anaphylaxis out of the blue. Advice please!

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Have reposted here in the hope of more replies!

I have just come out of hospital this afternoon after having an anaphylactic reaction yesterday. It started on Thursday when I was itching all over and lumpy white lumps on my hands and neck. I woke up on Friday morning and didn't feel right so looked in the mirror and had a massive shock as my head had blown up like a balloon. Couldn't see my eyes and my lips were massive. Breathing ok at that point. I called NHS Direct who told me to get straight to casualty. When I got there, within 15 minutes I couldn't breathe and my throat started to close over so they gave me adrenaline which calmed it all down. Since then, I have had 2 flair ups which have resolved with Piriton. At the moment, I can feel myself itching AGAIN and I'm just holding on to see if it calms down on its own.

Background - I have had a big flair up of my eczema over the last couple of months and have had a bad back since Tuesday for which I have been taking Naproxen. On Thursday, I bought a loaf of granary style bread from an independent bakers and ate that twice. So the money is either on the bread or the Naproxen.

Has anyone else experienced this with Naproxen or eczema related anaphylaxis?

Just looking for anyone with a similar story to tell or any advice as I am pretty freaked out by what happened. Have been told not to eat nuts or seeds for the moment and not to take the Naproxen again.

Would be most grateful for any advice - thank you so much x

From what I remember of my allergy training (podiatrist, we give local anaesthetics so we have to know about allergies and treatment) anaphylaxis starts on the second exposure to the allergen.

So, bee sting No1 no problems but the immune system marks it out as a serious allergen. Bee sting No2, anaphylaxis kicks in as the immune system assumes this is a serious invasion.

So my money is on the bread.

No experience of this but sounds scary - hope someone with medical knowledge can answer your question soon.

You may want to make an appointment with your GP and get an epi-pen especially because you are not sure what is causing it so it is hard for you to avoid it. You can also ask to be tested to find out what is causing your reaction.

thanks everyone. fluffy i think it's the bread too. lovely it was! have now gone to bed with my back in agony and tearful and low. think the shock has set in. dikker they have given me epipens and piriton.

had enough now.

could be the naproxen
so you were in hospital yesterday just in a & e or you stayed overnight ?
did they give you prednisolone steroid tablets ?

heurese yes i was in hospital nearly two days and i was given piriton and hydrocortisone. i was told not to take naproxen or brufen again.

any ideas what i can take for my back as it's agony?

what did they thinkwas the back pain? is it low back pain? If it is thought to be musculo skeletal, you can take paracetamol or codeine, either separately or as cocodamol.
Has the allergy settled down.. if not you may need to go back and get a course of oral steroid tablets for a week or so

Thanks Heureuse. Back pain was incidental really. Have had this since last Tuesday and had it on and off for a year but nowhere near as bad as now. It is lower back pain, almost in my bum. It aches when I am sat still but the worst pain is when I move and it is piercing so the doctor is presuming it is muscular. Lying on an uncomfortable hospital bed for almost 2 days has not helped either! Thanks for the advice about paracetamol and codeine. The allergy has settled down it seems. Had a very slight flair up last night but that settled on its own. Hopefully the initial allergen is out of my system now.

I have to avoid nuts and seeds until I have my allergy testing. Went into town this afternoon and thought, ooh I fancy some fruit bread but checked the packet and it said "made in a factory using seeds and nuts". wonderful!!

Thanks for your interest as it is really good to talk to someone about it. It has been a scary couple of days x

I think it may be naproxen. It seems quite strange that you would suddenly become allergic to something that you have been eating all your life.
It may also have been idiopathic anaphylaxis, this is more common for adults with a first presentation.
This means that there is no diagnosed trigger
Make sure you always carry your epipen and consider having friends and family trained in how to use it
Good luck xx

McQeasy it may have been the Naproxen but I had been taking it since Tuesday and have had it before. I have recently had a flair up of eczema and the doc thought it may have been related to that. I was told that I shouldn't have been prescribed Naproxen due to my eczema - is that right?

Like you say, could be idiopathic. Am managing to eat a bit of choc ok!! Good news!

I had something very similar, ended up being rushed to A and E, and when I went to the allergy clinic later on, they did prick tests and I reacted very strongly to birch. I was told always to carry to Zirtek in my purse and to take them at the first sign of lips tingling, swelling, rashes, etc. This has actually worked really well.

Hi BoffinMum. Sorry to hear you've experienced the same thing. Do you mean birch pollen? If so, how do you avoid it? When I had a second flare up, the Piriton did deal with it as I caught it early.

Have you ever had it badly again?

Yes, birch pollen. I spent the rest of the year terrified, thinking spring would kill me. But I did exactly as they said and took two Zirtek at the first sign of any tingling or itching, and it was wonderful. I also do all the things they recommend for hay fever, like showering and hair washing twice daily, keeping windows closed and so on. But ultimately it comes down to Zirtek.

You might want to look into mastocytosis. Is a rare desease that can be initially checked by a blood test looking for elevated serum tryptase. It has to do with an over burden of mast cells. These mast cells can degranulate and cause anaphylaxis. It can be triggered by about anything. I have it and naproxen is one of my triggers. It is also possible that your eczema is actually urticaria pigmentosa. Just a thought, but I would check it out.