stick to old favourites with regard to chocolate as those that dont contain any nuts!
pls reffer to anaphylaxis campaign for more clarifications on allergy symptoms.
that said,
when you are looking at someone who is going through an allergic reaction you need to think about what is happening on the INSIDE.
you need to consider if someone is having difficulty breathing, airways becoming swollen, or blocked, you will see that person unable to speak clearly a child may whisper , or have drool pouring out and be unable to swallow, or they may talk in a horse voice, or cough, because of throat swelling, or swollen tongue etc.
they may also have an asthma attack, which again is a serious sign of difficulty breathing.
they may be very pale, grey and clammy, or may go blue around the lips, or be floppy, or dizzy, all signs of lowering blood pressure.
they may suddenly panic after being calm, this is often discribed as a 'sense of doom' again, serious sign that something is going very very wrong.
i have given my son a epi for,
serious throat and chest pain, unable to talk loudly at the time. very pale with white lips.
for swollen tongue, as airways being compromised, if tongue is swelling throat may be swelling shut as well.
for that sense of doom. calm mild symptoms, treated with piriton,with mild lip swelling and couple of hives, feeling sick. all calm then boom going even paler saying that 'its coming and i cant do this any more'!
at each time epi pen worked very quickly and instant relief seen on his face.
we know that epi pens work, we know that we dont wait until true breathing problems start, as this means we have less chance of a effective method of controlling symptoms before he gets to the hosptial.
we dont panic, we calmly give epi, and call for help. we all know the action plan, we all know the symptoms. this helps you and your child cope and adjust to living with life threatening food allergies.