[LoisLane]

Hi there,

Last night, my son ate about three small tomatoes with dinner. For some reason, I usually don't offer them to him (I think he must have had blotchy cheeks with them in the past so I just don't give him any) but they were DO delicious and sweet that I put some on his plate. Everything else he had is stuff we eat all the time. He said his throat felt funny so I took the rest away. Then, a few minutes later, he threw up.

That's pretty much an allergic reaction, right? Or is it a deficiency in something else? He has had RAST testing once and only showed up positive for cats. I suspect he has a milk allergy (trouble staying dry at night), and have noticed he gets blotchy spots on his cheeks after some foods (cinnamon, anything with artificial colors in it -- like Fruit by the Foot my parents used to love to give to their grandkids)... but just thought I'd check in here with the experts!

Aside from keeping him away from fresh tomatoes, is there anything else I need to do? We are living out of the country for the next five months and while I could take him to a doctor, it would be quite expensive. Can I wait til we get home in July to see a doctor? Does he need testing? Or are we OK just keeping him away from tomatoes (he also has a natural aversion to potatoes of ANY kind... even french fries... which I was reading is in the same family as tomatoes).

Thanks for any thoughts you have.

 

[tanyalynn]

I'd probably consider that a reaction. It can be either an intolerance or an IgE allergy, I don't know if it's possible to tell which yet, though if you've already identified a cat allergy, I'd think the possibility of IgE is higher.

I hope someone more knowledgeable can chime in on whether you need to see an allergist asap.

Tomatoes are in the nightshade family, I've read that intolerances can be to the entire family (peppers, including stuff like paprika and chili powder) but I don't know if IgE reactions tend to be.