Could a tomato allergy in a toddler suddenly get worse and cause vomiting?

[FrankNCock]

DS (2.2) threw up all over the place today after having raw tomato in his sandwich. He loves to eat cherry tomatoes, but every time he has raw tomato he gets a bit of a rash around his mouth. I'd previously though it was just due to the citric acid in tomatoes, but now I'm not sure.

He was sticking his tongue out quite a bit and touching it--thought he was just playing with his food, or could it have been that his tongue went tingly? Also, the rash seemed worse than ever today.

I've not heard of any vomiting bugs going around, none of his friends are ill.

Do I take him to the GP and ask for allergy tests, is that how it's done?

Yes, and yes.

It could be coincidence but I think you've reached the point of no more experimentation at home.

Part of Ds1's reaction pattern is a burning or tingly mouth/tongue but he was 3 before he could explain it to us. Before then he'd complain that food was 'too hot' and we thought he was complaining about temperature/spiciness.

Apologies if this sounds too obvious, but was there anything else in the sandwich? Is your DS allergic to other things?

That's really interesting, DS does talk about food being 'hot hot' and he knows about 'spicy' from trying some Mexican hot sauce my friend brought over recently.

How long does it take from exposure to symptoms, is it straight away? I'd say the tongue sticking out happened about 10-15 minutes from the start of eating his sandwich, and the vomiting only a few minutes after that.

yes. instant in my sons cases for his allergies.

does yr child have anyother pointers to being an atopic child?
asthma, ezcema, environmental allergies?

do get medical adivce pls, and no more tomatos.

Yes, it was a sandwich from Subway, had ham, cheese, tomatoes, gherkins, olives, and cucumbers. He loves them. I'm almost certain it is the tomatoes giving him the rash, he's gotten similar when eating raw cherry tomatoes and that is the only thing that seems to do that. I honestly thought it was just the acidity causing the rash, feel quite bad that he might be allergic and I've continued giving them to him!

We think he has asthma, his dad had quite severe asthma from a young age (diagnosed at age 3), I was diagnosed with mild asthma at age 19. He has an inhaler that we can't get him to use, tends to sound wheezy with sudden changes in temperatures.

well, does sound like tomatos, but with the sandwich from subway the cross contmination cant be certain if its something else , apart from tomatos.

as for the asthma, has he been prescribed a preventor inhaler? if so, he MUST take it.

oh and with the gentic history of his parents, the chance of allergies is quite high.

tomato is a high histamine food btw. my son cant eat them raw, but can cooked.
but wouldnt give yr child any until its confirmed with medical advice.

eragon, yes, I've been reading a bit on tomato allergy and he definitely doesn't have a problem when they are cooked. He has tomatoes in lots of things, the rash only happens with raw tomato.

He doesn't have a preventer as he's not officially diagnosed with asthma. They just gave me a reliever because I went in to the GP so many times asking about his wheezing!

Am trying to get through to GP, phone busy all morning!

Out of interest, how long does it take your son to feel better after contact with an allergen? I thought he seemed better last night, but he is still a bit subdued and clingy today.

my son would be knocked out by the antihistamine i would give him for the mild reaction. so that would make him subdued and clingy.
its quite a scary sensation really, and when you think that he was fine until he ate it and had quite a violent response, vomiting and tingling mouth, i would expect a adult to feel rough after that , let alone a child.

my son has had very severe reactions, with epi pens , hosptial dashes etc, and there is always a period of PTS afterwards.

Finally got through to GP's office, got an appointment for Thursday morning. Thanks for all the advice!

Glad you have an appointment.
the trouble with allergies is that just when you think you have 'em sussed they can change on you. so in your ds's case it could well be that but I hope you find it's just a tummy bug

Just thought I'd update you. . .

Saw GP this morning and she said based on my and DH's allergy history plus the events I've described, it's very likely DS is allergic to raw tomato. She said she'd hesitate to do testing because it seems quite obvious what it is and testing can be quite traumatic and not conclusive at this age. A friend with a DD the same age said the same, blood tests were inconclusive, but her DD got a reaction every time with egg.

The advice is to have no raw tomato for 8 weeks and see if he gets a rash from anything else, and ring her. If no rash from anything else, she recommends avoiding raw tomato for 12 months and then reintroducing.

Guess I'll be looking for other healthy snacks now, cherry tomatoes were always my go-to food!