This was anaphylaxis wasn’t it? Nuts.

[Mytortoiseisbetter]

Ds2 (16) has always had hay fever/throat-clearing type symptoms ans the odd rash after food but last night something more serious happened.

he ate 4 Brazil nuts and a few minutes later his throat felt weird and his breathing became noisy. His eyes were red.

We happen to have a neighbour who is a local GP and he kindly came over. He got ds2 to take antihistamine. Then he got an inhaler, then a steroid inhaler. The throat cleared a bit and he sent ds2 to bed saying he should go to hospital if it didn’t settle. He said “we’d know by now” if it was going to be severe (he stayed with us for an hour)

I slept in the same room as ds2. Shortly after going to bed he got very agitated saying his heart felt like it was on fire. I thought it was a panic attack but then he threw up and after that it all subsided. He says his throat still feels a bit “cottony”.

I had assumed the vomiting was a response to the inhaler but Google tells me that vomiting and heart issues are actually part of anaphylaxis especially if food-related.

this morning I obviously called our own GP who ordered a RAST(?) test but that’s not till next Friday. She said normally you call 999 with any breathing issues.

I realised I’d failed to tel, her about the heart and vomiting to called back and gave a message to the receptionist.

dh is in complete denial saying “it could be nothing”.

it’s not though is it?

my neighbour has shown us where their epipen is (it went out of date in 2020).

Not sure what I’m really asking here. I guess a handhold? My older son had a life threatening emergency just a month ago requiring neurosurgery and I’m only just recovering from that!

thank you everyone. I have probably misunderstood/misdescribed what neighbour GP said/did which I am embarrassed about. I did have a telephone appt with own GP today.

if anyone can explain the difference between RAST test and IGE test I'd be most grateful.

RAST testing is an old form of IgE testing, but doctors often still call it that.

My child had a similar allergic response recently - vomiting, swelling in the throat/face, very laboured breathing. Paramedic arrived in car and then on seeing her, summoned an ambulance to take DD to A&E. The end conclusion was that this was not anaphylaxis because symptoms did improve after administration of anti-histamine/steroids. Hospital registrar declined to provide epi-pen or any advice as to what we should do if a similar situation arose again where paramedics couldn't arrive so quickly.

We saw a consultant privately after this, who prescribed steroids and epi-pen in case of recurrence.

Have a firm plan in place for if it happens again. I’m not 100% certain but I think allergic reactions can become more severe.
You did what you thought was best at the time but it sounds like it may not have been the best treatment for what was happening.
Make a plan with your DS to avoid nuts until blood results are in and what you will both do should this happen again.

You dont recover from anaphylaxis with an inhaler and a standard antihistamine
It sounds like a reaction but not anaphylaxis
But next time ring 999

I’ve a child who reacts to some nuts and not others. Hazelnuts and hazelnut paste (Nutella, Kinder Bueno) trigger the worst reaction, but she also reacts to pesto (pine nuts) and sesame (tahini, burger buns with seeds.) Having had RAST tests, she carries Jext pens. We have never had to use them. Anti histamines have sufficed to manage her back. I would NOT put her to bed/rest/sleep but would keep her alert and awake until I was sure symptoms had passed. A friend with a child allergic to egg had her son slump into a deep sleep and pretty much slide to the floor in a restaurant when he had egg-coated goujons which they’d been assured were egg free, so I’d worry about leaving them to sleep it off.

Another tip, until you get to the bottom of it, ensure he doesn’t handle nuts eg if feeding pets like sunflower seeds or similar to birds. My sister (like a previous poster) only developed anaphylactic reactions in her 30s, and these have worsened over the years, so I believe it’s not unusual to develop reactions at any stage of life.

doesn’t sound like anaphylaxis to me.

I'm allergic to Brazil nuts. The reaction you decribe is what I get. My allergy is confirmed with testing. He needs to get tested and propert advice. Meanwhile avoid all nuts and don't kiss anyone who's just eaten them (you live and learn!). Seriously though, take this seriously. Every reaction I has gets worse. I'd now get that reaction from a trace amount of Brazil nuts.

It's always best to err on the side of caution. If you suspect anaphylaxis then act as if it is. Using an epipen is not going to harm you but delaying it might be fatal.

Yup. That's my thinking too.

It might be, it might not be, but until OP knows for sure she should take it very seriously in case it is.

