PLEASE HELP! Severe anaphalactic allergy...3yo

[BCmamaof6]

(background: I have severe anaphylactic allergy to tree nuts...like dead in 15 minutes anaphalaxis...according to my parents it wasn't always "airway closing" severe...it was a rash...then vomiting...etc...with each exposure over my childhood the symptoms became worse)

My 3yo DD has no known food allergies...we didn't introduce solid foods with her until 10-12 months (& only bland, "safe" food slowly over a # of weeks)
She hasn't been given tree nuts yet, because of my allergy. She has had wheat, milk, eggs, fish, etc. (all the other known food allergens) without any problems.
She does have very sensitive skin...couldn't wear disposables (tried on vacation when she was 9m) can't have mild lotions applied to her skin (like Burt's Bees) & has had skin rashes before from topical contact with certain things.

So...
Last night I was on my way to a LLL meeting & allowed the kids to have : Wendy's fast food for dinner as a special treat (I'm so ashamed to be admitting that...we NEVER eat fast food...but the kids begged & I felt bad cause I was going out...)
Anyway... DD ate chicken strips with Heartland Ranch dressing/dip. She also had a couple of french fries & a few sips of Frutopia. She has had french fries & fruity drinks before...and other chicken strips from restaurants...
My gut instinct is the dip...and she ate a lot of it...she smothered 2 strips in 1/2 a container of dressing.
Before we had driven 5 minutes away I noticed a red rash around her mouth...but because she has sensitive skin it's not totally uncommon for her to develop redness around her mouth if an acidic food hasn't been wiped off properly. I was going into the post office/drug store anyway & when I went to list her out of her carseat I noticed that the rash was EVERYWHERE. I bought her Benadryl (antihistimine) & gave it to her immediately. She fell asleep not long after & I figured the drug had made her drowsy...wait & see how she is when she wakes up...I took her with me to LLL...when she woke up (about 2 hours after initial exposure) she seemed okay. he rash looked a bit worse by bedtime (about 4-5 hours after initial exposure) so I gave her more Benadryl. She woke once thru the night (maybe 3? 4?) & I gave it to her again cause she said she was itchy & sore.

This morning when she woke up (9:45) the rash looked worse & she was coughing & rubbing her throat & her lips were swollen. I gave her another dose of Benadryl. & then I picked up my 6yo from kindergarten early & headed to the doctor's office. They took her in right away when they saw the rash (head to toe welts) & called my doc to the back room asap. Her checked her breathing, etc. & said that yes...it is definately an allergic reaction. Yes...it could get worse. Yes...it looks & sounds like the kind of allergy that becomes anaphylactic & with the family history- very likely. And to try to figure out what it was to avoid it in the future.

If you're still with me (& I apologise that this is so long) here's what I need help with:
This is an ingredient listing from the dressing that I got from the manager at Wendy's after the doctor's office...please tell me what in it could have caused a severe allergy...do any of the ingredients ring a bell as being a known food allergen?

INGREDIENTS: soya oil, water, white vinegar, liquid egg yolk, salt, buttermilk powder, sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, citric acid, xanthan gum, spices, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, yeast extract, disodium guanylate, disodium insinate, calcium disodium EDTA (flavor protector)

Obviously, we would never feed the dip to her again...but I need to know what caused the reaction so that she doesn't accidently consume it in something else & have a full-blown severe anaphylactic reaction & die.

PLEASE help me out here if you have any thoughts on this...

[Village Mama]

Oh mama... sounds scary. I dont have any advice to give I am sorry to say. Just couldnt read without posting. I know someone who has that type of reaction to eggs and milk products.... another with soya. Hope you find the culprit without anymore scary episodes

[alegna]

is soya soy? Has she had soy before? That would be my first guess- especially if she hasn't had it before. If so- that's scary, it's in everything.

good luck!

-Angela

[craftymom]

Did they cook the chicken strips/fries in peanut oil? Some places still do. I don't think I've ever been inside a Wendy's, so I don't know about them--or if individual restaurants might differ.

I would go get skin testing done w/an allergist asap. It's no fun, and not totally reliable at a young age (though for my guys it was), but I think at this point you NEED to get whatever help you can.

