Concerns flying with Peanut Allergic Toddler (and EPIPEN)...

[Rockafeller]

there's just got to be other parents out there with kids with Peanut Allergies so I thought I'd ask some questions here. I just found out that my 2 1/2 year old is SEVERELLY allergic to Peanuts (we always carry an epipen with us)(thankfully we found out by having allergy skin prick tests and not because we actually tried peanut butter or something). My concern is we are going on a flight (6 hours) next week and this is my first time flying since being aware of the allergy. I've never had to actually use the epipen before and I know that if you use it you need to seek medical attention immediately. What if by chance he had a reaction on the plane? I asked my doctor and told me I was over reacting....and can't live my life like that...what if, what if, what if. He told me to let the flight attendants know that he has a peanut allergy and to bring our own safe food on the plane and he should be fine. I still don't feel comfortable. I'm not totally panicing about this but would feel a little better if I knew what happens after an attack. I also asked if I should have a back up epipen, he didn't think it was necessary but gave me a prescription if I felt it was. Anything, anyone?

 

[Princess Row]

My last flight i had was only one hour long and they made an announcement that they wouldn't be serving peanuts for snacks, only pretzles and for anyone to please not eat peanuts. I think you could tell them you have a baby who is severly allergic and they would do the same thing.

 

[disneycruising]

I have 2 DS have life threatening allergies to ALL NUTS...they are 14 & 12.

I have to say the first time we flew with the our oldest DS, I was a nervious wreck. Thankfully my DH travels a lot for work, so it is second nature to him. We have flown with them many, many times. I think we have taken the boys on more then 20 trips... where we had to fly. We even took them on a one-way Disney Cruise to Barcelona & had to take a 17 hour flight home. We have NEVER had an full blown reaction on a plane. One time, one of my DS's had a very mild contact reaction, that cleared up as soon as I gave him benedryl.

I agree with your doctor, you can not live your life in fear. Knowledge is the true key. You need to know what to do in an emergency and be prepared for it. You also need to take as many precautions as you can... to avoid an allergiec reaction. PA is scary but also managable. I have known about my oldest DS, PA since he was 8 months old. He is 14 now and we have NEVER had to use an epi-pen. He has had only a few 'small reactions' that have been stopped by beneryl.

This is what we do:

1) Notify the airlines of the allergy when we book our tickets. Some airlines will then choose not to serve peanuts...but not all.

2) We check in early for our flight and ask for an early boarding pass, so we can wipe down everything: seats, arm rest, tray tables. Anything they might touch.

3) I never turn on the air above our seat...I don't want to "force dirty air" onto them.

4) I make my boys wear long sleeves and long pants on the flight. I figure it gives them less chance for a contact reaction, if less skin exposed.

5) Take your own blanket...never use the one on the plane.

6) I give my boys 'allergy medication' (clarition) right before the flight. To try and keep them from having a reaction because of something in the air. This makes me feel more comfortable.

7) We carry a lot of epi-pens. We take into account how long it woud take the airplane to land in an emergency (once an emergency was declared) & to get help.

**Usually, my boys each carry an emergency kit (with a twinjet & benedryl), my DH carries an emergency kit & I carry a third one. I make sure that all epi-pen or twinjet have a 'label' from the pharmacy on them.

8) I always bring a safe snack from home. I DO allow them to get a closed can of soda from the flight attendant. I wipe the soda can with a handle wipe.

9) The day of the flight, I do not let them eat anything that they have never had before.

10) Be prepare for an emergency. I carry a letter from their allergist that has all the steps to go thru in an emergency. This makes me feel better knowing that if I panick during a reaction, I have something I can take out and look at. This is a skill you will need for your childs whole life!

 

[geekypeach]

Disneycruisin put it much better than I could have. My DD has an auto-immune disorder (JIA) that I dragged her into the rheumetologists office for every other week in the beginning. He had to have that ever so delicate talk with me as well. What I took away from it is this is our Life. This is Her life, and it's my job to manage it, and to step back and look at a situation with fresh eyes in order to manage the situation in a safe way. It's our job as mothers to be a comfort for our kids. *YOU WILL GET THERE*. The freshness of such a scary diagnosis will haunt you for some time, but you'll get there. Going through this flight is just one of the steps.

 

[Rockafeller]

Hi everyone,
Thanks so much for your responses, they are very informative and have lots of great tips! I'm trying to be educated on the matter and not be worried and appreciate all your responses. One other question I have disneycruising is how long does a dose of the epipen last...when would you need to administer a second shot (30 minutes, 1 hour, 2???)...so now I'm thinking I should get another epipen or a twinjet cause I only have one epipen jr. (he's too young to have his own and he's always with me).

