Dr Euan J Cameron 2024-05-02 Person 5 5 0

You don’t expect to develop a potentially life-threatening allergy to peanuts in middle-age, especially when you’ve eaten them all life long. But, I did suppose it was possible, especially with the upheaval of menopause going on as well. So when I started to feel not right, something’s off, and that seemed to coincide with the mornings I had the breakfast cereal with peanuts in - I suspected it was them that was causing it. Sure enough, my doctor’s IgE test came back positive, and I was advised not to eat them again. That was eight years ago. But, over time, I never felt completely sure of the allergy. So I tested privately another three times, using different companies, just to make sure. And the IgE panels came back at either 4-out-of-6, or usually 5-out-of-6 severity allergy to peanuts. So that was that. As time went by I found myself cutting out tree nuts, some legumes - I’d read they could be associated with peanut allergy. And I began to order only the plainest of foods in restaurants - cross-contamination and all that. But, even with all these confirmations, precautions, I remained only 50/50 convinced. The symptoms I’d had originally could have been a mental-blip, I recognised that. And then I heard about a new test - one where specific common food allergy proteins are dissected. It would be able to tell me whether I was at higher risk of anaphylaxis, or likely to suffer a milder reaction, should I have an accidental ingestion. I though this would either slightly ease my anxiety around food, or drive me ask for an EpiPen. Analysing the test wasn’t straight-forward, I needed help, confirmation - and nice Dr Cameron, a respiratory consultant (with allergy a speciality), a clinician who treats people with allergic-asthma, helped me. He reassured me that this new test was the gold-standard in allergy testing, that the results superseded the previous IgE tests, that my initial symptoms weren’t specifically typical of allergy - and, that he was confident I wasn’t allergic to peanuts, nuts, legumes. At all. I felt I could instinctively trust him and what he said - he was super-smart, had obviously carefully analysed my negative test results before our appointment, and was balancing them against my past-symptoms, medical history, before advising. I was so pleased to hear this, to have his support - we collaborated over a plan. I could begin to gradually reintroduce all the foods I’d excluded over the years - and we discussed how best to do this safely and slowly. And all was well, I plunged in, nut after nut. It’s still an ongoing process for now, but that low to mid-level anxiety around food is lifting. And, after thinking I’d never have a nut again, that I’d always need to be vigilant around food - I can look forward to eating freely again. It’s all quite amazing!