Updose #12

Crazy stuff!  Today Beck was upped to 500 mg peanut flour.  This is the equivalent to 1 peanut.
It is still packaged in the capsules like I showed in a previous post, only, the capsules are really big now!

100mg peanut flour capsule and 500 mg peanut flour capsule compared to a penny.  :)

During his dose at the Dr's today he gagged, and had a hard time getting the concoction down.  We were out of pudding, so he had to mix it with applesauce.  And, in this amount of peanut flour, I will admit, it didn't look appetizing.  But, he powered through it.

Tonight, he was able to mix it into his chocolate pudding.  I lifted the mixture to my nose and was almost overcome by how potent the peanut smelled.  Under my tongue immediately started to water.  PEANUT!  He's at actual amounts that taste and smell like peanut.  That is miraculous to me.

One other boy that gets up dosed the same time as us had his first real cashew today.  Didn't go so well.  I think it was mostly psychological, but as he chewed one bite, he got this look on his face, and then up it all came...throwing up multiple times.  :(

These kids that have suffered from these allergies so long, have true anxiety.  It's hard to see.

So, next week Beck gets 1 actual peanut.  I am prepared for a situation like our little cashew friend had today.  If it doesn't go well, I have ordered a mortar and pestle so I can grind up the peanut and still put it in pudding if needs be...

Updose #11

Today's dose was upped to 250mg of peanut flour.
This is the equivalent to 1/2 a peanut.
Let me repeat that...
HALF A PEANUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No reactions today.

Updose #10

There seem to be actual peanut chunks in this batch!
175 mg peanut flour is our dose this week.

This morning on the drive home from the updose he got a really upset stomach, and started like sweating it was so intense.  I watched him for other reactions, which didn't ever seem to materialize.  I was hopeful that he hadn't had enough breakfast before the dose...

Tonights dose he didn't have any problems.

Updose #9

Upped to 100 mg peanut flour!
No major reactions.

To clarify about the peanut flour, I asked the nurse and she said they assume a peanut is 250mg.  But, peanut flour is somehow a little different, so we will reach 500 mg in peanut flour before we move over to 1 actual peanut.  So, he's probably consuming somewhere between 1/5 and 1/4 of a peanut at this point.

Updose #8

PEANUT FLOUR!

Today now that the vacation is over, we were moved up to peanut flour capsules.  All went well with today's dose.  I'm not exactly sure how much we are getting per dose.  The bag says 50 mg on it, but I don't think that's per capsule, because that would equate to 1/4 of a peanut.  So, perhaps it's 50mg peanut flour, which I don't know how much peanut flour equals 1 peanut.  I will try to find out what the equivalent dose is.

Here's what this week's capsules look like:

The capsule splits into 2 pieces.  You're not to swallow these capsules whole, I don't think the plastic pill would dissolve well in ones stomach.  :)  It is interesting how it kind of compacts in one end.

Basically, you carefully pull apart the two ends, and shake out the peanut flour into a semi-solid food such as pudding, apple sauce or yogurt.  You can pinch the ends and use a toothpick to get all the flour out of the pill.  Then, mix it up in your food of choice, and consume it all.

Like always, swish and swallow after any dose to be sure no residue is lingering in the mouth.  They want it all consumed at the same time.

Peanut flour in chocolate pudding, yum!

Updose #7

Today Beck was supposed to be up-dosed to peanut flour in a capsule.

On Saturday, after his morning dose his throat felt a little constricted.  We weren't sure if it was related to the dose, or just random.  We watched him and the symptoms eventually went away with no intervention.

At this morning appointment, we informed the Dr of the episode on Saturday.  Today we decided to proceed with the peanut flour capsule, as we don't have an explanation for Saturday's episode.

I will say, when Beck watched the nurse open the capsule and pour the peanut flour into a pudding mixture, his eyebrows raised.  When he ate the chocolate pudding, he commented that it was crunchy and tasted differently.  Although it was still a small amount of peanut flour (2.5mg), I could actually smell a peanut flavor on his breath...

After doses we always wait 45 mins for reaction.  Today at the end of the 45 minutes when we got up to leave Beck put his hand to his chest.  He said he was fine, but I questioned what was going on.  He said his chest, under his sternum felt like it was being pushed on...

So, to be safe, the dr watched us a little longer and wanted to know what he was experiencing.

It was decided that we would repeat last weeks dose this week and wait to move up to the peanut flour.  The Dr. was very nice.  Her thoughts on his reaction were either:

A.  His body may have hit its threshold, and decided to give us a reaction.  (Which, we've had very few of up until now, just stomach aches).
B.  Perhaps it was anxiety more than an allergic reaction.  She explained that sometimes kids (especially old enough to understand what's going on), when they see that peanut flour, and taste it for the first time, and feel that crunch - it causes them anxiety which can manifest itself in various forms...

Not sure, which it is.  But, in that we have a family trip planned, together we opted it might be best to stay on last weeks maintenance dose so we don't have to worry about reaction while on a trip and don't know where the nearest hospital is.  The only difficulty is going to be keeping the peanut solution liquid refrigerated for the flight, and getting all the liquids onto the flight when they only allow the 3 fl oz!  The idea of taking the peanut capsules (that don't have to be refrigerated) was a really nice, convenient thought.  But, we'll get there soon enough.

Here goes...

Updose #6

Upped the dose at this mornings appointment to 2 mL of the Peanut E solution.   No reactions.

This morning the Dr asked Beck if he's noticed the peanut flavor yet (mixed in the koolaid).  He said no.  She said that it's about at this stage where kids start to actually taste the peanut flavor.  I thought that was interesting!  The drink mix is much thicker now than it was when we started.  A lot more peanut flour is in the liquid, you can see it separated and there's quite a bit of sediment on the bottom of the bottle when it's been sitting for a while.  So, we have to make sure to shake it really well now.

According to our calculations he's up to 1/10th of a peanut per dose.
But when I checked with the staff, they assume a peanut weighs 250mg per peanut, which would make him actually at 1/5th of a peanut per dose!

So, I'm not exactly sure, but point being, we are increasing amounts quickly!

Next week we are to bring a yogurt, or pudding, or applesauce to mix the peanut flour into.  :)