1st anaphylactic reaction and bad ER experience

Rebekah,

Sorry to learn of this reaction, but so glad you got him to the hospital for treatment-even though they, at first, didn't believe it was one. Maybe they can do CAP RAST testing sometime to learn if there are any other foods to avoid. My son is multiple allergic and that's how we found out. Sesame seed is one of his too. From what I've read person can have problems for awhile after a major reactions. Usually person should stay at the hospital 4 hours to see if there is a second major reaction even though no other exposure to allergic food. I'm just another concerned mom but I stopped all bakery foods because they are likely to be unsafe for my son.

Take Care and hope he feeels better soon.

JanBP

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I am sorry to hear about your experience! How scary! Do you have an allergist? If I were you, I would bring him in to be checked by the allergist since he still seems to be having some symptoms. Better to be on the safe side. I too have hesitated to give the Epipen. I wish I had because it would have saved my son a lot of discomfort. The Drs. always seem to second guess and use the epi as a last resort. Next time I will do the epi because I am not confident that the Drs. will do it soon enough. By the way, there are some posts about pretzels and cross contamination so it could have been the pretzel.

Rebekah,

Did the ER doctor tell you to keep your child on the benadryl or other antihistamine for any length of time? I know we've been told to keep our son on the antihistamines for up to 7 days after a reaction (even ones with just hives and a call to the doctors office--not an er visit). I hope things are calming down for your son by now. Take care.

It is very likely the runny nose etc are lingering after effects of the reaction. Benedryl, fluids and rest are my cures for when this happens to me.

And Ice cream, if you can make some... [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

Liz

Rebekahc, I'm so sorry to hear of your awful experience. My daughter has recently reacted to sesame seeds as well, although (fortunately) not as severely as your son. I had not realized that sesame seeds were a highly allergenic food before that. In fact, when I asked our allergist if I should worry about an anaphylactic reaction from the sesame seeds, she said I didn't need to worry. Fortunately I always carry the epi anyway, because my daughter is pa and tna, so I am prepared. It's scary though, when even the doctors give bad information and seem uninformed.

Thank you all for your replies [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

JanBP - In the past year, Logan has had 1 scratch test and 2 CAP RAST tests. He was allergic to all 30 things they tested him for but his highest scores were for peanuts, cats, dogs, eggs, grasses, corn, soy, wheat, and milk. We avoid peanuts, cats, dogs, eggs, grasses and corn. We reduce soy and wheat where there is an allergen-free alternative.

PattyR - Yes, Logan has an allergist and I've been in contact with her. She felt comfortable with me continuing to observe him and call if he worsens or new symptoms appear. I KNOW the pretzel was not cross contaminated because I ate most of it and I'm anaphylactic to peanuts. I kind of wish it was cross-contamination though - it would be easier to deal with than an all new life threatening allergy.

Janet - The orders from the ER say to continue Benadryl 4 times a day, but do not say for how many days???? Because of Logan's corn allergy, his allergist felt unless he got worse it would do more harm than good to give him the corn laden Benadryl.

Liz - Our allergist also said to give him lots of fluids. I can't really remember how I felt the first few days after my last anaphylactic reaction (13 years ago), so I didn't expect him to still be sick. Guess it's pretty normal, though.

California Mom - I didn't realize sesame seeds had the potential to be so bad either. I asked the allergist to test Logan for them just so we could be sure that's what caused the reaction and not something else in the pretzel. She said there wasn't a test for sesame seeds but that she was pretty sure that had to have been the cause. Her tone of voice seemed like they were a pretty common problem.

Thanks again! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img]
Rebekah

P.S. Logan is still a little hoarse today, has a runny nose and had an asthma attack this morning. I'll wait another couple of days and hopefully he'll be all better. If not, I guess we'll head to the allergist's office.

[This message has been edited by rebekahc (edited August 29, 2000).]

I've read that sesame seeds are known to cause anaphylactic reactions, and I have seen sesame seeds listed along with peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, etc., as one of the more dangerous allergens. My son's reactions to sesame have not been as severe as the peanut reactions. Fortunately, sesame is much easier to avoid than peanuts. One place to watch out for it is in health foods such as veggie burgers, etc. There is sesame oil (I assume cold pressed) in lots of packaged health foods and gourmet foods from places like Whole Foods. Also, Middle Eastern food is dangerous because of the prevalence of tahini (and tahini is as bad as peanut butter in terms of sticky, greasy messes).

It's a shame when you rely on doctors to treat your child and end up telling them what to do. My son's 1st ER visit after I gave him the epi-pen was certainly not as bad, but my allergist was shocked at the hospital's lack of concern. Delayed reactions are very real. I have a prescription for predisolone (sp), a liquid coritsone, that I carry with the epi-pen. We have to be our own advocate and not worry about upsetting a doctor's ego.

By the way sesame seeds can be tested by CAP RAST. This has been done three times for my son traditional test scored 15(highest allergist had ever seen until that time), then 12 last year and unfortunity >100 this past May. I don't trust any bought bread crumbs instead make my own. I've been told when I talked with Nabisco that Ritz chackers will start labeling for sesame seeds. But I haven't seen it on labels yet.

I find sesame seeds challenging in that some packaged bread will list it and then add if apparent.

JanPB

One of Adam's first anaphylactic reactions (1995) was to sesame tahini ... one little nibble. We rushed him to the er and they made us WAIT for what seemed like forever ... even though we had told the nurses that our son has severe food allergies and that we knew that he was reacting to the tahini that he had just eaten. He had severe swelling on face and throat and runny nose (which they all could see). We gave them the name of our son's allergist and list of known allergens and they still treated us like we didn't know what we were talking about. The doctor treated my husband as if he had physically hurt our son ... the whole experience was very hard to get over. The docotor seemed hesitant in giving him a steroid shot ... like he had never seen this kind of reaction before.

On another thread someone recommended carrying a letter from your doctor stating known allergies and what to do in the event of a reaction (to give to the er staff)... I think the letter is a great idea! We are glad to hear that your little one is feeling better. Best of luck to you and your family.
Susan

Rebekahc,

I hope your son is doing much better. After my son's last anaphylactic reaction, he stayed on prednisone for at least a week (maybe a bit longer) and on Benadryl for two weeks. He was covered with a rash, also, that looked different from the big, red, and lumpy hives that occurred immediately.

I hope this never happens again, but if it does, I sure hope you get a better ER doctor.

Our child also has possibly reacted to sesame seeds. He had a sesame cracker at the age of 1 (now 5 yrs.) and had hives around his mouth area. Our adult friend who is allergic to many foods-nuts and seeds, said that her sesame reactions have been just as severe as any other. Just a word of caution to those whose children have never had sesame seeds yet.
I also read somewhere that it is the number one food allergy in Australia.

I forgot to mention above that sesame oil is also an ingredient in McDonalds Chicken McNuggets. It is probably the heat processed oil and the protein disabled, because my son eats the nuggets without a reaction. He had already been eating the nuggets by the time I checked the ingredients so I allowed him to continue. However, others may not want their children eating them so I thought I'd mention it here. Last time I checked, Burger King does not have sesame oil in their nuggets, but all their burgers come with sesame seed buns.

Logan is doing better [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img] He's still having some asthma problems, but I've switched him from the nebulizer to albuterol syrup.

Thanks for all the tips on where sesame may lurk. Fortunately (unfortunately?) Logan can't have any of that stuff anyway due to his corn allergy. You guys wouldn't believe all the stuff that has corn in it - basically any pre-packaged food.

Thanks again for all your wonderful replies!
Rebekah [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img]