Do we need an epipen now?

[joannqn]

My 8 year old is allergic to birch, alder, and a few other trees. He also has the related oral allergy syndrome. In addition to that, he tested positive for peanuts and soy. Because he eats peanuts regularly without symptoms, the doctor thinks that one is a false positive. Without thinking, I let him have a drink made with soy milk. He drank about an ounce of it and soon complained of a sensation of a ball in his throat. It felt like a marble sized ball. I gave him benedryl and it got better within half an hour.

 

Fortunately, we already don't eat a lot of soy. But I don't check ingredients to avoid soybean oil and soy lethicin. Those don't usually bother people from what I understand.

 

Anyway, how much would this worry you?

Edited November 9, 2010 by joannqn

[scrappyhappymama]

I would think your allergist would have prescribed an epi-pen if he thought your son needed it.

 

My boys have dairy-soy protein intolerance, no not exactly the same. But we have to avoid ALL soy- lecithin, soybean oil, soy protein, etc. It's a real pain because soy is in A LOT of processed foods.

[Sandra in FL]

My 9 yr. old ds always has his epipen with him. He also carries around Benadryl and a mini-size nebulizer with Xopenex. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

[ChristusG]

I have many environmental allergies (most trees, pollen, smoke, grass, weeds, etc). I'm allergic to tobacco (never even smoked but my dad used to). I'm allergic to bananas (oral allergy syndrome only, so far)....and I tested positive to soy, sesame seeds, and mustard seeds. Even with these "minor" allergies, my doctor gave me an epipen to carry. If my child (or myself) had any throat swelling issues, I'd want an epipen.

[Dana]

Check with your allergist, but I'd want the Epi. I had to use ours on my son when he was 5. We knew of his dairy allergy but didn't know he was allergic to cashews. I was so grateful we had the Epi. Better safe than sorry - and do talk with your allergist. I'd have given the Epi tonight given the description. Very glad Benadryl was enough.

[annlaura]

My DS1 has the food allergies related to ragweed, and our ped gave us an epi. I agree - better safe than sorry.

[RoughCollie]

We have an epi-pen for my son who is allergic to latex. This is because of the tingling, swelling sensation he has in his mouth when the allergy flares up. I am taking no chances. I don't think you should either. Better safe than sorry.

 

Another son of mine is allergic to apples, which is somehow related to birches. Is your son experiencing any tingling sensation in his mouth when he eats raw apples? Mine thought that was normal until a few years ago, so he never mentioned it. He doesn't need an epi pen, and he no longer eats raw apples.

[AlisonK]

I would also say you should have an Epi. My son and I both have oral allergy syndrome and both of us keep and Epi around. My understanding is that if the allergy has any effect other than mild itching (like the lump in the throat) you need an Epi. Also, if any nuts are included an Epi is important.

 

I have many foods on my allergic list (tree nuts, peanuts, apples, cherries, peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, carrots, celery and soy). I have say that soy in the form of oil or lethicin doesn't bother me. However, soy milk and tofu give me reactions. I think it is related to the level of processing they have been through.

 

I wish you and your son the best in figuring out the most effective way to manage the allergies safely.

[ReidFamily]

It's worth it to have an epi pen. Allergies can change and new ones can develop.

 

My daughter who we discovered peanut allergies with at 14 months has been so stable. She was prescribed an epi as at that first appointment. Other than her first initial reaction to peanut we've been able to keep her reaction free. Well, a few weeks ago I made lentil soup and we were soooooo close to using the epi pen. Her throat started to hurt, she started to lose her voice, she had chest pain and muscle weakness. I dosed her with a double dose of benadryl and zyrtec and we almost stuck her and took her to the ER. Within minutes of the OTC meds she started to get better. But it was scary close. We had no idea she was allergic to lentils.

 

My son has had to use an epi once and that was to an airborne allergen while we were at a doctors office. We still have no idea what set it off. That has been his only reaction that could not be alleviated with OTC meds. He is by far our worst for allergies. We just sum up that he is allergic to food, in general. :( (He is allergic to: wheat, dairy, soy, rice, peanut, tree nuts, seeds (sesame, sunflower, etc), peas, chicpeas, lentils, eggs, dogs, dust mite) He keeps losing foods. :( And those are all true IgE mediated allergies that cause an instant reaction for him. He just barely turned 2. Grr.

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

We had no idea she was allergic to lentils.

 

.

 

I'm sorry you had to find out the hard way, but lentils and peanuts are closely related. Our allergist told us to keep the kids away from legumes because of that. His list included peas and green beans, but my kids are fine with that.

 

ETA: another allergy that is closely related to peanuts is locust! We used to have a insect eating festival in town. Someone found out the hard way too...

