Ended up in the emergency room with allergic reaction!!

[katebar]

Well my Thursday night was very eventful to the say the least. Sat down to have take out Japanese that we have every Thursday night. Had my usual fillet steak tepanyaki and DH and DD and I shared the fried rice.
Suddenly my hands started to itch terribly. Husband a doctor said "Don''t scratch it will make it worse." I said "I can''t help it". He huffed and pfffted around but then changed his tune when i stated scratching every where. He gave me a mild antihistamine and told me to have a shower.
When I stated to get undressed my whole body felt on fire and i was tomato red!. Husband came racing up and gave me a heavy duty anti histamine + some steroids and told me to get dressed we were off to hospital. No way said I but he said "Kate this is serious!"
Now our son has severe allergy to shellfish and gets a swollen tongue wheezes etc. His is extremely life threatening but I had none of these symptoms. Husband said "wer''e off." By this stage my entire gastric tract was on fire and I was completely covered in hives.
Got to hospital and they put me on a monitor put in an IV in told me "You''re have an allergic reaction." Oh REALLY!!.
Dr came and as I had never had anything before like this he kindly told me that it could be ideopathic and i could have it for 6 MONTHS. I said I was going to faint and my BP went up to 160/110!! Good work doctor!! Then he appears with a shot of adrenalin and says "This will make you racy and feel terrible but it will help the rash for a little bit." Well given i was already racy and my BP was up to whoopsie i did want this and my DH felt that things were settiling.
Anyhoo did''nt get the shot and waited for 2 hours for the rash to subside.
Woo really scary stuff and I feel so sorry for my son who has had this happen to him 3 times but worse.
Upshot is they don''t know why it happened .The alllergy specialist thinks it was an overload of natural occuring histamines in the food rather that an actual allergy so it prpbably won''t happen again.
Bad news is i can''t exercise for a week can''t have any spicy foods nuts shellfish vitamins or any thing slightly allergenic for 10 days.
Good new is DH loves me he looked so fraught and panicked so I guess that means he loves me

.
DD keeps running up and squeezing me and telling me she loves me too

.
DS away at school but we do have bond. An allergy bond

.
So from something scary comes lots of love

.

 

[Linda W]

You poor thing. What a frightful thing to have happen to you. I am so glad everything turned out OK though.

Hugs to you. So glad your hubby is a Dr.

Linda

 

[monarch64]

How scary! Glad you''re ok, Katebar. It''s sweet that you and your hubby kind of bonded over the experience. I think sometimes we forget how much we need and love our spouses until something threatens the balance, I know that has happened before with my DH and I. He was rushed to the hospital once when I was at work because his head was in so much pain, he ended up having to get a spinal tap and all these other tests to make sure he was ok and he was, but I was SO scared. It made me realize just how much he means to me and how much I love him. I''m sure your hubby was feeling that same way about you when this happened!

 

[snlee]

How scary! I''m glad to hear you are doing better and I hope you never have to go through that again! Sometimes it takes scary moments like that to make us realize how much love we have in our lives and how grateful we should be.

 

[Madam Bijoux]

What a scare - glad you are better now. Take care of yourself

 

[Phoenix]

oh mi god, I can''t imagine what you went through! I have very sensitive skin and break out in a rash if I come across a lot of dust/ dirt or detergent that I am not used to, but never as bad as what you''ve had, or so it seems. Sorry too to hear abt no exercise, no shellfish etc. but 10 days will have passed before you know it.

You definitely have my sympathy. Glad to hear things are better.

Take care.

 

[lyra]

I''m so glad you are okay! I have the shellfish allergy like your son too, and I have to wear a medic alert for it. Did you know that people who have a severe allergy to shellfish (anaphylactic), can also have the same reaction to CT-scan contrast dye? You should definitely warn docs if your son ever needs a CT scan. I found out the hard way and went into an anaphylactic state within minutes of being injected, was quite the scene at the hospital.

There are other dyes that can be used for scans, but unfortunately I''ve found that these are usually less effective. So it''s been a real problem for me.

 

[Gypsy]

I''m glad everything is okay!!

It can be really scary I once (long time ago) was put on Sufla antibiotics and had a similar reaction... hailed myself a cab and went to the ER. Even though I knew the problem (the minute I felt my breathing labored and realized that I looked like a lobster) it was frightening. Glad your DH is taking such good care of you.

 

[FireGoddess]

OMG talk about scary!!! Yikes. Glad your DH is a dr and could give you some aid and take you to the ER!

 

[Ellen]

Dang! Glad you are ok. Scary....