You also might want to watch out for the good old "spices"--my aunt is ana to _mustard_ and can't eat anything with "spices". Of course, it could also be cross-contamination from someone's hands (gloved or not!).

[JaneS]

Yeast extract is MSG

[Boobs]

I would call Wendy's back and see what kind of oil they're using. I heard recently that Wendy's was switching to non-hydrogenated oil. Could it be peanut?
You should also find out what is in the batter of the chicken strips.

[BCmamaof6]

I got a complete ingredient listing on everything there. She has had peanut better lots of times without any poroblem. She has also eaten Chinese, Japanese & Thai food lots of times...so I think she's probably okay on the MSG.
After doing a search last night on allergens...it sounded most like a soya (soy) allergy...but I know she's had soy sauce before...my DH cooks with it...and she's had miso soup several times.
The websites on soya allergies say that the skin-prick testing is NOT reliable for soya.
And I can remember having it done when I was a child & it was AWFUL.

I think it's got to be either soya...or one of the crazy chemicals/additives...
She still starts swelling up if we go more than 4-5 hours between doses of Benadryl. (although my doctor said that could go on for the next week)
The anaphylaxis website had these great cards (to take to restaurants) & other things that could be purchased to make label reading easier...it seems weird that when I was a kid it was like "oh you are allergic...too bad for you...don't eat then" & now there is much more awareness & understanding around it...even in schools they sometimes ban anaphylacic foods if there is a child with a severe allergy (they banned peanuts from my DD's grade 1 class a few years ago) I think I'm going to order some of the cards & things anyway (for me as well as her)
I'm wondering if I should wait until she's perfectly fine & then apply a tiny amount of soya oil to her skin & see if she reacts... for me if I rubbed walnut oil on my skin I'd break out in a rash...but as long as it was washed off right away (and possibly Benadryl given) it would be fine...but then I'd know if soya was the culprit...although I'm still "if she's had some forms of soya before & not reacted...why the oil?"

So frustrated...(and scared) not knowing what did this to my baby...and how to protect her in the future...

[BCmamaof6]

Oh! I should also add that in Wendy's defence...
they took it very seriously...had the manager take a full report with all the details that she said would be called in. And they were very apologetic & asked if there was anything they could do.
That was kind of reassuring that they do consider allergies to be serious.
In my life I'd been to several restaurants that have assured me that there are NO NUTS in the dish I've ordered & that they will be careful with cross-contamination...only to have a full-blown anaphylactic reaction & for them to say "oops...yeah there are walnuts in that dish...are you going to be okay?" : Ah no...I'm now going to stick myself with a needle full of an artifical drug which has been shown to have adverse affects on the heart, then race to the hospital & hope that this time the adrenalin doesn't kill me & then I'm going to feel unbelievably sick for the next few days...but yeah...thank you for taking my life so seriously...

[saratc]

Originally Posted by BCmamaof5

After doing a search last night on allergens...it sounded most like a soya (soy) allergy...but I know she's had soy sauce before...my DH cooks with it...and she's had miso soup several times.

She may be having a difference in reaction to the regular soy. Both soy sauce and miso are fermented soy products. Fermentation definitely changes the composition of foods and whatever she's allergic to in soy may be mostly eaten up by bacteria/yeasts in the fermentation process.

BTW -- I remember hearing that Wendy's new oil is made of a blend of soy and corn oil.

[bscal]

I would suggest asking the manager if he could specifically find out (maybe from the corporate office) which spices are included as well. My Dad and my sister both have anaphalactic reactions to white pepper. They both have epi pens and have to be very careful about asking at restaurants (especially Italian places which they both love). According to my Dad's allergist it's pretty common for people to have major allergies to spices as they are plants. Good luck, I know it's so scary when it's your child.

Beth

[circlemama]

Be very careful when applying allergens to the skin. Top allergists are opposed to skin prick tests because it's only exposing allergic person to the allergen. My daughter has many food allergies, and Wendy's is the only fast food we eat. They do not use peanut oil. I would suspect the soya or the egg yolk. Has your dd ate entire eggs w/o problems? Also, when rashes appear around the mouth after food ingestion, it is an allergic reaction. Doris Rapp's book is a great resource. Also, POFAK website. FAAN membership is helpful. Also, great cookbook...The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook. Good Luck. RAST allergy testing can be helpful, however, allergy testing can be highly inaccurate and a REACTION always trumps testing.