 

[disneycruising]

http://www.anaphylaxis.com/page/treatment-guidelines-index

According to epi-pens website it will last 10 -15 minutes. But speak to your dr and see what they have to say.

You might want to consider finding another doctor, if you don't feel that you are being treated with respect. You will need this relationship for a many years to come. You haven't even started the whole... going to school thing... where you will really need some one by your side. I was lucky enough to find someone who I truly trust!

I am happy to answer any questions you might have. I have been there & completely understand what you are going thru. Feel free to PM me.

 

[Rockafeller]

Thanks again for that website. Yes you are so right about finding a doctor that is knowledgeable on the subject. I have a good doctor (I'm waiting to talk to him on Thursday - I haven't actually talked to him yet about this at all), the other doctor I was referring too was the allergist who did the actual allergy test (whom I assume would be an expert on the subject), and then I went back a 2nd time cause I had questions, that's when he was telling me to just not give him anything with peanuts (duh!!!).

 

[noryglory]

My friend who just went to Disneyland last week has two boys very severely allergic to many things. She's only a DIS board lurker and so she conveyed to me the following to share with you, some of which has been mentioned above. Good luck!

She says:

We have two boys, ages 7 and 5, with "off the chart" allergies to peanuts and tree nuts. We have now flown twice. Our allergist assured us that any reaction that may occur on a plane that is from contact or breathing in (rather than ingesting) the nuts, should not be anaphylactic. I know of two kids who have had reactions on planes-- one touched the armrests and then touched his eye and his eye swelled to the size of a golf ball. The parents did admister the epipen. On our first trip, they had just served peanuts on the flight before ours (but did not serve any nuts on our flight) and our son coughed the entire flight. He stopped coughing about 20 minutes after we got off the plane.

A few helpful points that I have gathered from others before me:

1. Always carry more than one epipen. They only last 10-15 minutes and if you are on a plane or in a place where you cannot get to an ER that fast, you might need to repeat (or sometimes they don't work). Also, if you have more than one child who needs an epipen, they could have a reaction at the same time and you need one for each of them.
2. Carry benadryl, zyrtec or whatever antihistamine your allergist has recommended. You might need it for a minor or moderate reaction.
3. Call the airline when you book the tickets and they will make a note in the file. Then remind them when you check in at the gate, and then the inflight crew when you get on the plane. Ask that they not serve any nuts, some airlines will do this, others will not. Wipe down their (and your) seats, armrests and tray tables with an antibacterial wipe. We just flew JetBlue and were really impressed with how they handled it.
4. Echo the advice to wear long sleeves and pants, and not have the air on, too. Anything to help avoid contact and minimize the effects of recirculated air.
5. The food allergy and anaphylactic network website (www.foodallergy.org) has tips and a list of airlines that don't serve nuts

We are five years into this and it is still very scary, but you learn from others and get through by being prepared. Think through ahead of time what you would do in case something happens.

 

[Rockafeller]

Oh my goodness, that is so strange, my son has not had a reaction that we know but last May (1st day at disneyland) his eye swelled up like a golf ball (it was soooo freaky) and he was sooooo letargic (breathing fine but just glazed right over, it was nap time so we didn't even realize it right aways he was quietly sitting in his stroller, we thought getting ready to doze off) we raced him to the disney first aid station (they were really great, it was like emergency in there). I didn't know his allergies at the time, but he had just been snacking on some raisins and cranberries (I had picked out the cashews so he wouldn't choke), he was about 20 months. I figured right away that it was likely the snack and that he had wiped his eye too (he was a baby with severe eczema and was so sensative to dairy and eggs I just knew that there was going to be more allergies or food sensativities that is why he never had tried peanuts). I was so sure I threw out that bag of snacks immediately. We took him back to our hotel and gave him tylenol and he snapped out of it rather quickly and the sweeling did go down (disney gave us all the names and numbers of the clinics in the area too if we needed them). So anyways, after that we thought maybe he's allergic to cashews? The person in the clinic didn't agree with me and said if it was an allergy that both eyes would have swollen, and she told me it wasn't a allergy symptom that was common with allergies (which i now know is not true). So a few months later when the allergist did the test, I was actually asking him to find out which nuts he could be allergic too and cashews came back fine but he is allergic to tree nuts too (not as severe at the peanut), and we had no idea about the peanut allergy so I was so thankful that he tested for that (so we wouldn't have to learn the hard way). Anyways...looking back my guess would be that there was traces of peanuts or other nuts in with the cranberries/raisins and cashews. I've been told the 2nd reaction is often way worse then the first so I think that was our warning. Thanks again for the tips, I'm making a list so I make sure to do them all on travelling day...I called the airline too and they will make a peanut free zone (Alaska) a few rows in front and behind for us (in May we will be flying to disneyland again with jetblue so I'm glad to hear they are good).