Sudden Allergic Reation, Scary!

[TreetopOwl]

DD has been out with friends this afternoon. They went shopping, had a few drinks in a bar and went to an indian restaurant (she has been there many times before)
Immediately after eating her starter she felt ill and had a rash appeared over her face and chest, she also felt sick and dizzy.
A friend bought her home in a taxi and I gave her a piriton and she got into bed.
She said her chest felt tight and there was a rash on her chest
After an hour the rash has faded considerably and she's sound asleep. (piriton always knocks me out so i think it's the same for her)
I'm assuming it was the Indian food but how strange that she's eaten there before with no problems.
I'm.worried about leaving her and going to bed but as the rash has faded I'm guessing the worst is over?
Never experienced this before....

with a secondary reaction will the rash come back? how will I know if not? should I give another antihistamine at 1? (4 hours after the first)

They are the drowsy version, I had them in the cupboard luckily, as when other DD visits she sometimes gets allergy symptom s from the cat.

@TreetopOwl sorry was referring to @SurfingApple at that point. Although I would say your DD was on the edge of a pretty serious reaction too. I just feel there needs to be more awareness of what constitutes a serious reaction. A lot of deaths from anaphylaxis are at least in part because the symptoms weren't recognised and treated (with adrenaline not antihistamine) sufficiently swiftly. The current advice is to treat with adrenaline first and then antihistamine/steroids as giving antihistamines can mask the severity of the reaction taking place.

To be fair that advice is once someone has been diagnosed. It’s incredibly unlikely that a first reaction would be anaphylaxis and people don’t have adrenaline at home on the off chance. I totally agree that once in possession of adrenaline you’d give immediately, not antihistamine. Obviously this wasn’t the case for the OP (or us) at that time.

Hope all is well with your daughter overnight OP and a GP visit helps arrange some allergy tests.

Sleep well all.

No but hospital would be a good idea with those symptoms.

@NeverTwerkNaked sorry yes I realise that now.

I'm laid in bed too scared to sleep now! But if she's sleeping soundly what can I do?
I've just heard grunting so gone and checked again but she's just asleep.

SurfingApple: To be fair that advice is once someone has been diagnosed. It’s incredibly unlikely that a first reaction would be anaphylaxis and people don’t have adrenaline at home on the off chance.

None of that is true. What are you basing those statements on? Of course people don’t have adrenalin-injectors unless diagnosed, but 111/999 should be called, depending on severity.

@NeverTwerkNaked “giving antihistamines can mask the severity of the reaction taking place”

This is true.

OP, you can talk it through with 111.

Sorry to hear your daughter has experienced her first allergic reaction out of the blue

I am reading with interest because my DH is undiagnosed. We are still waiting for an allergy clinic referral. We can’t work out what the allergen is.

First time was 18 months ago on a day trip with kids after washing his hands. He had a few minutes before eaten a snickers bar (not unusual). Second time a few months ago after eating mango chutney. Third time after he accidentally put my face mask on his hands thinking it was hand cream.

Fourth time (November) was scary, his lip blew up so big it was bleeding and he thought he was having a heart attack. Lasted hours and we went to A&E. Given steroids and a course of antihistamines. Cause weirdly was bending over very quickly and then feeling dizzy. Fifth time (December) he was poorly with a cold in bed. My daughter woke him up with a start. This was the most serious as him gums swelled up, he tongue and his lip. A&E and steroids again (intravenously). The last time was on New Years Day. Tingling lip again after various alcohol consumed at party. Took steroids left over from A&E trip and it subsided.

Dr in A&E said it is slower progressing than anaphylaxis, but could progress to that so allergy clinic referral marked as urgent

I am now very concerned reading your replies!! Also wanted to say, please be aware that on subsequent allergic episodes the reaction can be worse. At least in my husbands case. Please see a GP even if only to get a dose of tablet steroids ready in case of next reaction to give you some time.

My DH is in his 40s and we’re baffled over the cause(s) and what we should do. I’m really scared of venturing too far from a hospital!

He is a typical man and has probably been to the GP less than 5 times in his adult life so I’m trying to convince him to chase up the referral but he doesn’t want to as says they will be in contact soon, but it has been ages (November)

^ sorry to hijack thread OP but I’m so worried too and looks like people here have sound advice.

Please get your daughter to go to GP on Monday at least and get a referral rolling. In our case it’s taking ages!

@BlueSkies2020 how worrying for you! it sounds like he needs an allergy test asap.
I hope they find a cause soon.

I'm thinking I won't give her another piriton if it's going to mask symptoms.
I'm so tired, have got a sore throat and headache, but I can't sleep and leave her to it

I have that reaction to eating grapes or raisins. I also developed an allergy in my 30s to nuts.

She needs allergy tests to see what it is.

It should calm down but call 111 for advice anyway.

