I have eaten nuts my whole life but when I fell pregnant in 2002 I read that if you or your partner has hayfever or asthma then you should avoid peanuts whilst pregnant and breastfeeding which I did and never got around to eating them again until 2008.
By 2008 I had given birth to two children and I had not eaten peanuts since 2002 but I have been eating all other nuts in cereals, bars, dishes, loose etc.
In January 2008 I bought a mixed nut bar which I had never eaten before, I was eating during class at college so totally concentrating on the lesson when after about 10 minutes I got a sudden sharp cough that hurt the centre of my chest and made my back itch under the skin.
Next my nose suddenly became blocked like it never had before and my ears, someone in the class mentioned maybe I was having an allergic reaction to the nut bar, I noticed it had peanuts in it and I freaked out and start really panicking. My throat then start feeling like it was sticking shut and someone from college took me to a walk in clinic where they gave me adrenalin in my arm and steroids. I was then taken to hospital and checked over and was told by a doctor, it?s just a cold. I wanted to strangle her, she said I obviously had just had a panic attack.
My lips and throat did not swell which normally happens with nut allergic reactions but I asked to be tested. Blood tests came back negative and skin prick tests showed no reaction so the only thing to do now was to eat them to see but I had now developed a real phobia of nut and was terrified of eating them. I knew I would just have a major panic attack and they would think I was reacting.
More time passed and I had another child and I saw a documentary on allergic reactions and they said (if I remember correctly) 40% are unexplained and some are panic attackes which I use to suffer from so I was really happy to think that could explain that horrible episode at college and in fact i can eat nuts and it was just a panic attack.
i started Cognitive behaviour Therapy in Jan to get over my fear of eating nuts so I could try to see if i am allergic or not.
On Wednesday I ate a a walnut, pistachio, hazelnut and peanut. One hour later the same thing happened as in college 2008, except nothing ti my throat. I was checked by a doc and she said my nasal passages were closed and my ears too. She said it must be some kind fo allergy and to go back to my gp. My ears and nose were totally blocked from 3.30pm to 4am roughly. It was very traumatic.
Spoke to my gp today who refused to beleive it was a reaction and that it was ll in my head and i must have had a cold?
I was not anxious when it came on in fact I was delighted that I had actually eating nuts - something that only months before terrified me just saying the word.
He is basically refusing to anything more about this. What shall I do? Do you think your bdy is capable of doing this when you are not scared? I am so confused and been made to feel like a drama queen making it all up.
Any advice would be really appreciated and thank you for reading this.
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Allergies and intolerances
All Nut allergy experts, can you please help? Sorry its long...
girlsrus · 13/05/2011 20:34
Actually my DS gets sudden nasal swelling when he has a reaction. He is negative in RAST to all things tested and has a normal IgE (allergy marker) when he's been tested. He also gets an itchy feeling on the skin on his back without a rash. He has an epi-pen. (he has other symptoms aswell).
TBH when DS has his severe reaction last year he suddenly complained of feeling cold, had sudden nasal congestion and was very flushed - I thought he had a cold (symptoms could have been a fever but temp was 35.9) until it dawned on me you don't get a cold in 5 seconds. 
I would avoid all nuts if I was you - the alternative isn't good.
DS actually had the itchy back yesterday morning. No rash but really annoying him. We remembered 10 minutes later I had forgotton to give him his AH the night before. 
DS cons pead descibed the reaction he had - which appeares identical to yours but also with swollen face/ lip/ eyes and flushed face with angry red spots as and a paniced/ rapid breathing like you as "severe allergic reaction suggestive of shock"
Get a second opinion.
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IgE is a protein which rises when your body is exposed to something it see's as a threat iyswim? Thats the easiest explanation I can gaive.
RAST stands for something - but basically they take blood, measure your IgE, add the suspected allergen to the blood and measure the IgE again. A score is then given. If the IgE rises then your having an allergic response. As mentioned above sometimes you can get false negative, but also some times a positive test to things you've reacted too.
My DS symptons all occured at once - his cons pead did say though that symptoms of panic are common with analphylaxis - I mean try not panicking when you feel like shit, are swelling up and finding it hard to breathe. 
nottirednow has given great advice above. I think to seperate this from psychological response and allergic response tests need to be carried out.
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