Maybe hubby can really show you how much he wuvs you and is glad you''re ok by buying you some small blingy token.

I''m jus sayin....

 

[katebar]

Thanks Linda W. Yes husband being a dr is good at times but he KNOWS way to much and is a bit of a panicker. I met him in hospital and he is a cool as a cucumber in an emergency but if its anyone in the family he is is such a worrier.
Monarch64 and snlee yes i think your right we''ve been together for 24 years and we do get a bit complacent so this shook things up a bit.
Thanks Madam Bijoux and lienTN I just spent the morning having checkups left right and centre! Now I need to wear glasses to drive. I going to hell in a handbasket asmy mother would say + I have developed pimples on my chin having never had them ever in my life. Hurrah for being 48 NOT.
lyra do you know the other funny thing (well its not really funny) but my son is also severely allergic to house dust mite and that is because they have an exoskeleton similar to a shellfish. My son is 19 now and sort of in denial about the potential life risk. DH took him back to the allergist recently and he told him damm straight that if he even kissed a girl who had eaten crayfish or shrimp he could die

. How sad is that and talk about being a downer when you are a 19 year boy!
Gypsy I''m allergic to sulpha to but it affects my blood not my immune system. You are brave to get to the ER on your own but your right is really is very frightening and it seemed to affect my whole system.
Thanks Firegoddess he is good man

.
Ellen thanks for your concern reagarding appropriate rewards for life and death experiences. I got a lovely bunch of flowers yesterday and a get well ballon but that is more than enough for me. However I am going to be calling for some special holiday purchases when we hit the states next month in particular some choo choo shoes as in Jimmy

. But we are off to New York next year for our combined 50ths so a visit to GOG may just be on the cards!
Thanks every one for your kind wishes

 

[diamondfan]

Glad you are okay now. I hate when they cannot find the source of stuff, makes me really fearful for next time. Maybe start keeping a log of what you eat so in case it happens again you have some place to start!!

 

[Kaleigh]

Oh how scary Katebar! So glad you are ok!!! I do hope they can get to the bottom of this somehow, so you can avoid this in the future!!

 

[monarch64]

Katebar, your story reminds me of a news item here in the states a few years ago where a teenage girl died because she kissed her bf who had eaten peanut butter or peanuts (I think it was even mentioned here on a thread on PS!) Allergies are definitely something to take verrrrry seriously, you never know what can happen. My mother has a long history of not being able to eat anything but a very bland diet, or at least not stepping outside of raw foods with no additives, plus whatever new cosmetic she might try can send her straight to the ER with hives, etc. She wasn''t afflicted with these allergies until after she had us children...I really hope that I''ve not been passed on that gene. So far I''ve had no problems, but I don''t have kids yet! I worry about it and am careful with my diet and already use sensitive skin cosmetics just in case...

 

[Ellen]

Date: 8/25/2007 12:52:57 AM
Author: katebar
Ellen thanks for your concern reagarding appropriate rewards for life and death experiences. I got a lovely bunch of flowers yesterday and a get well ballon but that is more than enough for me. However I am going to be calling for some special holiday purchases when we hit the states next month in particular some choo choo shoes as in Jimmy

. But we are off to New York next year for our combined 50ths so a visit to GOG may just be on the cards!

Oh, you HAVE to go!

And that was sweet that he got you flowers.

 

[lumpkin]

That is so scarey!!! Those serious allergies are so sudden and severe. I''m glad you''re okay and your hubby was right on top of the situation.

 

[AGBF]

katebar,

I am sorry for what you went through and for the anxiety that must be ongoing. Is it possible for you to have allergy tests after this episode has passed? I was also wondering if your son could get allergy shots to desensitize him to shellfish. I am not an expert on allergies, knowing only the experiences of the people in my immediate family. My mother and my husband were successfully treated with allergy shots, my mother for several allergies including one to bees that had put her in the hospital in a life-threatening situation.

I do not know whether people with severe shellfish allergies and peanut allergies can be cured. It seems dreadful to live with the threat of an allergen, in tiny quantities, taking your life!


Deborah

 

[Skippy123]

I am so sorry that happened to you guys.

 

[lyra]

Wow, we share a few coincidences katebear. Kate is my daughter''s name (19), we''ve been married 24 years, and the shellfish thing. Honestly, even I didn''t take it too seriously until 2 years ago when I was diagnosed as diabetic. Then I realized if I ever passed out, or was in an accident, maybe the first thing they''d try is a CT-scan, and then that would cause a whole lot of trouble for everyone in the ER!

So I got (several, gold, silver, leather, etc.) medical ID bracelets just in case. Maybe eventually you can convince your son to take such a precaution. Hopefully, it''s never necessary of course!

