peanut reactions that don't reqire epi

Hi mkate,

My 5 y.o son has PA. The last time he had a reaction, we were at a restaurant and he began to get hives around his mouth. Since it seemed to be just around his mouth and he was completely unaware of the hives, I decided to give him benadryl as opposed to the epi-pen. The allergist has told us Bendaryl is ok for small outbreaks of hives like this one. If the hives are all over or there are other symptoms, then we are to use the epi-pen. The Benadryl made his hives disappear within a half or so---very quick.

We found out about his allergy when he was three after a visit to a Friendly's restaurant. That was his most serious reaction. As soon as he bit into one Reese's pieces in his sundae, he spit it out, became upset and began to cry. He spat up, his voice got hoarse and he said he couldn't talk, and hives began to spread all over, FAST. He kept salivating and spitting mucus/saliva? out. We weren't sure what to do, so I gave him Benadryl. The hives began to fade within about a half hour and the other symptoms did too. I watched him constantly for the next 24 hours. He wasn't himself for a day or two. A skin test, done by an allergist, confirmed the peanut allergy.

Jennifer B
www.foodallergybuzz.com

Kate,

Oh what a tricky question to answer!! :)

I am not an allergist-but will try to answer as best I can.

I have given Benadryl in many instances. These instances were where my son may have had a few hives and or itchy watery eyes or maybe minimal sneezing or coughing.

You must remember that Benadryl is NOT a life saving medication. It is an anti-histamine. But if a reaction is life threatening-it might delay the reaction-but not prevent it.

Many people who have given Benadryl will see an improvement only for symptoms to return 4-6 hours later. So if you choose to use Benadryl-you must keep a watch on your child for several hours.

That being said-many allergists think that an epi pen is warranted when the reaction affects 2 systems.

Hives alone-is one system and Benadryl can be considered.

Hives and itchy tongue, lips, or throat-would be two systems and the reaction could progress quickly.

I'm a huge advocate of when in doubt-give the epi.

No-I have not always followed my own advice-it's a learning curve to get there-but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Over time you will get a feel for what you think are mild reactions in your child and what might be more than mild. Hopefully this doesn't happen-but you may come to a time where you are just not sure. If that happens-give the epi.

I think we are rarely sorry to use the epi-but we could find ourselves sorry if we didn't.

Hope that helps!
Ruth

We ran into a similar situation two weeks ago. Our son is almost 4 and the only known allergy thus far is peanut. Long story short I gave him salmon several weeks ago, nothing happened all good. However, two days later he had an unexplained very large bump (almost like a buy bit) under is left eye the size of a quarter. I gave him Benadryl, even took him to the doctor because it scared me so bad.

Well back to two weeks ago, I made canned salmon sandwiches…..even sounds yuck now…and won’t do that again…ha-ha. Well an hour later that same large bump came back. I gave him Benadryl, as I knew it had to be the salmon. Then 10 mins later his face started swelling. I didn’t know what to do since he wasn’t coughing, vomiting, or things that he has done in the past with a PA reaction. I ended up calling 911, they sent paramedics out and they suggested I give him ½ tsp more of Benadryl. After an hour he was fine and his eye began to go down. I stayed up with him until midnight just watching him, as this all happened around 7-8pm.

I totally understand your concern about not knowing what to do. That hour seemed like forever. My heart was racing and I think it got our son ever more upset, because he could see my fear.