3 months post graduation

Beck is 3 months post graduation.  He has been doing 8 peanuts / twice a day.  They drew blood and checked his igE levels, and unfortunately, his levels aren't lowering as much as they'd like to see.

Some people at this point have their maintenance dose lowered.  Beck hates (really, a word stronger than hates would suffice) peanuts.  Dry heaves, gags them down, has to power through it.

Every. single. dose.

So, to hear his maintenance dose wasn't being reduced to 8 once a day was pretty discouraging for him.  The plus is, he only has to eat them once a day now, but he has to eat 12, once a day.  :(

It's not fun to have to eat something you detest.

So, looking back on this journey...would I suggest it to others?

Absolutely.  It is life changing.

That being said, I wish I'd have had some real life experiences shared with me.  Nobody explained to me that most kids hate peanuts after they do the program.  I mean detest them.  I have only met 1 girl so far that enjoys eating them.  And, when she told me she loved them, she was only at 2 peanuts twice a day for her dose.

Asking someone to wake up in the morning (every single day) and eat 12 peanuts at breakfast before they can go about their day, gets old.  Real old.

The mom's of younger kids used to always lament to me that if only their child were Beck's age, this program would be so much easier.   I don't know.  I can reason with him better than with a 5 year old, yes.  But, he's a teenager.  He is old enough that little bribes don't work.  I think it's difficult at any age.

I am so grateful he's not allergic anymore and we don't have to worry about peanut products.  He is allergic to a number of other nuts as well.  At this time, we have decided to not do any more desensitization programs, or food challenges.  It's too much to ask of him at this point.  The other nuts are easier to avoid.  I cannot imagine asking him to eat peanuts PLUS walnuts, pecans, cashews, sunflower seeds, brazil nuts every single day as a dose.  I left it up to him and he decided he'd rather avoid those nuts than do the program again.  Haha.

So, there you have it.  Desensitized to peanuts.  Amazing journey.  So thankful it was an option for us.  My stress level has decreased tenfold.  Truth be told - it's not just getting to "graduation".  It's the after graduation real life grind that's a killer.

GRADUATION DAY!

Still miraculous to me.  

Today, was graduation day.  

At the office he ate 24 peanuts.  

No reactions.  

What a miracle!!!

 Chocolate milk and york's to help "wash it down"

With Kathryn, our nurse practitioner that we saw every week.  She is amazing, and we love her!

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For the next 3 months, we stay on a maintenance dose of 8 peanuts 2x/day.  He can also have peanuts throughout the day, in any form or amount.  But, the 8 peanuts am/pm still need to be either regular peanuts, dry roasted, or peanut m&ms.  So we can keep it consistent.

We will have followup appointments in 1,2,3 months.  At the 3 month appointment, they will draw blood and check IgE levels again.  If levels are still good, his maintenance dose should switch to 8 peanuts 1x/day.

Predicament

Beck had a track meet today.  They left the school around 10:30 am so I assumed they'd be home around 6-7.  I didn't think to put his nightly peanut dose in his bag.  I should've known better.

As 8pm rolled around and the meet was just ending, I started to get worried about his nightly dose.  He was a few hours away, and I knew they wouldn't be home before 9 (which is the latest you can take your dose.)

I was able to get a hold of one of the teachers / track coach.  He stood up on the bus and said, "Does anyone have any peanuts?"  Miranda raised her hand, and had a small bag of planters regular peanuts.  Perfect!

Beck said he's never taken his dose so fast.  The whole school bus of high schoolers watching him, and cheering his name, he took the handful, threw them in his mouth, chewed and swallowed.

That's what I'm talkin' about!  Do that everyday!  :)

Made me smile to think how awesome this is.  His "medicine" is a food most people eat every day.  We don't have to worry about going to a pharmacy, or having expensive co-pays, or shots, or refrigeration, or anything.  It's as simple as a bag of peanuts.  So cool.  So fun that a schoolmate was able to help him out.

Upped to 12

12 peanuts, twice a day!

Upped to 10

Almost done!  This week Beck was upped to 10 peanuts 2x a day.  No reactions at initial dose in the office.  It took him a long time to eat that many.  I have a feeling this week is going to be full of lots of time getting the dose down.

For those of us that have grown up eating nuts, I know what you're thinking.  Just take the dang handful and put it in your mouth, chew and swallow!  Not that hard.

For some reason...it is not that simple...

He seems to hate the feel of the nuts in his molars so he chews them with his front teeth.  This has caused mouth sores to form.  He's also got a patch of eczema that is coming on strong.  He had severe eczema as a baby, so I am confident this is coming from the peanut dosing.  But, we can handle eczema.  I'm curious to ask the Dr. next week about it.

Upped to 8

Well, we are finally back to where we were at Christmas time!  It's been good to take it slow.  I think it's given his body a chance to get used to the peanut.  He's really not loving peanuts.  As he does his dose, I have to remind him to smile - it tastes better with a smile.  He often has this look like he's about to throw it all up, just from the taste.

