A fishy tale (tail).
Ivy ate some salmon yesterday.
David and I had sushi and she wanted to try it, so we let her.
About an hour later she came out in big red welts and started to cough.
It was just one small piece.
Before long she was scratching at her throat and became quite irritable.
We took her home and I dosed her up with phenergan.
Obviously, now she is existing on other people’s antibodies and is mounting a response of some sort, she is also reacting to things that irritate her body
and I think she’s allergic to fish.
Anyone out there have allergies?
Anyone have any pointers, aside from avoiding fish, that is
because, I think that’s pretty much a given.
The Kewl girls (and me) are all allergic to peanuts. Very allergic.
We have a system when we go to parties or get together with other people where there will be ‘communal’ food – I always take food for the girls and put it in a brightly coloured (usually obnoxious) bowl so they can see clearly what they can eat. Anything else they know they need to ask first.
At home I am a food control freak anyway so we are pretty safe. Lots of label reading, but we are lucky enough to shop organic so we have a pretty good range to choose from.
Not sure what else to offer really – it has become second nature to us (and we are hippy freaks anyway, so most of our community have weird food issues!)
Everything in moderation I guess – and avoid the known nasties.
Oh bugger. No advice from here, sorry.
BTW, we are having some success wit the GF Lauke Bread Mix. Have you tried it? Of course its not bread but it kinda does the job. And the ‘Reject Shop’ (don’t ask my why) had GF Cornflakes on sale…
I’m no expert at this sort of thing but I would probably avoid shellfish too. She may not be allergic to everything but best to err on the side of caution. If you are really worried the allergy clinic at RPA is fantastic but it does take a while to get an appointment unless you are worried about anaphylactic response to an allergy. The other thing that you might be able to do a bit closer to home is to go and see a dietitian and get some info from them. There are a few publications that the RPA clinic do and you could probably get them. They also have a fair bit of info on their website http://www.cs.nsw.gov.au/rpa/allergy/default.htm
Sam started reacting to foods he previously hadn’t reacted to once we started the IVIG too. We ended up having him allergy tested. We did 5 three hour sessions!!! They poked him a million times. He came up allergic to EVERYTHING!!! So we had like five foods he could eat: peanuts, apples, bananas, corn and beef. His primary thought he was reacting becuase of the IVIG and so we waited to do more testing until immediately before he was due to have another treatment. We did actual blood testing the second time. It was called an “immunocap” They took like three vials of blood and tested him for all kinds of things. He only came back positive for dairy. So now we are dairy free. I recommend keeping benadryl or some type of antihistamine on you at all times now. When Sam did what Ivy did the first time, each time it happened it was worse. He started having minor issues breathing once, I am so thankful I had the benadryl to give him, I don’t know what would have happened if I didn’t
I found out I’m allergic to bee stings (the hard way). Luckily one of my friends is an ambo and when she took a look at me (I’d asked her to bring some antihistamine over because my arm had swelled up and I couldn’t move it) she asked if I was having trouble breathing – INSTANT hyperventilation!! Even the local doctor was impressed at the size of it (the bite was on my wrist and the swelling reached my armpit). Lucky it only took a week to go back to normal. The wisdom teeth I had taken out were no trouble at all…
Good luck!
bugga bugga bugga………….
I had some odd allergies when I was a kid….couldn’t eat fresh eggs.we had to date them all with a pencil,anything with citric acid,lots of flowers…ughhhh it was a pain.thankfully I grew out of most of it.but we aren’t talking about me……duhhhhhhh I know.I’m not really with it today…….
so I am sending hugs and love your way.
No experience here, although I second the recommendation to have an antihistamine on hand all the time. Allergy testing maybe, although Ivy probably doesn’t need any more needle pricks. I do know that allergic reactions get worse every time though.
Sorry to hear, just one more thing you don’t need. Looks like we are going to have to help each other out with our kids health issues!! coco has allergies to egg and nut. Haven’t tried her on shellfish, but highly likely. I might email you and we can chat.
I thought I had it all under control until we went to a party of someone I didnt know (coco’s friend) and it was highly stressful, even though I took our own cake etc.
I would also recommend a proper allergy test. That’s the only reason we foudn out about nuts, we didn’t try them, just did the test. We’re going back this july and if no better I think we’re starting de-sensitisation, where they’ll give her bits of the allergen to hopefully overcome the allergies.
i am only allergic to most medicines, so i can’t get sick. i agree you should probably get an allergy test so you know all the things she can not eat.
