Help! Could this be an allergic reaction?

[tngirl11]

My 4-year-old son is allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. We've known about it for a couple of years now and carry an epi pen, but he hasn't had any problems since his diagnosis. Tonight he went to his church group where he ate cookies of some kind (don't know what kind--they know about his allergy but could possibly have still given him something he shouldn't have). When I picked him up, he complained a little bit about his tummy hurting and said, "I shouldn't have eaten those cookies". He seemed okay after that and went to bed fine. A little while later he woke up and threw up all over his bed. After I got him all cleaned up and in my bed I noticed he had a mild rash on his face, and his eyes were a little swollen. He definitely didn't have the rash before bed or I would have noticed. He's sleeping again now, and the rash is pretty much gone, but I'm wondering if this could have been a reaction to nuts of some kind that were in the cookies or had come in contact with the cookies he ate. I was under the impression that he would react immediately, especially with the rash, if he was exposed, but maybe I was wrong. Anyone know?
Thanks!

[mbbinsc]

Hope that your DS was OK last night. We had an episode with DD that she threw up all night long. I would find out what he ate in case it is something new.

[JaneS]

Yes it was a reaction.

Even trace amounts of tree nuts can cause anaphylaxis and death. Sorry to be so blunt, but this practice of letting your DS have food that you don't know the origin of, or potential for cross contamination in the ingredients or machinery, is dangerous.

Hugh Sampson is a nationally known allergy researcher. If this is the story I recall reading, the boy used his Epipen and still died.

In a case I was involved with,” recalls Hugh Sampson, “a college student who was allergic to peanuts bought cookies from a vending machine. They did not have peanuts listed on the label.” But there were peanuts in the cookies, and the student died after eating them. “Apparently, the company had a little bit of batter left over from some peanut butter cookies and just threw it into a batch of another kind of cookie and figured that it didn’t matter.”

http://www.cspinet.org/nah/04_01/

[mama1803]

Originally Posted by JaneS

Sorry to be so blunt, but this practice of letting your DS have food that you don't know the origin of, or potential for cross contamination in the ingredients or machinery, is dangerous.

You can never be too careful when it come to peanut allergies. Allowing an allergic child to eat food of unknown origin is a big no no.

[tngirl11]

To be clear, I have made the staff at church well aware of his allergy and have been assured that they are very careful to never provide snacks that "may contain traces" of nuts or "have been processed on equipment that processes nuts", etc. I have always been extremely careful in making sure that anyone who is caring for him is well-informed on this issue. When it is stated that a childcare facility knows all about nut allergies and knows how to protect kids and the workers have demonstrated that they are aware of all of the same things that I am aware of, I have felt that I could trust them to read a label. I have worked at the YMCA for years and am totally comfortable allowing my son to eat snacks there without reading every label myself since it is the policy to never have any potentially threatening foods. It seemed to be the case at the church too. Incidentally, I do not know for sure that he actually DID come in contact with nuts in his snack. It is possible that he came in contact some other way--say from a kids who had eaten a peanut butter sandwich before class. I have no idea. I am absolutely vigilant and extremely careful with what he eats and would NEVER EVER put him in danger. We have never had an incident in three years because I am so careful. And now, having had a child die recently, I am even more obsessively careful, if that's even possible as I worry constantly about going through something like that again. I am sitting here crying and absolutely shaking at the implication that I would be flippant about my child's safety. I simply wondered if this could in fact be a delayed reaction. I also put in a call last night to our pediatrician's after hours nurse and kept my son in my bed after checking on him every ten minutes until 4:00 am. I would NEVER knowingly endanger my child or take his allergy lightly.

[tngirl11]

Originally Posted by mbbinsc

Hope that your DS was OK last night. We had an episode with DD that she threw up all night long. I would find out what he ate in case it is something new.

He has been fine ever since. Thanks! I will definitely investigate at the next class to find out exactly what he ate so I can hopefully figure out what happened.

[Nillarilla]

My son often has delayed reactions to soy. He will wake and vomit or wake and cry and have breathing problems and some swelling. I give him rescue remedy, Vit. C and benadryl. I have a friend who works for the government in the food and drug industry. She goes to factories to make sure they are hitting standards and almost every single time she finds an incidence of allergens coming into contact with something that's not labeled for them. So even extreme vigilance in label reading does not guarantee that our children aren't going to come into contact with it. It's a terrible feeling having to hover over them and watch them after they eat. I hope you find out what it was so you can go back to feeling comfortable letting him eat snacks from church.

[mbbinsc]

I am so glad that he was fine thoughout the night. For my DD it was a natural coloring (annatto) that caused the GI upset. It is made from a tree seed and seems to be showing up in more items.

I can't imagine your stress with the loss of your child, and dealing with food allergies in another child. My prayers are with you.

[JaneS]

I'm truly very sorry Gayle. I should have read your sig. and not been so blunt, it was very callous of me!

(I may have overreacted b/c of something going on in my own life .) I didn't at all mean you were flippant or uncaring. I think we are all learning as we go.

From my knowledge, trace amounts of nuts are everywhere in standard products and not obvious from label reading. I think that it is only requested, not legally required, to state "may contain" type warnings on labels?

I would request he stick with an allergen free type company's products such as Enjoy Life and the like.

Please forgive me mama.

Edited by JaneS - 7/14/11 at 4:46pm

[tngirl11]

Thank you so much, Jane. I really appreciate it. I have some Enjoy Life cookies at home, so I'll probably just take them in for him from now on to be sure (or bake something for everyone there).