Nut Allergic Child and Sports

With all the different things kids come in contact with, I can't imagine how you know it was the ball. My child has allergies, but I don't make other people adapt their life to prevent reactions. If my child was so severely allergic that merely touching a mysteriously tainted ball threatens her life, I would keep her out of team sports altogether.

Have you looked into desensitization therapy? A friend did that for her severely peanut allergic daughter and she is able to eat any and all peanut products now. If my child was that allergic I would explore that option, I agree with Gamma G, he could have a reaction anywhere from touching anything.

As for sports, consider soccer. You don't use your hands unless you are goalie. We've had severely nut allergic kids on my kids teams and they were fine.

I don't see why sports would be any riskier than daily life. He must already touch things that other kids/people have just touched every day, right?

Your doctor of course is the best source of information on this, but I was prescribed an Epipen which I was instructed was only for use with life threatening anaphylactic allergic symptoms. I was instructed to then IMMEDIATELY call 911 because the Epipen itself introduces all kinds of serious physical side effects. http://www.epipen.com/about-epipen/most-common-side-effects

Of course, the best resource is going to be your doctor. I think that you should focus on what you and your child can do to minimize the allergic reaction. Someone mentioned Benadryl...is that even an option. If you go into this expecting all the kids to modify their diets at home for this, I don't think that is very reasonable and will cause a lot of ill-will for your very real situation. What do you do normally? The touching the ball thing could happen with a million other things in a public place...

I'm so sorry your son goes through this. I would see about giving them half a dose of Benadryl before venturing out into public places. See if that helps.

I guess you'd have to test it in some way, not a good idea but it might provide information. That's the only thing I would think to do.

We had a girl in ballet class that was allergic to nuts. The teacher asked the parents to not let the kids eat nuts on that day and if they did could they be sure to wash very well. They didn't have any reactions in class but my grand daughter ate PB&J every day at school for lunch.

Heck, with an allergy like that you can't even go to Walmart and let them help you get groceries off the shelf or touch the cart. The stockers or the person who used the cart before you could have been snacking on a bag of nuts. I'd be afraid to go out of the house. I can't imagine what you go through.

If he doesn't already see an allergist, he needs to. This is beyond the scope of a regular pediatrician. Like someone else said, this would go far beyond sports. I would find out what an allergist would suggest for your son's situation.

Second, I have had one allergist tell me to use the Epi-pen when ever there are 'any' two symptoms like yours. I've also had another tell me that the Epi-pen is not to be used that lightly because it can cause cardiac arrest. I was told that ideally it would be better if the paramedics administered the Epi-pen because they can give the exact dose and are able to resuscitate. It has always been our practice that unless it is anaphylactic, we use Benadryl as our first line of defense. (In the end I completely switched practices because of this.)

My son's nut reaction was also vomiting and hives when he was a toddler. I never gave the epipen for that- just a dose of Benadryl and kept him watched. This seemed to do the trick.
As he got a little older, we gave our son daily allergy meds and I think this really helped with the reaction to any cross contamination. The scarier thing would be touching a desk or doorknob that someone had cross contaminated. If you haven't talked to your ped about daily allergy meds, I definitely would and get his/her opinion on that.

You cannot reasonably expect to impose rules on every single person/item he may come in contact with! And I know you said you don't want to do that, but I don't see another option if you think that touching a basketball gave him a reaction. He just may not be able to play, OR, you may need to spearhead a league where all allergy-ridden kids can play, so all parents know the rules and are as vigilent as you are. Even if you ask all kids to wash their hands before a game or use a new ball at every game, you can't ask those kids/families to NOT eat a PB and J in the car on the way to that game, and you can't assume the mom who ate it won't kiss her child on the mouth, and then, at some point in the game, that kid might take an arm and swipe it across his face, and then that kid touches the ball...etc etc...you get the idea. You CAN'T control the environment like that! Have the Epi Pen ready at all times, and USE it when necessary. But, maybe these types of sports are just out. You could try sports that don't require group-use of equipment, like golf, gymnastics, track, cross-country, etc. There are other options besides basketball and football. Even baseball is probably safer.
Good luck.

If someone uses baby wipes on their hands, is that enough to eliminate the risk for your son? If it is, I would bring baby wipes to all of the games and talk with the other coach before the game starts. Have every child on both teams wipe their hands before the start of the game and make sure no nut snacks are eaten during the game. If needed, use the wipes on the balls, bats, etc before the start of the game, too. I don't think I quick wipe with a baby wipe is too big on an imposition and most teams would probably do it without complaint.

My son's worst allergy is milk and it also usually manifests as hives and vomiting. I have not ever given him an epipen. I feel that an epipen is reserved for the situations you mention - difficulty breathing, swelling of the lips or tongue, etc. That said, check with your doctor to be sure he doesn't have a different recommendation.

Even the nut free schools mess up. There were PB cookies @ the party, oops!
And most of the kids here eat PB and it's all over their mouths and hands all the time. I say this b/c it's how it ism so please be careful and do not assume there is a way to really eliminate exposure.

If it's just vomiting and hives, so be it.

Life threatening and that's super scary though.

Wow, your son sounds more 'nut' sensitive than mine.

As for when to use the epi-pen, my son accidentally ate a homemade cookie that had minced walnuts in it. The neighbor had told us they were chocolate chip, not chocolate chip with walnuts ... :/

He went in to an immediate reaction, and we did so many things wrong. His his throat got itchy, his face turned bright red, vomiting, hives. I wasn't home, told hubby to use the epi-pen, but hubby was hesitant. 'I don't know if this is severe enough for that.' He's vomitting, so it should work itself out. I convinced him to give him 1 tsp of liquid Benedryl. When he didn't throw that up after a few minutes, we gave him another dose. He was still feeling like he was going to vomit when I got home 5 mins later. We called the dr.

He said that since he had ingested it, we should have given the epi-pen right away, when the throat itching started. Waiting until the tongue swells and the lips turn blue, would have been too late. Giving him the liquid Benedryl instead of a pill is probably what saved him since we didn't use the epi-pen.

We rushed him to the ER (hubby didn't want to bother 911. Grrr.). They monitored him for an hour or two and sent him home.

I was so scared. So much doubt when the time to make the call was needed. I almost lost my son. :/ By the Grace of God I didn't.

As for playing sports, you will need to talk to the coach/team/friends.
1. Every player MUST wash their hands before playing.
2. Every game MUST use a ball that is new/monitored
3. You son should wear long sleeves and/or gloves to minimize contact.