We steered clear of eggs with Holland for about a year. Then we slowly started introducing food items like pasta, salad dressing, cakes, and cookies with egg IN them, and she did fine. Eventually we tried egg again, and it seems like she has completely outgrown that allergy.
I guess as the time passed I kinda lightened up about the food allergy thing. I still checked labels for nuts, but didn't think a whole lot about it. About a year ago, we were grocery shopping and I had to run out to the car for something. When I came back into the store, Holland and Eden were sitting in the cart eating WINDMILL COOKIES, which are full of ALMONDS!!! I freaked out a little bit, AND realized that I didn't have the EpiPen (had forgotten the diaper bag, and didn't think about it because so much time had passed without needing it). But everything was fine and Holland didn't have a reaction to the almonds. So cool, no allergy there.
Then probably 4-6 months ago John made angel hair pasta and chicken with sundried tomatoes and pesto for dinner one night. I checked the label and it said it contained "pine nuts." We talked about "do you think she could be allergic?", but went ahead and tried it anyway. She was fine. Not allergic to pine nuts.
I guess that's where I started getting TOO comfortable, thinking that possibly she had outgrown ALL of her food allergies, or maybe even that she never had them in the first place!
Well, we loved the pesto so much the first time we decided to buy more. This time we shopped at a different grocery store, and the only pesto they had said that it contained cashews. We had another conversation about it, along the lines of "do you think she is allergic to cashews?" "Well, I guess we can try it, so far she has been fine, not allergic to anything." So we bought it and about a week later, John made it for dinner. Honestly, I didn't even think about it again.
Shortly after we began the meal, Holland started to complain about a stomach ache. Now, you have to realize that we have been through 5 years of feeding issues. It's not uncommon for either of them to complain about...well, pretty much anything....to get out of eating. So, I kinda blew it off and made her keep eating. :( Then her eyes started itching and she started rubbing them. Again...not really all that unusual. Sometimes if she is playing with the dog too much, or crawling around on the floor before dinner, and rubs her eyes, they get itchy. Then she rubs them with greasy dinner hands, and they get worse. So I STILL didn't realize what was happening, and I STILL made her keep eating. BAD MOM ALERT! I took her to wash her hands thinking that it could be the dog, brought her back to the table to sit on my lap, and put a few more bites in her mouth. Then all of a sudden it dawned on me.
"John, is this the pesto that had the cashews in it?" "I think she might be having a reaction to the cashews!" By then, her eyes were starting to swell...especially her left, her nose was running, she was really, really itchy all over her body, and she was complaining about her tummy hurting.
I gave her a dose of Zyrtec (which she was due for anyway) and took her up for a bath thinking I should at least get it off her skin. She was pretty cheerful and played in the tub, despite the fact that by this point it was getting late and she was in pretty pitiful shape. After her bath I did our usual hydrocort and Aquaphor routine for her eczema, put her in her jammies, and put her in bed while I went to call the doctor. I didn't know if I could/should give her a dose of Benedryl right after she had her Zyrtec, and I wanted to know what to watch out for.
While I was waiting for the doc to return my call she started throwing up. She threw up once or twice, then fell asleep. John laid with her while I was on the phone. When I came back in to check on them she started throwing up again, this time in her sleep while lying on her back. That was pretty scary. We got her up, she threw up again, then went back to sleep. After that she was fine...slept threw the night with no issues, and woke up in the morning back to normal.
I did locate the EpiPen in the midst of this, but was pretty aggravated with myself for not having it more handy. I got a little lax. But now we know. She IS allergic to cashews and I will make sure I keep checking labels and always know where the EpiPen is!!!
About a week before this incident she had an appointment with the allergist and we had talked about doing bloodwork/more allergy testing, but I still haven't followed through on it. It's not just about making the time, but about whether the benefits of drawing blood will be worth the drama of putting her through that. She had to have so many immunizations this year, on top of one hospitalization and IV in October. I'd really like to wait a loooooooong time before having to approach her with any needles again. I'm almost more comfortable avoiding peanuts and any tree nuts that we aren't sure are safe for another year or so...and keeping the EpiPen handy. Still trying to decide on that one.
