Reacting only to large amounts? Possible to be intolerant to nuts? update post 16

[DevaMajka]

I'm still trying to figure out what caused my "allergic" reactions. I had a "rash" on my lips a few weeks ago that progressed to a rash on my arms and torso, and narrowed it down to being possibly wheat, lime, cashews or cashew butter, or fragrance in body products. I'd eaten cashews for a month before that, but had added cashew butter a few days prior.

My face got puffy a week ago, and I hadn't eaten/used any of those (though maybe that wasn't really a reaction?).

Last night, I got the rash on my lips again. I've been eating wheat for a week this time (pasta), so I wouldn't think it's that. I haven't had lime and haven't used the products with fragrance.
I started trialling cashew butter 3 days ago, eating a little bit the first day, a moderate amount the 2nd day, and lots yesterday.
I've also been eating lots of ground flax, and had been the previous 2 times. I eat flax every day, but usually much less than those times.

The only other thing that was new both times I got a rash on my lips (but not the puffy face), is eating sourdough bread. It's homemade: starter, flour, small amount of baker's yeast, oil, salt.

Could my reactions be in relation to the amount? So small amounts are fine, but more is not? Can you be intolerant to nuts, and not really allergic? In that case, would you worry about a severe reaction?

I also read that cashew shells contain oil in them that can cause rashes. Is it possible that the cashew butter could be contaminated with that?

[kjbrown92]

Yes, you can be intolerant to anything. My DS is intolerant to almonds.

I believe that it's possible to have a threshold on intolerance things, but I've never seen it personally. We react to miniscule amounts.

[tanyalynn]

DS is intolerant of cashews, took me a food journal to figure out the rash. Just like with chocolate and soy, if he eats more, or more frequently (every day vs occasionally) the rash will look more irritated and stick around longer. Our tolerance goes up and down, for all the foods really. I'm guessing that soy + cashews would fill up his bucket similar to lots of cashews or lots of soy (or sub in chocolate). Just to complicate things further.

[DevaMajka]

Thanks!
I'm going to guess that I'm intolerant of larger amounts of cashews or flax. Hmmm. Hopefully that's it, and I can still have whichever it is in moderation!

If that's not it...I have some detective work to do!

[mamafish9]

Maybe omega 6 overload. Cashews have plenty of omega 6s, and the ALA in flax seed uses the same enzyme as omega 6s - so maybe you're overloading that enzyme. So maybe omega 6 mediated inflammatory reaction?

[rhesp1212]

Check the ingredients on the cashew butter if you're buying a jarred kind and not fresh ground. They all contain additional oils like safflower oil. My son reacts horribly to the oils in things like that, but not actually to the nut.

[DevaMajka]

I thought today to check the oil- it's sunflower oil. I've never had a problem with sunflower seeds, but that doesn't mean much!

hmmm...omega 6 overload. What else has omega 6 that I may have eaten a lot of? (just to gauge how much would be ok, kwim?)

[Koalamom]

Originally Posted by DevaMajka

I thought today to check the oil- it's sunflower oil. I've never had a problem with sunflower seeds, but that doesn't mean much!

hmmm...omega 6 overload. What else has omega 6 that I may have eaten a lot of? (just to gauge how much would be ok, kwim?)

Yikes. Sunflower in anything will give us all rashes. But for some reason the seeds are fine.

Also any pure nut butters are issues for me since something with the oils just mess with me. But I can eat all the whole cashews I want am a completely fine.

How are you with whole cashews?

What kind of oil did you use for the bread?

[mamafish9]

sunflower oil is about as highly concentrated omega 6s as possible ...

[DevaMajka]

Ah, this is perhaps making more sense now. I'd been eating cashews for well over a month with no problems. The lip and body rash started not long after I started eating cashew butter- within a week, I'd guess. It could be the oil, rather than the cashews, or it could be the omega 6's.

Omega 6's would make sense in that I didn't react right away.

I'll have to test raw cashews once my lips are back to normal.

[DevaMajka]

sigh. Is it possible that I could be reacting to the sourdough bread, even though pasta was just fine? The only thing I can think it could be is my starter. The rice bread I was eating has yeast in it, and I was fine on that. I used canola oil in it, which I've been using for a couple months now (b/c it's low sals).
I didn't eat cashew butter (or cashews) yesterday, and my lips were worse last night.

[kjbrown92]

It could be anything. You're keeping a food journal? With swelling lips and facial swelling, have you been checked for IgE allergies? Because that sounds kind of scary to me.

[DevaMajka]

Yeah I have a food journal (I'm keeping it for ds). I have an appt with an allergist, but it's not until mid-May. grr. My lips are just sort of rashy. It's kind of wierd- not chapped. It feels almost like a really bad sunburn.
But, yeah, my face was a little puffy the last time.

I guess I might not know until my appt! I guess it could be something else, and I just haven't figured it out.

[sbgrace]

Can they give you an epi pen now? I'd be uncomfortable waiting until May with reactions like that, let alone to something unknown.

[Koalamom]

Take lots of vit C and an epsom salt bath and see how things are.

[DevaMajka]

So I went to the allergist today. I'm not allergic to anything he tested for except for dust, and he said that was a minor reaction that he's not worried about.

He did the scratch test for pets, dust, pollen, etc. Only a few foods- wheat, dairy, mango, cashews, and oranges (he didn't have lime).
The orange did get a little bump after a few minutes, but it was gone by 15 minutes when he brought me back into the office. So I'm not totally sure what that means, but he wasn't concerned about it at all.
He said that if I want to eat mango that I should do a challenge test in his office, but other than that, he thinks my recent reaction was "hives" and that hives can have a lot of causes. He said he hadn't ruled out the possibility of it being to chemicals/ingredients in body care products.

So at this point, the possibilities are:
it was just some wierd random thing.
I'm allergic to some other food (can't figure out what- I've had a food journal, with no apparent pattern).
I'm allergic to something in some body product I was using (I stopped using all but just a few).

With my history of being sensitive to hair care products, my vote is now with the body product chemicals.

I'm sort of bummed- I was hoping this would help somehow with ds's rash, like I'd find out that I was allergic to something, and that my reaction was causing his reaction. It's too bad the allergist didn't test for more foods.

[mamafish9]

Or that you are intolerant, vs. allergic, which most allergists don't treat as "real". And they really thinks sals sensitivity is complete whooey too .

[DevaMajka]

True. it could be that I'm intolerant.
Is there any danger in intolerances? Just as far as, allergies can be scary. Can intolerances send you to the ER? Just wondering how careful I should continue to be, and how closely I should pay attention to minor symptoms.

I thought it was funny that I mentioned that I was on an ED for ds. He said "What's an elimination diet?"

And poo on whoever things sals intolerance is hooey. Give ds a bunch of zucchini and let THEM have him for the night!

[sbgrace]

Most allergists won't due skin pricks for fruits unless they are fresh. I was told my son didn't have fruit allergies despite hives from oranges and cantaloupe. I was confused but avoided with him. His new allergist told me that the extracts of fruits aren't good for accurate testing. We did fresh fruits (all sorts) and he was positive to oranges and cantaloupe--which corresponds to reactions I've seen.