Peanut Allergic Teen Officially DESENSITIZED to PEANUTS

On April 12,2011 my son Alexander, who is deathly allergic to peanuts, was officially declared "DESENSITIZED". 


The term sounds like a condition out of a science fiction movie void of feeling and sterile. 
It actually befits our situation as Alexander experienced No Reaction to the ingestion of peanuts during the entire OIT process.


So you may ask "how did we achieve this?" Dr. Wasserman and his staff, especially Angela Galucci,P.A. are the medical heroes making history with their Oral Immunotherapy program.
Our part was being a willing and dedicated participant in the Dallas Allergy Immunology oral immunotherapy program (OIT) for peanuts.


It is important to note that Dr.Wasserman also offers OIT for milk, wheat and egg allergies.
It is surprising the talk to other patients and discover that many peanut allergic people are also allergic to one or more of these other food allergies.


Alexander was not only brave to agree to ingest peanuts to which he is deathly allergic 
(you should read his testing results in a previous post)
but he followed all the rules and requirements with little complaint other than cringing at the mere thought of having to take his distasteful dose.
Yes he also mastered the art of delay when it came to taking his dose. I've heard many funny stories from other patients whose children have taken the slow-playing of dose taking to a new creative high.


As for our journey since April 12th with Alexander's " maintenance dose" of peanuts, I will write a future post on his progress.


I want to thank Dr.Wasserman and his staff for all of their encouragement, candor and support. 


This program is a real breakthrough for everyone who suffers from the dreaded peanut allergy.
I implore you to investigate this program for yourself.  
Read past posts and comments and do your own research. 
Helpful links are on the right side of my blog.


As an expression of our joy and excitement for becoming "desensitized to peanuts" we want to express our prayerful thanks to God our Father for his many blessings 
and
as we say in Texas "yeehaw".

Peanut Allergy Treatment #3 and #4

Appointment #3 December 16th. 


I was unable to take Alexander to his appointment so I enlisted the help of his grandmother Judy. She was great. Judy had to pick up Alexander (and his brother Dylan) at school and take them to the peanut appointment. All went smoothly yet to my surprise Alexander's came home with a "peanut pill".                                                                                     
No more peanut and grape juice cocktail. No more refrigeration. 
The pill turned out to be a much easier way to take his dose although according to Xander "the pill is a pain". 
The peanut capsule is teeny tiny. 
The peanut protein has to be dug out of the capsule with a toothpick to get every grain. Needless to say my son is looking forward to the capusule size increasing so he can eliminate digging for the peanut dust with a toothpick. 
Swallowing of the capsule is not allowed. 
I am not sure why. 


For his first at home dose Alexander mixed the peanut powder into yogurt. This worked "ok" but not great. Eventually he chose to mix the peanut flour into liquid. 


The instructions he received from the nurse were explicit when it came to mixing the peanut flour from the pill into liquids. His brother Dylan was quick to remind him of this fact.
The rule: Mix the entire capsule contents into a glass of liquid then swirl the powder to mix well. Drink. Next to be sure no peanut protein or traces are stuck on the sides of the glass, add more liquid to the same glass then swirl to mix and drink.


The remainder of the week proceeded normally and Alexander was very diligent to follow the dosing instructions and timing exactly. Another successful week!


Appointment #4 December 23rd


We arrive at the office and follow the same routine as outlined in an earlier post. 
Believe me I am so thankful that this process is becoming routine.
What a relief and a blessing the peanut desensitizing is going well thus far.


Alexander's dose is increased to 100 mg of peanut flour given twice daily as shown in our dosing instruction sheet picture below. 
Since it would be so much easier if the peanut pill could be swallowed I asked the Physician's Assistant why the dosing instructions did not allow swallowing of the pill. It turns out that no research has been done to determine if this capsule itself would be fully digested. If not then the peanut flour would not be fully absorbed either. 
Ok. Good rule. Makes sense. 
We wait the customary 1 hour after the dose is administered - no reaction and we are on our way home.

At home Alexander embarks on the project of digging the peanut flour out of the tiny capsule. 

This time the new increased dose of 100 mg is contained in what seems to Xander to be the same teeny size capsule. (to my eye it is slightly bigger).

This time the toothpick method of extracting the last bit of powder is traded for a new "improved" digging device pictured below. (I have cropped the photo for an up close look)

To Xander's delight indeed the new tool proves handy. 

The dosing method is a follows.

1) The capsule is opened and the peanut flour is added to a glass containing some liquid. Alexander uses gatorade or juice

2) Xander drinks the solution immediately. 

He does not like the peanut taste but the tried and true method of holding ones nose works like a charm. 

4) Again more gatorade is poured into the same glass and swirled around to ensure every single molecule of peanut flour is mixed into the liquid. 

5) Down the hatch!  

6) The current dose is successfully taken.  

Peanut Allergy Treatment DAY 1

A revolutionary new treatment is available for people allergic to Peanuts, Milk, Eggs and Wheat. The treatment is called Oral Immunotherapy (OIT).   

We begin today - our Food Allergy Desensitizing Day 1 is here. There are 3 patients ready to begin the treatment program. Each person has a different Food allergy- Egg, Milk, and Peanut. My son is the peanut patient.

We arrived at 8am to Dr. Wasserman's of Dallas Allergy Immunology with pillows, blankets, snacks, electronics and "to do's" in hand. The stage is set for an entire day at the doctors.

Entrez Vous

After completing our computerized health status questionnaire we proceed for med check (height,weight, blood pressure) & then to the PFT test which Alexander FAILED in September (click here to see my "Roadblocks" post). 
Xander passed this time with 79% lung function. Not great but vastly improved. Next the physicians assistant questions Xander about his current health as he was undergoing treatment for a cough & drainage in addition to Advair for his asthma and poor lung function.
Hurray- we are deemed healthy enough and allowed to proceed.


We settle into a large room with reclining loungers along with an 18 year old teenage boy with an Egg allergy and a 10 year old boy with a Milk allergy.
Picture a small table set up in the room and a nurse armed with a timer to dispense a dose of the allergen every 15 minutes (treatment details will be provided in posts to come). Alexander is given a name tag to wear that says "PEANUT". The other 2 patients don "EGG" and "MILK" name tags. 

As a precaution each patient wears a name tag displaying his particular allergen

The dosing procedure is fully explained and we begin.


8:54 a.m. I am handed a syringe with Dose 1.  A tiny bit of peanut flour mixed with grape juice.  I hand it to Alexander and he squirts the peanut "cocktail" into his mouth.

A syringe is used for the "allergen cocktail" of peanut flour and grape juice

After a few doses Alexander "settles in for the long haul" teenager style.

The environment is comfortable especially with the teenage accouterments 

This scenario is repeated every 15 minutes like clockwork. Alexander ingests 26 doses of peanut flour mixed in grape juice with each dose increasing in strength. Very precise procedures.
The nurses regularly check to ensure each patient feels normal, no cough, itching, hives or worse.  
For more information on this treatment click here for my post "Oral Immunotherapy Frequently Asked Questions".


5pm- He made it! Ingesting all the doses with no adverse reactions. 
WHEW! Praise God.

Share your food allergies stories. Email your stories to salt.light.truth@gmail.com and I will post them on the blog. 

There is a world out there waiting for information, help or encouragement