what is a full blown anaphylactic reaction like? and what do you do?

[ratbunny]

had a major scare today, after giving ds hummous (I now know that you shouldnt give sesame til they are 2). the eczema on his face flared really bad, so I gave him some piriton, and he just started coughing and coughing and wouldnt stop. I immediately thought of his airways constricting, so called the doctors.
he is ok, thankfully, and we think he choked on the piriton, as the reaction was not immediate (about 1 hour later).

but it made me think:
what happens in a full blown reaction?
is it immediate?
how much time do you have before it gets really bad?
what do you do while you wait for help?

My mum had a full blown as bad as it gets reaction to a bee sting, and it was as follows (don't read if you're nervous though). Note, she didn't know she was allergic and had been stung lots of times before.

After she was stung, she lost consciousness within 1 minute. Fortunately my dad realised what was happening and had got her into the car and on the way to hospital (ambulance would have taken too long). Within 10 minutes her heart had stopped, and she had no blood pressure at all. My dad got her to hospital within that 10 minutes, and the consultant said that another minute would have been too long. They pumped her full of adrenaline, she recovered and came home the following day. She then had years of desensitising injections to try and lessen the severity of any further reactions, and always carries an epipen. So yes it was scary, and she was very lucky (my dad was a beekeeper, and it was one of his bees - they were taking them up to some deserted moorland, and had it happened up there then there would have been no hope at all), but it was managed, no lasting effects and she's fine.

hi,my eldest is 2.5, he has a similar red itchy reaction to sesame & various other things & also suffers from eczema. we have been having allergy tests with an immunologist and it turns out he is also allergic to peanuts. this is quite common apparently as the same food group as sesame |(peas as well, he is also allergic to those). we have been presribed an epipen as a precaution as there is no way of knowing how a peanut allergy might manifest itselfso it might be worth trying to get some testing done if possible.

tortoiseshell-omg that sounded terrifying.Your Dad is a hero!

How lucky for your mum he reacted so quickly.

shell - that is really scary!
i didnt realise it could make the heart stop.
In that case, I suppose you would have to administer cpr (not sure if that's what it is - rescue breaths and chest compressions) while you wait for help?

bloody hell - a reaction to pollen!
It is really scary having a child with allergies isnt it - sometimes I feel like there's a loaded gun out there somewhere waiting for us..

can you get an epipen as a precautionary measure?

Just found this on wilkipedia

"The time between ingestion of the allergen and anaphylaxis symptoms can vary for some patients depending on the amount of allergen consumed and their reaction time. Symptoms can appear immediately, or can be delayed by half an hour to several hours after ingestion. -
However, symptoms of anaphylaxis usually appear very quickly once they do begin."

I always thought that anaphylactic shock was an immediate reaction I didn't realise it could happen a few hours later!!

We were prescribed an epipen after my son had a positive skin test to peanuts. the consultant said he was unlikely to have an anaphylactic reaction as he does not have asthma (although my husband does) but if we were concerned he would prescribe one which he did. it makes us feel much more relaxed as although we always have piriton with us I knew that would not work in the case of a serious reaction.
we really had to nag the doctor to get a referral to an immunologist. she kept saying there would be a 9 month wait but after i phoned the consultants secretary and was told they had to see all child referrals within 4 weeks (!) the GP finally agreed to make a referral.

my child does not have asthma and has had 2 serious reactions. Nut reactions are unpredictable. Those with asthma are more at risk but you do not have to be asthmatic to need an epipen.

In an anaphylactic reaction you don't put the person into the recovery poition. They should not move but are better sitting than lying down. Exercise makes the reaction worse and can bring on a delayed anphylactic reaction. Reactions are not all immediate (although most are) and there can be a secondary reaction 4 hours later when anything eaten is being digested.

Average time to the heart stopping is half an hour for food reactions. That isn't long to get medical attention, hence the need for epipens.

Reactions can start with rashes, facial swelling or just collapse. The throat will start to swell if its anaphylactic but you won't necessarily see anything at that stage, although the child is likely to put a hand to their throat and look frightened. They may be pale rather than having a rash and they may go floppy. They may be unable to talk and struggle to breathe. If you have an epipen you use it, if not phone an ambulance, try to keep the person calm until it arrives - and pray if you are so inclined. Piriton may possibly slow things and sometimes makes children vomit (which helps). I don't know what you do if asthmatic, probably use an inhaler.

Epipens are brilliant if you ever need to use one.

sorry - just realised that's not clear enough. A child having problems breathing needs to sit up and be kept calm, you can use the recovery position for one who has totally collapsed.

thanks tatt - that was very comprehensive.
is sesame in the same league as nut reactions?

sesame and peanuts are both legumes...
my son has a peanut allergy.
The first time he had an anaphylatic shock, it was immediate, seconds after eating it. His face totally blew up, nearly 2x the size and was kind of white apart from his lips and hair line which were bright red. his tongue was enormous and he was holding his throat. He then had the most severe projectile vomiting I've ever seen. he shook like mad and the wheezing was horrible. Piriton worked straight away. We've also got an epipen but have never had to use it thank god

I don't know a lot about sesame as we don't have a problem with it. It's possible to have anaphylactic reactions to just about everything and sesame reactions often do go with allergy to peanut. In your situation I would want to see an allergy specialist to have tests for sesame and peanut but I would probably wait until he was 3. However if he has anything similar again I wouldn't wait but would seek an urgent referral. Not a good idea to risk him with nuts if he hasn't already had them safely.

BTW although its helpful if a child vomits when they are having an allergic reaction it isn't recommended that you try and induce vomiting.

We have given twice the dose of piriton recommended on the box and the consultant said that was "probably beneficial" for a bad reaction.

when my son was having his skin prick tests the consultant gave him a double dose of piriton for the itchiness. he said that this was fine for a severe skin reaction.

DS1 is allergic to peanuts and beans which are both legumes and the consultant has told us to avoid all legumes for the time being. He is to have a peanut challenge later this year (long waiting list!), they said he doesn't need one for the beans because he had 4 seperate reactions to the beans in 3 months and each reaction was worse than the last. This time last year he could eat beans with no problems at all!!!!

As for the technical stuff, what Tatt says.

My DD1 had an anaphylactic reaction to formula milk at 6 months. She was in her high chair. The effect was immediate, swollen mouth, tongue, throat, lips etc. I phoned 999 (who stayed on the phone until ambulance arrived, brilliant). DD1 was struggling for breath so I did resus - no idea if it helped really but it gave me something to do. The paramedics jabbed her with adrenaline and took us to hospital. They didn't give her air as they didn't have the right mask but she was breathing independently, if raspingingly. She was given oxygen in the childrens unit when we got to hospital.

Shortly after arriving at hospital she was very sick all over her herself and where the milk touched her skin she developed a horrible red rash - which confirmed what I'd suggested as a milk allergy.

Amazingly, she is no longer allergic to milk (took about 4 years). Consultant thought the best we could hope for was that she'd tolerate milk powder in shop-bought biscuits. We filmed her eating her first ice cream cone because it was akin to her making a moon landing!

By the way, after she'd been sick in the hospital she rallied really quickly. They kept us in for the rest of the day for observation but DD1 spent most of her time on my lap sleeping or b/feeding.