Ugh, Little Guy has had 3 allergic reactions to food in the last 5 days. Here's how it all went down:
Friday: he must have eaten a couple Doritos when our friends were over because next thing I know I look over and he is rubbing his eyes so hard I thought they might pop out! Next thing I know his whole left side of his face is swelling up. Give him a teaspoon of Children's Benadryl and hold a wet cloth to his eyes. After about 15 minutes he was feeling better, eating soy icecream and back to running around in the backyard.
Sunday: He eats a cinnamon crunch bagel at Panera and 4 bites later, he is scratching those eyes again! I asked to see the ingredient list and teaspoon of Benadryl and hold a wet cloth with eyes in it to his eyes. After a three hour power nap, he is fine.
Tuesday: Off he goes to day care. At 12 p.m. I get a call, "Little Guy threw up. Can you come and get him?" When I get there they are holding him and he is calm and relatively okay, but the hives came out right after I hung up with them -- on his face, wrists and stomach. They gave him a teaspoon of Benadryl and he was already better by the time I got there.
What could he have eaten???? I check with his teachers, it doesn't seem like he ate anything he shouldn't have. I checked the label on the bread (the same bread he has eaten many times there). It says in the label "may contain milk products" -- but there isn't a milk product listed it in the ingredients. I guess that was it. But as usual, it's a guessing game - a crap shoot.
Aghh! I took him home and he was fine. I called the allergist and she suggested I put him on a daily does of Claritin for a couple weeks to help "calm down his system." He is now more sensitive to any little allergen because all those histamines are coursing through his body. So things he can normally deal with are causing reactions. It makes it sorta scary to feed him!
But no calls so far from the day care. Thank goodness. I checked the menu carefully today, talked to the cook and told him (and the teacher) what Little Guy could and could not eat.
I saw this study on the Allergy Mom's blog and I agree that while the milk allergy is not "ruining our life," it does add to the daily stress of life. I am pretty used to it (in fact, yesterday the allergist told me I was handling it well and not freaking out) and luckily, don't have to deal with breathing issues, but once in a while I see a kid sit down and eat anything on the table and think, "WOW, that mom is sooo lucky!"
6 comments:
I'm glad you stopped by today. Yes, I think we do have some things in common. I'm sorry your little guy had a couple of reactions lately. So scarey when that happens. My guy is allergic to wheat, rye, barley, egg, milk and peanut. We are waiting for this years RAST results to see if anything has changed or improved. Keeping our fingers crossed. Your guys are adorable. I'll definitely be back :)
I'm sorry to hear about the reactions — they do come in groups, don't they? My son can go for months without a reaction, and then I think we all get over-confident, and blammo, we get a bunch in a row.
Good luck, and I hope the daily dose of antihistamines helps. It sounds like his cup is definitely full of histamines at the momen.
You bring up a good point about all the histamines in his system making him more sensitive... that certainly explains the groupings of reactions. When that happens, I find myself starting to get really unraveled, like "What am I doing wrong?" I think you are handling it all very well. I have much to learn from you.
Ria
Thank you all for your support! It's so nice to hear from other moms who know what this is all like. Little Guy is doing better. No reactions since the one at day care. Phew!
This is great! I have found some other moms with the same issues I have. My son just started school this year and has several allergies both food and environmental. He also has skin issues and asthma due to this...
THANK YOU for your post. It helps to read that I am not alone out there.
The labels that say "may contain..." usually refer to the fact that they use shared equipment to process the foods.
Unfortunately the new food labeling legislation doesn't mean that companies *have* to list cross-contamination.
Many times, we think we're in the clear when reading the label, only to read that it's processed on shared equipment....nuts is an automatic no-no for us.
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