@BlueSkies2020, horrible situation for you both. But if he has symptoms of anaphylaxis then he needs to call 999, not just take steroids. Adrenaline is essential, steroids can also give you a false sense of security and is he not an alternative to adrenaline. Even once he has an epipen, the advice is to go to A&E if you have to use it, mainly to be monitored for secondary reaction.

Peanut allergy

@TreetopOwl I would probably phone 111 just for peace of mind. I really feel for you right now. It is very scary

I am thinking now that I’ve haven’t been taking the reactions seriously enough given your replies here. I thought it would be ok to just take the steroids. My DH told me this week that’s what he plans to do until the allergy referral comes through rather than bother A&E again He is not one for causing a fuss and doesn’t want to waste NHS resources.

I can understand that, but also don’t think it’s particularly sensible to passively wait for allergy testing. We’re not best placed to know at home whether adrenaline is required (he didn’t have it either time at A&E).

Does anyone know if you can speak to your DH GP and ask them to chase up the referral. He won’t phone! He works from home alone and I’m quite worried

*not particularly sensible even

On top of his allergies, my baby has a dairy and almond allergy- no anaphylaxis but he gets hives on his face and vomits He is too young for allergy testing and has seen the dietitian already

What is going on with all these allergies

There’s reliable information here, @blueskies2020:

www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Anaphylaxis-The-Facts-Feb-2019.pdf

And links to the NHS guides here:

www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/living-with-anaphylaxis/the-nhs/

Thanks @AuntyElle

Up late feeding baby so need something to read!

Allergy testing doesn’t always come up with the answer.

The reason you should call an ambulance after using the epi pen is that occasionally the adrenaline can cause a heart attack.

OP please check that her tongue isn’t swollen. The tongue can swell and block the airway. I have had to go to A&E three times because of this. I would ring 111as they have doctors who could advise you. I take Piriton and I would repeat the dose but I don’t want to suggest medicating someone else. Her next reaction may be worse so she needs to get medical advise this week.
A second reaction often starts to happen after the Piriton wears off. Please list all the symptoms you observe and if you are concerned take her to A&E. I have always been take seriously and never been admonished for going to A&E with allergic reactions. They usually keep me for about five hours just to keep monitoring my heart rate etc.

Well it was quite an uneventful night
I checked on her a few times and she was sound asleep. At 6 she called me in and said she felt ok but really shaky. Reading the side effects I'm thinking this could be the effect of piriton and alcohol. I've left her sleeping

Just to add another possibility OP - my friend has the exact reaction you describe to white wine (some not all, although she has now stopped drinking white at all as it’s a bit alarming!). She would be fine then have a glass or two and whilst you were chatting away a reddish rash would appear on her chest and face, then she’d start feeling nauseous & dizzy (not from excess alcohol, this could be after one). Just a thought as the food might not be the culprit!?

@chipsandgin I have heard about wine allergies, she doesn't usually drink wine but I will ask her what she was drinking. Thankyou

Your DDs experience sounds similar to mine when I was a teenager.

I'm only writing this in case it's of interest. I'm not suggesting I made the right choices.
I reacted to eating a chicken tikka sandwich from a 24/7 shop while walking home from a night club. My face swelled up, my eyelids swelled practically shut, my feet and legs swelled, had to rip my tights and shoes off. My throat swelled up and started whistling.
My neighbour was a retired nurse so she came to help me with antihistamine, but in retrospect probably should have called ambulance.

I visited gp who prescribed steroids, antihistamine and EpiPen. Referred to allergy clinic who couldn't find anything severe or conclusive, therefore I couldn't really seek to avoid anything food wise.

Carried on eating whatever I wanted over the following months, reacting to this and that, but not as bad as the first time. I was armed with my meds to immediately treat my symptoms and over the years my reactions tailed off.

Then years later I started to react to wine and beer, probably sensitive to sulphites?

I'm not a big drinker so if I took antihistamines before drinking the odd glass it was fine.

But then I developed hayfever and I am now sensitive to wood dust as I work with various timbers professionally.

Referred to allergy clinic again, still inconclusive, but the Dr. said it's fine to take antihistamines everyday so that's what I now do as there's always some kind of pollen or dust flying around that makes me react like I've suddenly got a terrible cold.

Lastly, if I haven't eaten something for a long time (years) and then eat it, I react to it for eg. recently that's been grapefruit, banana, persimmon.

Get the ball rolling and go to the gp, ask for allergy clinic referral and EpiPen in the meantime. Write a detailed food diary from now on so there is information to present to the clinic.

Good luck, it's scary, especially as it isn't happening to you directly.

So it turns out the starter was a mixed dish which included prawns so I'm wondering if they could be the culprit.
DD isn't keen on prawns as a rule so rarely has them.

I'm allergic to gram flour (in indian batter) - sounds like it could be that. unfortunately, it's appearing in more and more supermarket foods