where and what I eat that it's driving me crazy...

[SilverLining]

You've only recently developed food allergies?  Were your reactions severe?

I don't know that further tests would be helpful either. But I don't understand a doctor advising to avoid entire food groups. 

I also developed my allergies as an adult.  At first my reactions were inconvenient, but eventually they did become anaphylactic.  I remember how scary it was. 

Personally, I chose to not eat in any restaurants.  To me it is just not worth the risk.  But there are a lot of people that do safely eat in restaurants. 

[SilverLining]

This organization is in UK.  I think they provide recall information, and maybe they have information on getting an allergist.

http://www.anaphylaxis.org.uk

[Weezer]

Yes I think always had a nut allergy. I have asthma and that the other allergy that controls my life I was put on strong antihistamines to get that under control once my asthma was controlled I wanted to step down to a milder antihistamine and it was 2 months into the swap that I had a really bad anaphylactic reaction. The a&e doctor just said out right that it's a nut allergy and it was a 2 day reaction (took steroids, piriton and a nebuliser to get me back to normal).

Ok i am bitter because it just showed how my GP knows nothing about food allergies and I suffered all those years! And now I just think the advice my gp gave me has made me so paranoid.

I agree with you about not eating out anymore, I'm just finding this lifestyle change difficult.

[SilverLining]

I think it's difficult to get a specialist in UK isn't it?  Not enough available? 

Maybe the GP decided to err on the side of caution.

There are some seeds and legumes that would be a risk of cross contamination.  I'm not sure what the labelling laws are in UK, but I know a lot of companies there do label well.  No warning may not mean no risk, but you should be able to call companies to find out if they are safe for you.

[Weezer]

To get to see a specialist in the UK is a battled of its own. First I need to get to a GP who can then refer me to the specialist the chest specialist who saw me did the lung function test and then passed me back to the GP. After this diagnosis of the asthma and rhinitis no further investigation was done to find the trigger till I started to have anaphylactic reactions. Now that I have been searching for a specialist I think there is only 3 or three 4 who can treat multiple allergy sufferers but the option I have is to go private (very expensive!).

The most shocking thing I find is that the UK seems to be something like 10 years behind US when it comes to all areas of food allergies! I did the 5 year battle with my breathing issues (took 5 years to get the nocturnal asthma pinned down and not put down to stress or exercise induced reactions!) and with this reaction in May that I had for the first time done a lot of research myself and found allergy uk and anaphylaxis campaign and that I sat there and thought why isn't there something like FARE in the uk.

Even in the area of food the food labelling here is ridiculous!

[SilverLining]

I didn't know UK had a two-tiered system.

And I think your countries labelling is better than US. I'm not sure whether it's legally required or if companies chose to label.

Here in Canada we need a referral to see a specialist as well.  Where I live it isn't usually an extremely long wait.

[Macabre]

Welcome Weezer. It's difficult being diagnosed as an adult, too. I was with sesame and shellfish. My son was dx with peanut as a baby. And treenuts, but he's outgrown them.

The detox thing is not backed by science and is not a standard medical practice for board verified allergists in the US.

It is important to avoid cross intimidation, but avoiding entire food families is typically not necessary.  Were chick peas giving you problems before? If something wasn't, then there's probably no need to avoid it now. Y

What you need to start doing is to find brands you trust.  Call them. Ask them if they label for shared equipment with peanuts and treenuts. And you need to have a good understanding of how treenuts are processed with other treenuts. If you found peanut free pecans, they may be fine for you, because they are a nut. Neither peanuts nor coconut is actually a nut.  But you may want to stay away from all treenuts because of cross contact and especially until you get tested for them, each one.

A coconut is a drupe, btw, and there are others that are: almonds and I think walnuts and pecans.

It can be very scary at first. My son is 16 and what we've found is that it was very hard emotionally when we first realized how big his PA was. Then it for better.  It gets worse emotionally after a reaction or another incident (mostly school-related). It goes in waves. 

We are one if the families that does eat out. We develop a list of restaurants that is allergy friendly. And we try new ones. And if we don't get a sense that they get it, we leave. Period. 

