Last Monday Hannah woke up and had a little sleep in her eyes but not really much more than normal. As the course of the morning wore on her eyes began to weep and I realized she had some sort of infection or cold in her eyes. We headed to a local urgent care where they confirmed this and prescribed an antibiotic eye drop that she was to take for one week.
Her eyes cleared up within 24 hours but we continued on with the drops as prescribed.
Fast forward to last night when we were staying at Grandma and Grandpa’s house together. She was her normal fun, happy self and snacked on a few peanuts with Grandpa. She’s had peanut butter for well over a year now and had also eaten Nutella at breakfast yesterday.
When I put her to bed she went right to sleep but was pretty unsettled. I kept going up and settling her and figuring it was a new place so she wanted mommy there. I ended up going to bed earlier than normal and when I did I quickly realized why she was unsettled - she was SO itchy! I lathered her in cream more than once and scoured mom and dad's medicine cabinet but they didn't have anything for kiddos that would help. (I often travel with our meds bag but since it was just one night it hadn’t even crossed my mind to take them with us.) Shortly after midnight she was still super itchy so I turned the light back on. When I unzlpped her pj's I saw that it had got worse and she was now covered in white welts from her tummy to her toes! Poor kid!! I know what that is like and it's awful!!
I hopped out of bed and began to google 24 hour pharmacy's and realized the closest one was in another city. I decided rather than drive there that I’d to head to ER. Partially because it was closer and partially because she'd had the nuts. I wanted to err on the side of caution.
The good part was that the ER was quiet and we were in and out quickly and home within an hour. (The ER in the city we live in is often a 4+ hour wait so this was much better!)
(The mask was not necessary. She just wanted to wear it because it was covered in Disney characters! 
) The doctor was great with Hannah, teasing her and making her giggle even though it was 1am. He took the reaction very seriously (more seriously than I thought it was) and because of the potential that it's linked to the nuts he gave us a prescription for an Epipen Jr. until I can get her tested. They also gave her some Benadryl and it worked quickly which allowed her to finally rest peacefully and sleep.
So, for now we're staying away for everything that might contain peanuts or nuts and I'll be calling our doctor's office tomorrow to set up an appt. He told me to stop her eye drops which I did immediately.
In my heart it's not a nut allergy but given the seriousness of the doctor's conversation last night I'm taking it seriously. I think it might be related to the antibiotic eye drops that she's had this week.
We'll see. I'll keep you posted....
For now, she's as amazing as ever and we're just being careful. I was like a different person today, reading labels and questioning everything I fed her. Praying it’s NOT an allergy to something that is part of her normal life!
**UPDATE - Monday, Jan 9th at 1:15** I spoke with my doctor's office and we now have an appt with them on Fri, Jan 20th.
More stuff to add to post based on the great comments from readers!
1. The nuts that she ate were peanuts but they were from a can of mixed nuts that contained hazelnuts, almonds, filberts, cashews and almonds. Also, it stated it may contain oils from other tree nuts. She'd had Nutella at breakfast that morning too but showed no reaction to that at all at the time. She has eaten nuts and peanut butter since she was about 15 months old.
2. As I've given this more thought I've also remembered that some days last week after giving her the eye drops she would get red patches under/beside her eyes and a couple of times even small white welts under her right eye. At the time I just figured it was where the antibiotic touched her skin when she wiped her eyes after we put the drops in. She was a trooper but did not appreciate those drops at all! :)
Poor baby. Keeping fingers crossed it's not an allergy!!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year,
Snick :)
Sunshine 10 3/4 Viet Nam
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How scary! Hope you are able to get her tested soon so that you can stop second guessing everything she is eating.
ReplyDeleteHope you get this figured out soon! Emma broke out in welts all over her tummy, but wasn't itchy. We were staying in a hotel at the time, and we assumed it was the laundry detergent they used at the hotel. Later we found out she has a milk allergy. It's soy for her now!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with this! Let us know what you find out!
My 4 year old daughter was recently diagnosed with a Tree Nut and Peanut Allergy. The one thing I learned following her diagnosis is that these allergies build up over time and then suddenly one day the reaction occurs to something that has previously been eaten with no problem. My daughter misses her pb&j sandwiches but otherwise is coping OK (much better than I am in fact). Unfortunately the allergy testing can be scary and painful but it is better to find out now before a severe reaction occurs.
