Today, we headed to clinic and on arrival, the doctor said we’d be moving onto actual peanut pieces instead of the solution!! Ummm….WHAT!!!!!
I was really scared to give this a go but he didn’t give me much time to worry and before I knew it…I’d eaten 125mg of actual peanut pieces!
The nurse advised me to eat something crunchy beforehand to fill my teeth, then eat the pieces before washing it down with water. This worked well. Tingling in the mouth was the main symptom. They then observed me before starting my egg challenge! I also like to eat after taking the dose so I had some more crackers (dry!!)
So, the egg allergy is a weird one. I’d always eaten egg until I was around 21. I then had a mild reaction to an egg in Luke’s University kitchen where he’d cooked me a fried egg. It resolved with antihistamine but follow up testing showed positive skin prick test but negative blood. The doctor’s advice was to avoid. Since then I’ve avoided all egg (even in baked products) and opted to have the egg-free flu vaccine which is always a nightmare to get!
But we’ve always had our doubts whether it was a true allergy or whether there was cross contamination with peanuts!
Anyway, my skin and blood work here both came up negative so Dr A was happy to challenge it. He asked us to bring in scrambled egg which was made this morning by my very own Chef Luke.
We then started the challenge:
- 200mg
- 1000mg
- 3000mg
- 7000mg
- 15,000mg
- 30,000mg
No symptoms throughout and happy to say that I PASSED WAHOOO!!!
Amanda then showed us how to weigh the peanut pieces. She provided us with a jewelry scale, a calibration weight and a packet of…PEANUTS!!!
Amanda said that when we weigh the peanuts they can be 10mg under or over my specific dose but no more or less. This is very strict!
The doctor then wanted me to dose 175mg before I left for the day so off I went to weigh my own nuts. I’ve never ever ever touched a peanut before and the skin is the last thing to desensitise so I was given gloves to wear. I was even scared to inhale the smell of them after so many years of avoiding anyone who opens peanuts!
I was then observed and vitals checked before being dismissed for the day! Symptoms with the 175mg dose were tingling and a hive on my lip.
We then went for an evening walk and watched the sunset which was just stunning! 🌇
Back to clinic in the morning!
OIT & Me 
Exciting day! Congratulations on passing the egg challenge. Are you doing anymore challenges? What were your peanuts values, if you don’t mind sharing? Have you been allergic your whole life? I really appreciate you sharing your journey. I may see if my daughter is willing to try OIT. It is offered here in Illinois. She’s got a lot of anxiety about it, so I don’t know if she would ever be interested unless she knew it was completely safe.
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I need to do almond, Brazil nut and macadamia. I’ve also asked if they can check I’m OK with chickpea and sesame as I’ve never eaten those before so I’ll be purchasing some hummus to take to clinic! My peanut number is 3.8 (high allergy) with ara H2,6 and 8 sensitivity. All 3 numbers are below 10 but can’t remember the exact, sorry! You absolutely need to be ready to do it as it isn’t without risk xx
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Thank you. Knowing your numbers lets me know if it would be possible for my daughter. She needs testing again, as it’s been years since her last blood test. Did they have you redo the skin prick testing, as well, before starting your treatment?
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Yep skin and bloods taken 😀
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Have you decided if you’ll eat all the tree nuts that you’ve passed the challenges on? I’m just curios if you will still avoid since you’ve avoided for so many years. I don’t know that my daughter would even eat them if she passed since they’ve been an avoidance her whole life. Maybe you are on the fence about it, too.
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Yes I’m really going to try to! X
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