14 comments:
Please take my advice and DO NOT WAIT. At age 5 I nearly died from becoming "suddenly" deathly allergic to fish.. ALL FISH. Then a whole host of allergies all set in as well as asthma. You should have her tested.. food allergies come on so fast and it can be over the strangest things that you would never expect.
I agree with Ashley. Get her tested. My son has peanut allergies, and as with any nut allergy, each exposure gets worse. We were told that if there were 2 bodily systems involved in a rection that we should give benedryl the epi pen (it doesnt have to be breathing issues to give the epi pen). The vomitting and swelling would have been the symptoms that there were 2 bodily systmes involved, so we would have given the epi pen and then taken him to the hospital. The zyrtec/benedyl/epi pens dont last as long as the allergi reaction can last so we were told to take him in to the ER in that case. I would be curious to know what your doctor told you to do after giving the zyrtec. Under what circumstances do you use the epi pen?
I'm just glad she's okay.
So glad she's OK. I don't know a lot about food allergies, but my SIL is one of those fish people and she can't even be around places where it's being cooked.
Who was with the girls when you ran out to your car?
Their dad.
This website looks helpful, it tells you about food allergies in general and reactions to individual foods.
Good Luck with it.
http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthissues/foodintolerance/allergicreactions/
We have become very lax with Elizabeth's food allergies as well. I had the repeat bloodwork req on my fridge for months before we got her tested again and then the hospital threw out her blood because they could not get hold of her allergist for permission (the req was not enough ugh). Along with a pile of bloodwork req's we took her again to be tested and are waiting to see her Dr. to discuss the results. At her last appointment the allergist did say to be very careful with tree nut allergies as they are often more fatal. We did the same as you with the egg and she too outgrew that allergy. I would keep the req and wait until she needs other bloodwork, it would be good for you to know specifically which tree nuts she is allergic to. I too often go without Elizabeth's Epi-Pen as I don't see me ever needing it but after reading your post I will make I keep it close (and probably not expired).
check the epipen and make sure it hasn't expired. My aunt carries one and says that hers just expired in October and she has to get a new script.
Wow! That is scary. Our former 25 weeker has multiple severe food allergies. They jabbed him 5 times while making me hold him down before they were able to get blood the last time they tested for allergies. I have an appointment with an allergist in January for him to see what he's still allergic to, but I will not let them draw blood. I will insist on skin pricks instead.
I glad Holland is okay after the cashews.
I HATE allergic reactions! While neither of my girls is allergic to any food (to my knowledge), Meredith is allergic to bug bites, specifically spider and mosquito. The minute I notice she has a bite, I have to give her Benadryl, wash the area and put Neosporin salve on it. Then I go through an agonizing few hours to make sure that infection doesn't set it. (Which it usually does...and we get her put on heavy-duty antibiotics and allergy meds.)
So far, the doc won't give her an Epi-Pen...but man, its scary!
Glad that Holland is okay...
Kendra
Oh, so sorry Holland (and you guys) had to go through that! Amy
If Holland is allergic to cashews, she may also have sensitivity to pistachios and mango, and real susceptibility to poison ivy. They're all in the same plant family.
Monique, the nerdy botanist
I just wanted to say that a blood test is the MOST accurate way to diagnose any food allergy. The skin prick is prone to false positives. If you have not had her retested yet then you need to get it done. At her age she is not likely to outgrow any allergies and each reaction will be worse then the last. My first reaction was a mild anaphylaxis, very similar to Holland's. The next one sent me to the hospital with breathing difficulty. During the third I stopped breathing four times, was on a ventalator for 24hrs and spent a week on oxygen with my eyes swollen shut. Of course some people say I was lucky...
So my point is please don't ignore this, it can get out of controle very fast, and the epipen probably saved my life. Keep it with you.
Christa
Post a Comment