ReplyDeleteThank you anonymous. That's one of the things the doctor mentioned too and it's been going around and around in my head since then.
ReplyDeleteMay I ask, when you first noticed your daughter having trouble, was her breathing affected? Hannah's breathing was not affected at all, just the itchy rash/welts.
It's only 7:15am and I've already spent time this morning with concerns whirling around in my head. Looking forward to my doctor's office opening so that I can get in touch with him and find ot the next steps. Not looking forward to the tests but know it will be better in the long run.
Thank you for sharing your daughter's experience with me.
I am hoping it is not the nuts. We have a nut an allery in this house and it can complicafte things....espcially peanuts. Our is to cashews.
ReplyDeleteLet us know!
Poor little Hannah! Our god daughter Samantha was diagnosed with a peanut and shell fish allergy at a very young age (I think about 2 years old)after she, too, had eaten a lot of peanut butter without any reaction. Her mommy (my best friend) went through all her cupboards and threw out anything and everything out that wasn't deemed to be clear of any traces of nuts. It has been an educational journey for us as well--we make sure that there are absolutely no traces of such items around our house when a visit is planned and we read the labels on everything, even though we do not need to be as cautious for our day-to-day living. Samantha is now 14 years old and carries an epipen everywhere she goes. Her sensitivity has lessened as she has got older--the doctor says that she may even outgrow it over time.
ReplyDeleteWe, too, are quite familiar with the white welts all over the belly. Charlotte suffered with hives over the course of the summer. The biggest outburst was when she was away at the cottage with Daddy while Mommy served on jury duty--I cried every night when I'd get the report of her condition every day. She was taken to the hospital and she had 2 visits with doctors. None of them seemed to be overly concerned about finding the cause of the hives, but suggested treating with benadryl and arius. They said there would be concern for alarm if the hives were accompanied with difficulty breathing, pain in the abdomine, or pains in the joints. Since Charlotte didn't exhibit any of these other symptoms, they weren't concerned.
It broke my heart to see my beautiful little girl covered in these terrible white welts, especially when they would cover her face and encroach on the edge of her eyes. Thankfully, one day they just stopped appearing. The doctor says that the body just needs to rid itself of whatever it is that is bothering/upsetting the system. Unfortunately, benadryl suppresses the body's ability to rid itself of whatever it is, so the doctor advised up to give Charlotte benadryl as required for pain and itchiness, but to try to hold back a little to allow the body to rid itself of what was bothering her. All the doctors said that the condition could last 2-4 weeks. I think Charlotte suffered just a little more than 4 weeks.
My fingers and toes are crossed that it's not a nut allergy. If it is, I can put you in touch with a great resource.
Give Hannah a great big hug for us.
Debbie
I was stopping by to wish you a Happy new Year... not the way you want to start it off:( So sorry to hear about Hannah's peanut allergy.... just glad you got her to the ER right away.
ReplyDeleteHope she is back to her cheery self again.
xoxo,
Lisa
My 7 year old daughter is very allergic to tree nuts, especially hazelnuts (i.e. nutella), and has a history of other food allergies she has since outgrown. As someone else said they can consume an allergen for quite some time before their body decides to give a noticeable reaction. My daughter is fine with peanuts though, as they are not actually a nut, considered a legume. While sometimes people are allergic to both, most often someone is allergic to peanuts OR tree nuts. Of course it's best to avoid all nut contaminated products due to possible cross contamination.
ReplyDeleteAnd while it was worrisome at first (for my daughter her throat closes up when she eats anything with hazelnuts), now that we have lived with this for several years it's not an issue at all. Once they get older, they are much better at knowing what is safe and what isn't so you don't have to worry when they go somewhere new. That being said, Jillian always has her pouch with epipen jr & benadryl tablets...better safe than sorry!
Good luck with finding out the cause. I hope it's not a food allergy as they can be worrisome and awkward at times...but it isn't too big of a deal in the long run once you know what to safely avoid.
I had a friend who also had a reaction to an antibiotic after taking it for about a week. Nothing happened at all then all of a sudden symptoms popped up.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience with kids in the schools I worked in the kids with nut allergies either had skin reactions or breathing reactions but not both so hoping that if it was the nut Hannah will be safe from the scary stuff at least.