[Wolfmeis]

egg, soy and milk are some of the big ones. another consideration is corn in the fruit drink. she could also be reacting to something else altogether, such as a preservative combination in the foods, or a contaminant from the kitchen.

I agree with PP about skin testing being counterproductive, especially this close after a bad reaction like that. I would seriously get her a RAST test.

[JBAmom]

another possible route

We have been through a different course of allergy treatment called NAET, and the results for our 2 sons have been dramatic. We started NAET with my younger son when he was 2, after we became frustrated with our regular medical doctor's method of treating the syptoms with one med after another. Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Technique (NAET) actually eliminates the allergy. Our son was allergic to almost everything he ate, and to most skin products. Now he can eat and touch anything with no apparent reaction. Our friend's son had life-threatening allergic reactions cured with NAET. According to NAET, a person can be allergic to just about anything, and some things become allergens when taken in combination though alone each substance may not cause an allergic reaction. A good NAET practitioner should be able to determine the offending substance(s). You can find one at www.NAET.com if you're interested.

[wendy1221]

I would consider the egg in the dip. Egg is a common anaphylactic allergy. Milk is a more common allergy, but egg is more common to be ana. Unless you've been feeding her eggs or egg containing food. I seriously doubt it is the soy oil. Soy oil is so refined, there is very rarely any protein left in it. If it were expeller pressed, that would be different, but fast food doesn't use expeller pressed oils. I could be the soy, but it's not very likely.

Also, has she had garlic before? I saw garlic in the ing list and I've heard of a few kids who are ana to garlic.

[wendy1221]

Oh, and Burt's Bees uses nut oils in their lotions/creams. I couldn't figure out why Liam (9 mos) got a worse diaper rash from Burt's Bees when that was the only kind Jake (2) could use. Liam is allergic to almonds.

[mama_b]

I don't know what it could be, but I think you should look into it being the chicken strips also. I don't have any food allergies that I know of, but when I was pg Wendy's chicken strips gave me a red, hot itchy rash all over my face and neck. Anytime I ate them. But only while pg. Now I can eat them with no problem. It was very strange. But I just wanted to throw that out there.

[marieandchris]

Originally Posted by wendy1221

I would consider the egg in the dip. Egg is a common anaphylactic allergy. Milk is a more common allergy, but egg is more common to be ana. Unless you've been feeding her eggs or egg containing food. I seriously doubt it is the soy oil. Soy oil is so refined, there is very rarely any protein left in it. If it were expeller pressed, that would be different, but fast food doesn't use expeller pressed oils. I could be the soy, but it's not very likely..

I was just going to say this...my son has a serious allergy (w/ ana) to egg and it is in anything dipped/fried. He has a reaction similar to the one you described!

Good luck...soooo scary. I know. Been there.
Marie

[marieandchris]

Originally Posted by circlemama

I would suspect the soya or the egg yolk.

You mean egg-white, right? The white is the protein...the allergy source.

Marie

[wendy1221]

Originally Posted by marieandchris

You mean egg-white, right? The white is the protein...the allergy source.

Marie

No, egg is egg. You can't separate them 100%, so wherever there is egg yolk, there is egg white, and vice-versa. Anyway, most people allergic to the white are also allergic to the yolk. The white is only slightly more allergenic. I don't know why anyone even gets tested for them separately. All the allergists I've ever seen just does a test for "egg." Not egg white or egg yolk, just "egg." THe yolk also has protein in it. Not as much as the white, but it's there.

My nephew is ana to egg and I have a pretty bad egg allergy myself. I've never had a full out ana reaction to egg, but my last egg exposure was pretty scary and I'd say I'm headed that way if I'm not more careful (and I have been so far.)

[BCmamaof6]

She's had egg lots of times...my DH uses it raw in Caesar salad dressing...it's definately not the egg. Or the milk. Or the garlic (she even eats it raw...we use it a lot)