OMG Faevantastic, I just read your weekend posts and G's reaction to peanut butter all came flashing back to me. Hugs, lady! We have our allergist appointment next week -- I'll let you know how it goes. G's face looked similar; she was freaking out rather than looking lethargic. I think her reaction was slightly more mild, but still bad. So scary!
Also, try really hard not to beat yourself up about what happened. You weren't doing anything strange or horrible and many pedis advise trying peanut butter around 1 year old. I went through the exact same thing, though my DH was complaining about my reaction rather than my choosing to give peanut butter. I really really think in both our cases it's bc our DHs were really scared for their child and it's a coping mechanism. It's SO HARD to see your baby like that and feel so powerless.
Our pedi went ahead and gave us a prescription for an epi pen that we now carry with us, along with liquid Benadryl in the diaper bag. I've gotten a little more used to the idea of a peanut allergy and have started to check labels on foods and have told the server the one time we went out to eat since then about her allergy.
We were among the uninformed and didn't have Benadryl on hand at the time. Really good thinking giving it to E.
I must've missed it when this happened. How's G thus far? Please keep me updated about her appt.
It was about a month ago on a Friday night -- we had given her peanut butter on crackers and she actually seemed to like it, until her face started turning red and breaking out in hives. DH took her to give her a bath right away, but it just kept getting worse and she started screaming and wouldn't stop (not like her at all). I tried nursing her to keep her calm, but her face just kept swelling. We live about 40 minutes from the closest hospital so I called 911. We didn't end up taking her to the hospital, but probably should have. By the time they got to us, the swelling was starting to go down and she was calming down. We cosleep and I didn't sleep much that night; luckily she's been mostly fine since. I posted about it that weekend but if you weren't online (I'm often not on the weekends) it would've been easy to miss.
She's had some eczema since then, which I've heard is common for food allergy sufferers. She also just had her first ear infection last week, which I only realized bc she was having labored breathing (I was afraid it was another allergic reaction). But the urgent care doc and our pedi both thought it was ear infection-related (antibiotics cleared it up) so now I don't think that one was allergy related.
It was actually our 2nd time giving her peanut butter. In retrospect, her face turned slightly red the first time, but we weren't sure if it was the peanut butter or the strawberries then and didn't think much of it.
Oh my goodness. I just read the other post, how scary for you all! We had an egg reaction (not nearly as severe, just skin reaction) and have keep Benadryl in the house but because of this I'm going to get some of the fast melts to keep in the diaper bag just in case. We haven't tried peanut butter yet and I'm thinking now we should try it at the Dr.'s office instead of at home. I'm so glad your little one is feeling better today and that you reacted so quickly!
Post by charlielove on Jun 24, 2013 17:41:49 GMT -5
You were definitely smart to quickly give Benadryl like that. I am going to make it a point to go buy some to have on hand now too. I'm glad he's continuing to improve.
Post by Faevantastic on Jun 24, 2013 17:53:49 GMT -5
shevacc - must've of been when I was up in Canada. I can imagine how scary that must've been! Evan's swelling took a long time to subside. The scariest part was the hives, before the swelling smoothed his face. We didn't sleep much last night either. We woke up every couple hours to check on him. Do you find it hard to watch out for things that G eats now? We're so paranoid about everything right now.
I'm really glad that you guys are going to keep Benadryl on hand- something good that came out of this!
shevacc - must've of been when I was up in Canada. I can imagine how scary that must've been! Evan's swelling took a long time to subside. The scariest part was the hives, before the swelling smoothed his face. We didn't sleep much last night either. We woke up every couple hours to check on him. Do you find it hard to watch out for things that G eats now? We're so paranoid about everything right now.
I'm really glad that you guys are going to keep Benadryl on hand- something good that came out of this!
One thing that makes it a little easier is that food allergies are common enough that G and E will benefit from all the work previous allergy mamas have done. Food labels are now supposed to have the "high risk" allergens called out (ie "contains milk, eggs, nuts"). As I've started reading food labels, that's something I very much appreciate. Luckily peanuts are pretty much just called peanuts (or peanut oil). It will be much harder if it turns out that we need to avoid tree nuts as well, but we'll wait and see what the allergist says.
It's feeling much more normal now. I've started reading the labels of everything at the grocery store and not bringing peanuts into the house. So at home I'm no longer super paranoid. Eating out, we've only gone out once, for pizza (though we don't eat out often anyway). We told the waiter about G's allergy and it was fine. We tried stopping at a bakery at Pike Place Market a few weeks ago and ended up not being able to get anything for G, so we got smoothies instead.
Things I've been sad about: we basically can't go out for Indian or Thai food since they use peanuts extensively in their sauces. Most bakeries use peanuts so nearly all baked goods aren't safe. Halloween candy is also full of peanuts. I think some fast food places fry in peanut oil? But we'll survive. Better than having to go through the stress and trauma of another allergic reaction.
I also bought benadryl to keep on hand for emergencies now. Make sure you ladies call your pedi to get the right dosages for your LOs! And only use it in case of an emergency.
We are doing good! I went back to work today. It was tough leaving him at daycare this morning. I think he's in good hands though. They have a girl there that has a peanut allergy so they are already peanut free. Evan normally gets clingy after the weekend (especially a long one) so I fully expected him to cry when I was leaving... but nope, I sat him down on his seat for breakfast (he eats it there), he started waving me goodbye, lol.
shevacc - I talked to a friend this morning, her nephew went through the same thing years ago when he was a baby but now, he's about 10 years old, is completely peanut allergy free. He grew out of it... so there's hope for us!
We are doing good! I went back to work today. It was tough leaving him at daycare this morning. I think he's in good hands though. They have a girl there that has a peanut allergy so they are already peanut free. Evan normally gets clingy after the weekend (especially a long one) so I fully expected him to cry when I was leaving... but nope, I sat him down on his seat for breakfast (he eats it there), he started waving me goodbye, lol.
shevacc - I talked to a friend this morning, her nephew went through the same thing years ago when he was a baby but now, he's about 10 years old, is completely peanut allergy free. He grew out of it... so there's hope for us!
Glad he is better and that he was okay going to school, that REALLY helps. Can't wait to meet both of you guys on Sunday!!!!!!
I also bought benadryl to keep on hand for emergencies now. Make sure you ladies call your pedi to get the right dosages for your LOs! And only use it in case of an emergency.
It's 2.5ml for under 22lbs, if I remember correctly?