Good luck with doctors and things this week. Hoping to hear good news soon!
-Jen-
OH NO. poor hannah!
ReplyDeletechloe actually broke out in itchy hives when we were at disney world over christmas...it was from head to toe! i got the benedryl in her and it took care of them, but they would come back when it wore off. this lasted for 4+ days. she was also sick with pneumonia and on antibiotics. i thought it was possibly foods or the meds. we did what we had to do to make it through since we were out of town (i talked to three doctors via phone). however, we returned and went to our primary pediatrician (that also talked to me on the phone) and he said that the primary cause of hives in children is a reaction to a virus. since chloe was sick and recovering, that is what he thinks it was. that could be possible for hannah too since she had the eye thing going on and taking meds. just a thought i wanted to pass on, as i know the realities of food allergies (i suffer from many myself) and wanted to offer that there is hope and great possibilities that it isn't food allergies...i hope it isn't!!
as for testing, there are blood tests now that do the allergy testing and you are able to bypass the pricking...just a thought...
So scary and poor little Hannah. Hope that the doc can find the cause quickly so that she doesn't have to go through all this again.
ReplyDeleteCatherine, in response to your question...my daughter reacted immediately when she put a cashew into her mouth. At first I thought she had just bit her tongue. Then she started gagging a bit, and lots of dry coughing. She hid herself in the bathroom and when I got there realized that her lips and tongue were swelling. It was at this point that I realized she was having a reaction. Living in Europe and not knowing what to do, we drove her to the ER rather than calling an ambulance. She vomited on the way but continued to breathe normally and was unusually quiet and non-talkative. They started her on some meds and it was at that point that she broke out in an itchy rash. A few medicines and 4 hours later we were able to go home. At the allergy testing (prick test and blood test) an allergy to cashews, pistachios, hazelnuts, brazil nuts and peanuts was diagnosed. We avoid all nuts now and all products that say they may contain nuts and don't have any problems with that but I do have problems with people's ignorance on allergies and the severity of them. There is a lot of public education to be done.
ReplyDeleteThe harsh reality is that 1 in 13 kids now has a food allergy. This number tripled since 1997. Society is focused on food and we have always taught our children that being hospitable means offering people food and drink as well as accepting it in return from other people. Now we have to teach my daughter that she can no longer accept people's well-meaning hospitality and that is a lesson I don't like to teach but must.
Praying for you. Probably Hannah's reaction was due to the antibiotics, but the positive side of this is the empathy that you are likely to show to others with this problem in the future.
Here is a link to a segment of the Today Show from this week about one of the Wiggles who is a spokesman for anaphylaxis in Australia. It demonstrates usage of the epipen and he also states that his son was on antibiotics prior to having his reaction. (sorry I can't get the hyperlink to work so you'll have to cut and paste it)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.today.ninemsn.com.au/videoindex.aspx?uuid=907b2c8a-9559-476a-8284-d6453a76254a
Oh no! Your poor sweetie! I hope it isn't a nut allergy. My nephew has a peanut allergy. Though it isn't convenient, it is completely doable. So, if it does end up being an allergy to something, I know you will be able to keep it under control with ease! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteOh poor Hannah! Hope the Dr's can get to the bottem of this soon and that your little sweetie is feeling better soon!! Not a fun way to start off the New Year!!
ReplyDeleteAnne
www.allaboutelizabeth-anne.blogspot
Hope she's feeling better and you get to the bottom of it soon.
ReplyDeleteRuby
This same this just happened to Cassie. On a Saturday morning she ate new oatmeal with cranberries and almonds in it. About 2 hours later started throwing up. That last another an hour. She napped and seemed fine. Monday woke from her nap covered from her armpits to thighs with hives and a red rash. Called the dr. Started Benadryl and was told if they were gone by morning to call and come in. Were gone and now on her face. Went to the dr in the morning and they did allergy test blood work. Hives and rash lasted 3 days. A week later we got the results -- no nut allergies -- and no other allergies. Still don't know what the problem was. This happened mid-Dec and since then she's been fine.
ReplyDeleteHope the same id true for Hannah.
I hope that you find some answers soon so that Hannah doesn't have to go through this anymore and you don't have to worry anymore.
ReplyDelete