 

[katebar]

I had another attack last night

. Had a glass of wine 3 olives and a piece of aged parmesan. 10 minutes later my hands starting itching and I raced downstairs and had an antihistamine. Then I got all the other symptoms but they were not as severe and lasted only for 20 minutes. Urrrr. Dh says this is not uncommon becasue your whole system is hypersenstive for about a week. Clearly soemthing in those foods is what caused the reaction the first time. I am thinking tyramines which is an amnino acid found in these foods and also soy which was in my Japanese the other night. Dh says I have to restrict all these foods for a week and live on bland food

. I hate bland food I love spicy tasty wondeful food. But I guess that''s what I need to do then I''ll do it.
Diamondfan the log idea is a good one and that is what I am doing.
Kaleigh I will have to have some tests but would you believe for a population of 500,000 we only have one allergist and he is booked out for months.
monarch64 yes it scary to think we can pass this onto our children. Our big regret is we gave our sson shellfish from the age of 4 cos'' he was that sort of kid that liked to try everything we ate. Now Dh thinks because of his dust mite allegery he was already sensitised and 3 years of occasionally eating shellfish resulted in this severe allergy.
AGBF unfortuantely you can not be desensitised to shellfish at the moment but they are hopeful of creating a vaccine in my sons lifetieme.
Thanks lumpkin and skippy for your thoughts and yes Ellen I am going to GOG since you have insisted

.
lyra yes we do have some coincidences but no I''m not diabetic i just had all my bloods done a month ago. The bracelet idea is good but *sigh* my son is just so resistant. We just have to hope he does''nt get caught but my exoeriences might ram it home a bit more cos he waas so worried and concerned when i told him and said "Why did''nt you ring me at the time Mum

.

 

[marcy]

Katebar, I am sorry to hear you had such a bad reaction. That is really scary don''t know exactly what triggered it. I hope you get better soon.

I have many food allergies and some of them can make me deathly ill and others break me out and make me itch. I take gastrocrom for food allergies and it can really help stop a reaction. I mix it in water and drink it. The antihistamine really helps with itching. I find once I have a reaction to something it takes a long time to get it out of your system.

Good luck and take care.

 

[katebar]

UPDATE on my allergy. I went to see the allergist before we went to the USA as I had 2 more attacks. One after having a core biopsy and having a sip of wine and one just eating 2 olives.
It turns out I have a virus infection of my liver that make one more prone to allergic responses. That coupled with hormone imbalance (i''m 49) and certain foods and stressors and bingo Allergic reaction.
The good news is I haven''t had any since and am slowly resuming my normal tasty diet

.
I may be prone to things for about 6 months so I do have to be careful not drink certain things or get overly stressed and eat allergy provoking foods. So no Japanese or sauvignon blanc for me

.

 

[AGBF]

Date: 10/11/2007 10:17:21 PM
Author: katebar
UPDATE on my allergy. I went to see the allergist before we went to the USA as I had 2 more attacks. One after having a core biopsy and having a sip of wine and one just eating 2 olives.

It turns out I have a virus infection of my liver that make one more prone to allergic responses.

Wow! How frightening! Thank goodness you got to the bottom of the problem and have been able to bring things under control. Let us know how your recuperation goes. You will not want to subsist on thin gruel. (In Italy that is called, "eating in white" and I have had to do it there when I have been sick; it is boring, but safe.)

Good luck, katebar!

Deb

 

[katebar]

Date: 10/12/2007 3:04:33 AM
Author: AGBF

Date: 10/11/2007 10:17:21 PM
Author: katebar
UPDATE on my allergy. I went to see the allergist before we went to the USA as I had 2 more attacks. One after having a core biopsy and having a sip of wine and one just eating 2 olives.

It turns out I have a virus infection of my liver that make one more prone to allergic responses.

Wow! How frightening! Thank goodness you got to the bottom of the problem and have been able to bring things under control. Let us know how your recuperation goes. You will not want to subsist on thin gruel. (In Italy that is called, ''eating in white'' and I have had to do it there when I have been sick; it is boring, but safe.)

Good luck, katebar!

Deb

Thanks Deb. Luckily I don''t have to "eat in white" but I did make a yummy rissotto the other night! I know it sounds so spoilt given ther a lot people with worse conditions but I said to my husband "shoot me" when the Dr said "No mushrooms cheese olive seafood wine tomatoes spices soy japanese food fruit avocados etc etc!" I am a true savoury girl and rarely eat any sweets what so ever. Any how I have slowly reintroduced certain foods and it will do for the time being.