Edited November 9, 2010 by CleoQc

[Old Dominion Heather]

Yes, I think you need one. I'm allergic to latex and have had the sensation that you describe. I have the epi-pen, but went to the doc-in-a-box instead where they fussed at me for not using the epi-pen. They gave me a shot there and told me to use the epi-pen next time.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

My 8 year old is allergic to birch, alder, and a few other trees. H

e also has the related oral allergy syndrome. In addition to that, he tested positive for peanuts and soy. Because he eats peanuts regularly without symptoms, the doctor thinks that one is a false positive. Without thinking, I let him have a drink made with soy milk. He drank about an ounce of it and soon complained of a sensation of a ball in his throat. It felt like a marble sized ball. I gave him benedryl and it got better within half an hour.

 

Fortunately, we already don't eat a lot of soy. But I don't check ingredients to avoid soybean oil and soy lethicin. Those don't usually bother people from what I understand.

 

Anyway, how much would this worry you?

 

I would get him an epi-pen and not let him eat soy at the very least. I would be nervous about the peanut butter IMHO as well. When was he tested? Did he have any follow-ups? Did he have both skin testing and the RAST blood test? Throat symptoms are supposed to be treated with epi-pen. Ask your doctor.

 

Read this site:

http://www.foodallergy.org/

[rafiki]

.

[Garga]

Talk to the doctor, but I'd get the epi.

 

Here's why: my son sometimes has some breathing difficulties due to asthma. It's very slight and only if he's been running A LOT in very cold weather. We got an inhaler and used it twice, and it was more for practice than from really needing it.

 

So, when it expired, I didn't replace it and threw it away.

 

Literally 4 nights later, my son woke up unable to breathe. He was in a complete panic and we had to give him some steam and calm him down.

 

He did get better within a few minutes (so no hospital), but it sure would have been nice to have had the inhaler. I got a new one the next day. We probably won't use it until it expires...but you just never know.

 

 

I also started an 11 day diet 3 days ago, and my scale broke on the 2nd day because my son left a big heavy bin on it all night and messed it up, so I have no idea if I'm losing the weight. It's just Murphy's law. I haven't needed a scale in 2 years, and the one time I wanted to use it...it was broken.

 

Get the epi. If you ever need it, you'll be glad it's there. That's why I have both a digital thermometer and a regular one. I don't want the battery in the digital one dying at 3 in the morning when I need to know someone's temperature.

[joannqn]

He was tested earlier in the year. His eyes have always tended towards being ringed red with a dry crust around them. Doctor thought it was part of his eczema even though he hasn't had eczema since we discovered it was caused by detergent. He never complained about his nose being stuffed up, though he's always sounded nasal in his speech.

 

Then in December, he started having occasional outbreaks of hives around his mouth after eating raw fruit. His mouth also tingled. After the third or fourth outbreak of hives, I asked here and got the suggestion of oral allergy syndrome. So, we took him to an allergist where he came back with five trees, peanuts, soy, and oral allergy syndrome. Like I said, he's eaten peanut butter all of his life and has never had even the smallest reaction to it. The allergist thought it was a false positive. The soy wasn't a big deal because I don't like soy and it gives me bad stomach cramps, so I don't use it at home. I totally forgot he was positive for it until he had the reaction yesterday, and I pulled his test results.

 

The allergist gave him prescriptions for zyrtec (which gave him horrid) and a nasal spray. He didn't offer an epipen, and DH didn't ask about it.

 

So, I'll call later today.

 

 

What's interesting to me is that I've had that same sensation after taking a certain antibiotic, and Benedryl didn't alleviate it. I told my doctor at the time, and he wanted me to finish the course anyway. He said to just take a Benedryl with each dose. I think that's part of the reason I didn't worry about my son's reaction too much.

[ReidFamily]

I'm sorry you had to find out the hard way, but lentils and peanuts are closely related. Our allergist told us to keep the kids away from legumes because of that. His list included peas and green beans, but my kids are fine with that.

 

ETA: another allergy that is closely related to peanuts is locust! We used to have a insect eating festival in town. Someone found out the hard way too...

 

Yes, I was aware of the legume connection, she can not tolerate peas or chicpeas either but our allergist never told us to refrain from all legumes (which is a lot of foods). She has had lentils before and never had an issue she also eats a lot of beans like kidney, black bean, etc.

 

Even though lentils and peanuts are in the legume family a lentil allergy is pretty rare in our country. All though it is more common in others where lentils are more of a staple food.

 

My point is that once you have an individual with an allergic disposition all bets are off as to how their allergies will progress. They may stay stable, may improve or they develop additional allergies to foods that were once tolerated just fine.

Edited November 9, 2010 by ReidFamily

[yarrow]

I know that different allergist's have different opinions but.... I just had another round of testing and my doc said that in 1% of cases of oral allergy syndrome, analyphlaxis (I know, I mis-spelled it) occurs. That seemed higher than I remembered but he's the allergist, not me. Since I've always been told I can eat food that is not true allergy but just OAS, he's insisted I have an epi-pen.

 

My ds has a mild allergy to a couple of fruits. We carry an epi-pen. We consider it a safety net. If you have insurance, I'd get one. If you don't have insurance, I'd ask the doctor how to get one without it costing quite so much.

 

Karen