Hi Tiff,
We deal with FPIES, which is a non IGE mediated allergy response to foods. Our Jack can not eat soy, dairy, gluten, egg or beef. We have a phenomenal allergy and immune disease hospital that we visit in Denver, Co, which is called National Jewish Hospital, anyway, during my sons stay (trying to get a diagnosis) the allergists said that if someone is reacting to something in their environment or something they ate, that everything around them can start to cause a reaction. So be careful with taking her and getting her skin pricked, I would ask to have them test her blood for the allergy. I know that Ivy is not a typical case, but I was just imagining you going to an allergist, having her skin pricked and coming home with a whole new list of offending foods.
Good luck with this, allergies are no fun at all.
Oh crap… not allergies.
Our girls are allergic to a range of things… though thankfully the only food is nuts (a variety of different nuts but especially peanuts). We had the skin scratch tests done for the first time last year (after a wait to get in) and our review this year they decided on blood tests because they react to even the control skin prick – so I guess if you are worried then maybe next time she has bloods done perhaps they could take a little more and do some allergy tests too?
No idea how immune deficiency would affect allergies but the one thing we are told over and over is that the first time they come into contact with something and react is usually a moderate to mild reaction… it is the next time that they have it that it could be bad. We’ve had one moderate pea nut reaction from Izzy (swollen lips, asthma and a big vomit) and now have epi pens because the next exposure could be a lot worse.
So far we’ve not had to use the epi pens (had them almost a year) but I came close the other day after they both reacted to a friend’s rabbit. Thankfully zyrtec (our antihistamine of choice) and a crap loads of ventolin while waiting for that to work did the trick… I dread the day I have to do the epi pen thing but have a creeping feeling it may not be far off.
Do talk with Ivy about not eating fish…. Our girls know they can’t eat nuts, they know to ask first before eating anything someone else offers them and they know the signs to look out for in case of trouble… they’ve managed that well since they were 4ish. Though now that they are being invited to parties where parents are not expected to stay… it gets tricky!
She may not be allergic to all fish. Try to find out what type of fish is used in the sushi. shellfish allergy is quite common, but often people can still eat regular fish, or maybe only white fish, avoiding oily fish. one of my daughters can eat prawns and crab caught and cooked fresh, but the canned crabmeat or prawns affect her adversely. It may be a case of trying tiny bits of different types over a long period of time with significant gaps to allow recovery if necessary.
Having now read all the other comments, I’d say avoid fish altogether and get some allergy tests done.
Oh Ivy! There is a boy in the Princess’ class (she’s in Kindergarten) who has an anaphylaxis reaction to strawberries and tomatoes. Unlike nuts, which are verboten at her school, the kids are allowed to bring these, but it’s amazing how careful they are. They know that these foods can make Nathan really sick, and they take every precaution to protect him. Once you know for sure about Ivy’s allergies, I’d have a frank talk with the kids at her school, they’ll probably be much better allies than her teachers!
Hello Tiff!
I have not had any issues and allergies but my older son, Damian, is allergic to bee stings and my husband is went into anaphylaxic shock from fire ant bites. Both of them carry epinephrine pens and we always have benadryl on hand. I cannot imagine what it would be like to have a food allergy. The good thing is, most kids probably don’t eat too much fish at school. When she is in school though, I would make sure that everyone is aware. Have your doctor write a script for medications that can be administered at school too, just in case!
I would highly recommend speaking with her doctors about keeping an EpiPen for her. Our twins and Selena have shown allergies, so they keep one just in case. If she ever should have a severe anaphylactic reaction, it might very well save her life.
I witnessed my grandmother have a severe anaphylactic reaction to a medication for a urinary infection. The paramedics and I both thought we were going to lose her that night.
A woman whose daughter had swimming with ‘Salina had 3 children with 3 different allergy lists.
Her youngest was so allergic to almost everything that she understood she had to sit alone to eat her lunch at school, and her friends understood that after eating they had to wash thoroughly.
Lots of hugs – and I loved the tribute to Ivy in hospital post below – catching up.
:hug: not what you need. M has allergies to foods, as does our little one Jovie. Its not nice, its not something I’d wish on anyone, but I reckon avoiding fish is a fantastic start.
I would definitely have her tested. I think I’d want to know EVERYTHING on the no-no list!