Many medical emergencies are life threatening and might self resolve or resolve with medical intervention or not resolve, but you have no way of predicting what the outcome will be in tbr moment. And with something like anaphylaxis that can progress very quickly it is always better to seek medical help immediately if there are indications.

I’m anaphylactic to penicillin and while it’s not nuts I just wanted to share what happened to me. I had never had a reaction to penicillin before but was in labour at the time and consultant reckons my body was under so much stress that I developed a severe reaction.

My first symptom was my throat closing. I kept asking for water but couldn’t swallow. I then developed a rash and literally started to blow up like a balloon. Obviously I was in the right place at the right time and was given steroids immediately but I was really in a bad way for days afterwards. The swelling took days to go down. My sister came to see me that evening after I gave birth and walked past me as she didn’t recognise me!

I was tested for penicillin allergy afterwards and came back highly allergic. When my children are sick I cannot even touch the penicillin they’ve been prescribed as my skin starts to react to it.

Hope this helps somewhat OP and that you get it sorted x

Read every ingredient in foods. My granddaughter is allergic to both shellfish and nuts, no coconut either. Watch for cross contamination.

From my anaphylaxis management training that I had to do because a child at the nursery I worked in had diagnosed anaphylaxis and a prescribed epipen, allergy has to be life threatening to be classed as anaphylaxis.

An epipen is a measured dose of adrenaline in a spring loaded injection that you inject into the large thigh muscle.

Accidental injection of the epipen to a person not experiencing anaphylaxis is dangerous, potentially life threatening and requires an ambulance called for them.

Do Not Use an epipen that is not prescribed for your son.

Steroids can make your heart race, is your neighbour really a GP, anyone with even basic medical understanding would phone an ambulance at the first sign of breathing troubles.

@Twillow Not one that isn't prescribed to you. Depending on your weight you can overdose

Do Not Use an epipen that is not prescribed for your son.

That's not always a good idea, schools can now have epi pens that are prescribed to the school for use for anyone who needs it.

OP

Inform the school and ask them if they have an EpiPen, hopefully it won't happen at school but they need to know to call an ambulance if it does.

I apologise my information is out of date. It is now no longer prescription. ( I did my training 20 years ago and I should have looked up more current information).

With the RAST/IgE tests, do be prepared to have a long wait for the results. Not all local hospital pathology labs can process them, so they may be sent away to a bigger hospital with the specialised testing equipment (for example in Kent, the tests are only done at Ashford hospital).
This can take up to six weeks for the results to come back.

epi pens are prescribed on weight, about a year ago our GP tried to prescribe adult size pens for my DS who was 8 at the time. Thank goodness I looked at the prescription properly (not that we have had to use the pens thank goodness but still). When I told the pharmacist he was shocked as an adult dose could kill a child, equally a child dose might not be enough to treat an adult in anaphylaxis so yes using someone elses pen isn't always the best idea.

OP you will need to get used to people trying to minimise allergies, blame them on you as the parent, claim you and your son are attention seekers and hear the old 'they didn't exist in my day' line a billion times. It really sucks being an allergy parent

Check out pollen food allergy.

I’ve had this before, yet I’m not allergic to nuts. I’ve seen an allergy consultant about it.

www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/food-allergy/symptoms-causes/syc-20355095

look up the bit about pollen food allergy.

Schools will not use EpiPens on any child without a care plan from a GP or consultant. Which is why the OP needs to go see a consultant and not take medical advice from randoms on MN or neighbours!

I agree with you about the consultant but EpiPens are prescribed to settings as opposed to individuals so that they can administer in an emergency on the instructions of a 999 call handler.

All very well to say that Meg but the allergy consultants are not at my beck and call! and I need to make decisions about desperately needed holiday to France etc etc.

can a GP prescribe epipen on a suspicion of anaphylaxis? I’m struggling to see how we travel otherwise and like many people we have not had a family holiday since January 2020.

Also can my GP give school the “care plan” or are we supposed to wait till next term?

im not sure if it helps but I was prescribed an epipen by a GP without having seen a consultant although this would have been in 2007 so they may be more strict on this now. This was because I was going to Australia and my mum was terrified. I was prescribed them for years without having been referred for testing and actually never had any tests at all until 2017 when I had anaphylaxis and they insisted I go for ige tests although I’m not sure what the point was as it only confirmed what I already knew.

So in my case, yes, the GP prescribed on suspicion