you know i said the other day that teenagers are idiots and their brains dont work properly

[bruffin]

Well today Ds proved it
The cookie didn't kill him, but I will.
Someone gave him a white choc cookie which turned out to have macademian nuts.
This is the first time his breathing has been affected, so will now need to get an epipen.
The person who gave him the cookie didn't know about his nut allergy, so is completely blameless.
When he was 4 he could look out for himself better than now he is 16.
I don't think he has had macademia nuts before, so I wonder if he is more allergic to those than other tree nuts.
Just having a rant because I can't sleep now..

Oh no bruffin, how stressful. I've heard the teenage years can be a bit hairy with them suddenly becoming quite lax.

I'm a bit confused though because if he's allergic to tree nuts does he not need to avoid practically all chocolates and biscuits because of the may contain labels, or was it because he has never had a reaction involving his breathing that he's only ever needed to avoid actual nuts?

Anyway epipens are amazing, they work so quickly and are not difficult at all to use. Being 16 he'll easily be able to learn to use it himself too.

The other thing that might be useful is the workshops run by the anaphylaxis campaign for teenagers and families. Good luck.

Having an epipen is a very good thing.
There is a local tragedy of a local girl who went to university, she went out for a Curry and it had been cooked in a nut oil. She had a full anaphylaxic shock, she died, but might just have survived if her allergy had been flagged up as serious enough for an epipen.

Having an epipen is a very good thing.
There is a local tragedy of a local girl who went to university, she went out for a Curry and it had been cooked in a nut oil. She had a full anaphylaxic shock, she died, but might just have survived if her allergy had been flagged up as serious enough for an epipen.

Mummy, was that girl at Cambridge in 1989? Otherwise, same thing to girlfriend of a friend of mine back then. Waiter assured her no nuts in anything she had ordered. Turned out not to be so. Dead 20 minutes later, at 21.

The anaphylaxis campaign had posted on fb recently that there has been several anaphylactic reactions to eating out/takeaway curries recently, three of which were fatal. Most were places that the people had eaten at before. It's really awful. And it reminds us how we can never assume anything is safe. :(

Nope she was at Durham.

Thanks
The idiot lovely boy is ok today. The irony is that he is doing a lifeguards course this week so doing lifesaving.
He has also lost his mobile so not a good week for him.
He just didn't ask about the cookie, because he thought he had one before.
This was not a trace of nuts reaction. The biscuit had chunks of macadamia in, though I don't think he has ever heard of macadamia before.
Hopefully he has learnt his lesson. He had breathing problems, went cold and shivery and was itching. He was out with friends, thankfully antihistamine worked,but will get epipen.

I am dreading the teenage years and DD2 is only 2 1/2

That reaction sounds just like the one my DS had (cols/ shivery and rapid breathing). Did he use double dose AH? I've been told to do that because DS has been held off full blown anaphylaxis (although does have epi-pens because of the reaction). Mindyou he had triple dose then and next time would use an epi-pen after advice here! (Laughs at me actually taking MN advice over DR's!)

Sounds like an accident - bless him. Does he usually eat most things without worrying or does he have a list of safe treats?

Following the deaths from anaphylaxis - my friend died of nut allergy at 14 after eating a toffee yogurt from a major supermarket. It contained traces of nuts. (she was also severely asthmatic and cardiac arrest was the cause of death) I don't even remember her having an epi-pen.

I think this a good reason why any one who's had an allergy with breathing difficulties should be prescribed one - you just don't know. And bruffin I'd ask for the jext pen - they have a retractable needle and as your DS is likely to be doing it himself (or a friend) it may just give you that extra piece of mind?

Please please do listen to what babybarrister has said. We did the same first time and had an unconscious little dd when we should have just used the epipen. You cannot do any harm by using an epipen/jextpen/anapen - they all release adrenaline into your body which will widen the airways and get the blood pressure back to normal, and saves lives. The worst that can happen if you use it inappropriately is its painful, the heart races for a bit and the breathing rate is a bit faster. The body breaks drown adrenaline within 5-10 minutes so it has no long term effects and is not dangerous. But by waiting to see if it's necessary to use it, it can end up being too late. If in doubt, use the adrenaline pen. Then give call an ambulance and give the antihistamine, but always use the pen first if the breathing is involved in any way.