The things we ask about:
-is my allege never cooked on the grill? (If so I don't get grilled things)
-what kind of oil do you use?
-(if it's a safe oil) is my allergen ever fried in the same oil as other fried things, say these fried jalapeños I want to order? (I said that very thing yesterday)
-is my food able to be prepped away from my allergen?
-is there a risk of cross contact? (Restaurants get less defensive with this term than cross contamination)?
-is the chef able to make my food Without using utensils that have my allergen on them? (My worst reaction came from this)

Eating out is not without risk, but we can minimize it. But you should be careful NOT to eat out at Asian restaurants. Just trust me on this. The cross contamination ubiquitous. Woks aren't properly cleaned. And peanut residue has staying power. Avoid the curry takeaways.

Ask lots of questions at Mexican restaurants (peanut flour and peanut oil. Be aware that mole contains either peanut or almond typically). 

Avoid ice cream parlors unless they are peanut and coconut free.

Sometimes eating out is just too stressful and not worth it.  And it's hard to do with friends when you know you have to have an easy outbid it's not safe.


Again, welcome. I hope you find this a helpful community.

[Weezer]

Well the food labelling is hit and miss, especially on the way home after a long day after work read silly labelling drives me crazy - May contain nuts...cannot guarantee nut free..packed in a factory that handles nuts. All on the same packed of smoked fish!

Or my new favourite very expensive hypoallergenic face cream for eczema sufferers with arachis oil - yep peanut oil 😳.

[Weezer]

Welcome Weezer. It's difficult being diagnosed as an adult, too. I was with sesame and shellfish. My son was dx with peanut as a baby. And treenuts, but he's outgrown them.

The detox thing is not backed by science and is not a standard medical practice for board verified allergists in the US.

It is important to avoid cross intimidation, but avoiding entire food families is typically not necessary.  Were chick peas giving you problems before? If something wasn't, then there's probably no need to avoid it now. Y

What you need to start doing is to find brands you trust.  Call them. Ask them if they label for shared equipment with peanuts and treenuts. And you need to have a good understanding of how treenuts are processed with other treenuts. If you found peanut free pecans, they may be fine for you, because they are a nut. Neither peanuts nor coconut is actually a nut.  But you may want to stay away from all treenuts because of cross contact and especially until you get tested for them, each one.

A coconut is a drupe, btw, and there are others that are: almonds and I think walnuts and pecans.

It can be very scary at first. My son is 16 and what we've found is that it was very hard emotionally when we first realized how big his PA was. Then it for better.  It gets worse emotionally after a reaction or another incident (mostly school-related). It goes in waves. 

We are one if the families that does eat out. We develop a list of restaurants that is allergy friendly. And we try new ones. And if we don't get a sense that they get it, we leave. Period. 

The things we ask about:
-is my allege never cooked on the grill? (If so I don't get grilled things)
-what kind of oil do you use?
-(if it's a safe oil) is my allergen ever fried in the same oil as other fried things, say these fried jalapeños I want to order? (I said that very thing yesterday)
-is my food able to be prepped away from my allergen?
-is there a risk of cross contact? (Restaurants get less defensive with this term than cross contamination)?
-is the chef able to make my food Without using utensils that have my allergen on them? (My worst reaction came from this)

Eating out is not without risk, but we can minimize it. But you should be careful NOT to eat out at Asian restaurants. Just trust me on this. The cross contamination ubiquitous. Woks aren't properly cleaned. And peanut residue has staying power. Avoid the curry takeaways.

Ask lots of questions at Mexican restaurants (peanut flour and peanut oil. Be aware that mole contains either peanut or almond typically). 

Avoid ice cream parlors unless they are peanut and coconut free.

Sometimes eating out is just too stressful and not worth it.  And it's hard to do with friends when you know you have to have an easy outbid it's not safe.


Again, welcome. I hope you find this a helpful community.

Hi I am so glad I found this forum, I needed something like this forum a while back before the paranoia set in. If it's one thing I have realised it is just how paranoid my GP and the nurses have made me! At first they were unable to determine anything and now it's caution to everything. They even recommended I have a gluten allergy test done.

I just needed other sufferers advice as it's 4 months in the diagnosis  and I'm getting fed up trying to figure things out myself! Thank you for all your advice (SilverLining, I mean you too!) I agree about needing to be strict with eating out.