My son was diagnosed with peanut allergy when he was 13 months old. I was totally unprepared for this, b/c we have no history of allergies. I had given him a tiny bit of pb on a graham cracker, he touched it to his mouth and then threw it to the dog. That tiny bit caused his eyes to swell shut and he had hives all over his face. We called the doctor and administered Benadryl every 6 hrs for 2 days (the hives would reappear). Well, we have strictly avoided all products with traces of peanuts, fly on peanut-free flights, carry epi-pens, have the MedicAlert bracelet, have a peaunut-free classroom and I have become neurotic about reading this website. With a lot of caution and a bit of luck we have avoided any further reactions until yesterday. (sorry so long) Yesterday my son who is now 21/2 was playing with our neighbor who had just come from eating a pb sandwich. Her mother is a dear friend and very conscientious of the allergy. She had wiped the girl's hands off carefully b/c the little girl had also eaten choc. cake and she was trying to get the icing off. Well, they proceeded to play with water guns and were taking turns trading the water guns back and forth. The little girl sprayed my son in the eyes (she's 3) and he began rubbing the water out of his eyes. Then, he would not stop rubbing his eyes. Next thing I know he has hives all over his eyes (especially the right- he's right-handed) and his eyes were swelling. We gave the Benadryl and waited- they got worse. We called the doctor- increased the dose and put him in a bubble bath. He was fine, but we had to give the Benadryl every 6 hours for 24 hours. Is this possible? Is it because he touched his eye as opposed to another part of his body? And, is this truly an anaphylatic reaction since he has never had any trouble breathing?
oliverioa,
Welcome to the boards!
The reaction your son had is definitely possible. You said your neighbor had "wiped off" her daughter's hands. For the residue to be completely gone, hands/surfaces need to be thoroughly washed with soap and rinsed well with water. "Wiping" does only that - wipes it around, it doesn't get it off the skin (or surface - table, etc...).
As for what constitutes an anaphylactic reaction, I understand that to be whenever 2 or more body systems are involved, like hives (skin) and vomiting (digestive/gastro-intestinal). Breathing trouble isn't the only indicator of anaphylaxis.
I'm so sorry your son had a reaction yesterday. I hope he's doing much better now.
HTH!
Take care,
Tammy