A day in the life of peanut allergy sufferer, Mary; In association with the NHS.

1. Get up. I check that my Epipen is in my bag along with two sets of antihistamines.

2. Shower. I have to check the labels of everything I use to shower to make sure there are no traces of peanut. Once I've decided to buy something, I do a patch test, smearing a small amount of the substance on the inside of my arm and leaving it for half an hour to see if I react to it. I can't use make-up testers in shops: someone might have eaten nuts and then dabbed their finger into a pot of foundation or eye shadow.

3. Breakfast. Most breakfast foods carries the warning: May contain traces of nuts. I do eat cereal but it's a calculated risk. I test a little bit of every packet.

4. Go to work. As well as training first-aid workers to cope with my condition, everywhere I've worked has had to introduce new policies so that I can work safely. Usually my colleagues are asked not to eat in places where I've got to work. I have to have a dedicated computer so that there's no risk of someone who's popped to the pub and had a packet of nuts smearing peanut dust all over my keyboard. I keep wet wipes with me so that I can clean the workstation if I need to use someone else's machine.

5. Lunch. I can't eat the food in the cafeteria; they can't guarantee it's nut-free. I can sit in the cafeteria as they don't cook with peanuts but there are pine nuts in the food. Before I sit at a table I'll make sure that the surface is free of nut crumbs.

6. Drinks after work. The pub is probably the most dangerous place, partly because of all the people eating peanuts, but also because alcohol can interfere with antihistamines. I make sure that no one near me is eating peanuts and don't let anyone touch my drink.

7. Go home. Even kissing my boyfriend is fraught with danger. If he's eaten peanuts he has to brush his teeth to get rid of any nut pieces.

8. Dinner. If I'm going out for a meal, I avoid Oriental food and curries because a lot of things are fried in peanut oil. A lot of chain restaurants carry a disclaimer saying that all their food may have nuts in. In general, I'm lucky. My allergy doesn't stop me eating out altogether.