He also doesn't like the peanuts getting mushed into his molars, so he chews them up really fine with his front teeth.  To me, it seems like why not just take the handful, pop them all in your mouth, chew and be done?!  Oh well...I'll let him do it his way.

Today Beck was upped to 8 peanuts, and had no issues at all.  yay!

Only about a month left to go if all goes well (knock on wood)

Upped to 7

Upped to 7 peanuts today.  No issues at appointment.

Up to 6

Well, we are slowly getting back to where we were a few months ago!  Today he was upped to 6 peanuts, twice a day.  He didn't have any problems with the dose today.  This is about where he started having problems last time, so we will stay on this dose for 2 consecutive weeks this time.

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An interesting side note - we discussed his blood draw today.  His igE levels to other nuts have gone down!  Yay!  This is super exciting, and not always the case.  When doing OIT, some people become more allergic to other allergens, some stay the same, and some people become less allergic.  We were one of the lucky ones.  This means he gets to "food challenge" out of the other nuts.

Once we finish with peanut, we will go and have a 3-4 hour appointment where they will gradually give him one nut and increase the doses over the few hours, hopefully proving his body is tolerant. 

This is great news to not have to go through the OIT program for other nuts.  

I am grateful for OIT, but it is an intense program.  It is tough psychologically.  So, we feel blessed.

When we do the food challenges (probably closer to summer) they will do:
Sunflower seeds

hazelnut

pistachio

cashew

walnut

pecan

brazil nut

macadamia

So, one nut a day.  It's still a process, but much shorter than a full OIT program.  :)

Updose

Upped to 5 peanuts, twice a day.
No problems or issues.

Upped again

We held the 3 peanut / twice a day for a few weeks as we were out of town.  Beck didn't have any problems the last few weeks.

Therefore, today he was upped to 4 peanuts / twice a day.
No issues at today's dosing.

Would've Been

Today would've been Beck's peanut graduation day.  :)  Not a huge deal, just interesting to note that some do make it through quickly, and some take a little longer.  The Dr said some people end up taking 18 months, because their body simply needs more than 1 week to acclimate to the new doses.  So, as we progress, we may be taking some of his doses for 2 weeks instead of 1.

I don't even know what week this technically is of our Peanut Desensitization Journey!  Oh well...

Since the previous week on 2 peanuts went so well, Beck was upped to 3 peanuts/twice a day today.  We don't anticipate any problems.  :)

Updose #21

Well, maintaining at the 1 peanut for a few weeks I think was good for Beck's body as well as his psyche.  That 8 peanut amount he made it to was not easy for him.  He actually really doesn't like the taste of peanuts anymore.  I don't blame him.  Think of when you've had the flu, and what you just ate comes back up.  It seems we avoid that food for a few months (atleast), if it was a bad bout of the flu.

Well, that's how he feels.  He threw up so many peanuts lately, he just doesn't want to eat them...

Today they upped Beck to 2 peanuts/twice a day.
They even weighed the peanuts for us - for a more exact amount of peanut.  Seems this is a step backward.  Oh well.  It is what it is.  :)  This is still a miraculous journey, even if it is taking a bit longer.

Back to no contaminated foods...dang.  (processed in a facility that may contain peanuts)

Down to 1

Monday (last post): we didn't go to updose appointment, and were moved down to 4 peanuts.
Monday night: 4 peanuts caused intense vomit and diarrhea 2 hours after dose.  Called on-call Dr. who moved us to 2 peanuts for the morning dose.

Tuesday morning:  2 peanuts.  Stomach cramping, diarrhea, but no vomit.
Dr moved us to 1 peanut.
Tuesday night:  1 peanut.  All was well.

Wednesday morning: 1 peanut, no problems. (hallelujah)


We have been instructed to stay at 1 peanut for the next 2 weeks...

No updose

What should've been Updose #21 is instead, a stagnant week.  It's just part of the process.  I'm not that discouraged about it just yet.  In that I also have food allergies, and I know how painful it can be when your body rids itself of allergens, I am JUST fine taking it slow so his body has time to adjust.

After last week not going so hot, the Dr opted to take us back down to 4 peanuts, twice a day, for 2 weeks.  His body needs time to adjust to the peanut.  It's just not tolerating the allergen right now.

I have asked the Dr. almost every week, "So, what's the most common dose people have reactions?"  And, she always kept saying, "It's different for everyone."  In my mind, I was thinking 7 peanuts is a lot of peanuts.  How can we have a reaction at this point?!  We've done it!  We're through!  :)  Silly me.  Just goes to show, it really is different for everyone.

So, we will let his body maintain the 4 peanuts twice a day and see how he does.  Any reactions I will report back to the Dr.  But, I don't anticipate problems, and I am hopeful in 2 weeks we will be back on the road to being desensitized.

The trick right now is psychological.  He does not want to eat peanuts.  Thankfully, he is 14 so I can reason with him some.  He can understand the benefit outweighs the psychological fear of how his body will tolerate it.

If he had been having anaphylactic reactions, this might be more of a scary process.  In that we are dealing with nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, it's manageable.  :)  Not fun, but do-able.  He's a good kid that Bexter.