Another type of allergic reaction

[Lucy]

Would you believe it? I had what appeared to be an IgE reaction today.

This evening, my dentist and I went to a grocery store that has a big produce section which is where I was when the incident happened. Now I'm trying to figure out what it was that I was reacting to.

Right before I picked her up, I was so hungry that I crammed a bunch of Wintergreen flavored Altoids in my mouth like candy,
and that was the last thing I had eaten. We were at the store in no time after that. These aren't the smaller ones that have the soy, but the bigger ones in the bigger tins, by the way. They don't have soy.

The sequence was that we went into produce after coming through the front door. The first thing I touched was some whole
okra pods that I was planning to use to flavor some beans. Don't remember touching anything else, but turned a corner (it's a maze in there it's so big) and was standing right in front of the plantain and banana section when the reaction happened.
My friend happened to have walked off during the roughest part. Can't remember whether I put bananas and a plantain in my basket before or right after the reaction.

Anyway, I felt a sort of burning, neurological sensation that got worse and worse, under that inner tube that is just above the waistline if you know what I'm referring to. Had a sort of nausea with it, and my head felt funny, and then, it began to feel like
my head was on fire, then the burning sensation seemed to run down my arms, as though tracking a large nerve. Didn't seem to feel anything in my legs.

Wasn't long before the friend came back, and she immediately pointed out that my face was red as fire, even though the burning had subsided a little by then. Also, she found it was red on my neck, and showed me that a large area surrounding each elbow over a large area was present. She said it was the worst reaction of that kind she'd ever seen, and she's seen a lot due to giving
medications to people in her office for dental work. Kind of wish she'd been standing there from the time this thing started. Wonder what she would've observed that I wasn't aware of???

Anyway, fortunately, the problem as completely resolved now. I'm still going to look for any signs of an insect bite although I haven't felt any itchy spots at all.

Googled Altoids along with allergies and didn't see anyone having trouble with the Wintergreen or other flavors, only one of the smaller versions in some other flavor does have wheat in it, but think that's the only one. All the rest of the smaller ones in the small tins also have soy.

I'm still going to be very careful when first introducing any of the foods I ate Friday morning or the previous 24 hours, just in case.

Before the Altoids, right before I left home (a long time in the traffic at that time of day) I had wolfed down half a peanut butter Larabar. Really haven't eaten many of those recently. Had had the other half the night before that.

One thing of note was that I did make a smoothie around noon out of some frozen strawberries that had been in the freezer a while. Put some store bagged crushed ice in there that had also been in the freezer a while, along with about 1/3 cup vanilla almond milk, 1 tsp or 2 of carob powder, a few drops of vanilla extract, and blended it all together. Didn't taste all that good, so thought it might just be freezer burn, plus didn't have any bananas to mask the flavor. Wonder if perhaps the blender wasn't clean enough...like maybe mold in there. At the same time, had a couple of tsps full of mixed nut butter that I've had no trouble with and I've eaten most of the jar over several weeks with no ill effects at all. Think nut butter has peanuts, cashews, and one other nut, but none of this includes any of my known food sensitivities.

There are lots of other possibilities from the last 24 hours of intake. Fortunately, the last couple of days before that happened, I'd been writing down everything I ate just to make myself more aware of the calories and what I was actually eating and how much in the course of a day. That should make it easier to separate out the ingredients from that 24 hour period, so that I may add them back in one at a time.

Hope I can solve this mystery without any more serious reactions, so I won't be afraid to eat any of what I ate yesterday and the night before.

Was just wondering if perhaps anyone else has ever had a reaction to an Atloid, particularly the Wintergreen ones.

Surely wasn't expecing that to happen on the shopping trip! At least I don't remember having any trouble breathing. Before
the dentist reappeared as it was subsiding some in places, I began to wonder if perhaps I'd had a little stroke or something...it was sooo weird. It was almost a relief when she told me she saw the rash.

Thanks. Luce

[tex]

Hi Luce,

I've never ingested an Altoid, but I have had an anaphylactic reaction before, triggered by a bite from an unknown insect, in the middle of the night while I was asleep. If you think it's confusing to have that happen in the middle of the day, imagine waking up because your throat is swelling and you're having trouble breathing, your heart's racing like mad, and even after you're awake, you can't think straight because of the brain fog. When I looked in the bathroom mirror, my face and upper chest were mostly covered by a red rash, and I was sweating like a pig, and a little shaky. Fortunately, it settled down pretty fast. After that, I kept Benedryl handy for years, but it never happened again. I'm assuming that the reaction was due to an insect bite, because there was a big red, itchy swollen spot on my left elbow that wasn't there when I went to bed. I still don't know what type of insect bite I'm allergic to.

To get back to your reaction, I think you can safely forget about all the preliminary events that involved the ingestion of food. Mast cell reactions always occur in less than roughly 15 or 20 minutes, say, 30 at the most. Tryptase levels in the blood will peak out in about two hours, and decline from there over a day or so. Each of us has our own personal reaction threshold for each and every allergen to which we react. There is a chance that there is something in those Altoids that caused a dose-dependent reaction (IOW, you ate enough of them to trigger a reaction). If there was more than about a 20 minute time lapse between eating those Altoids and the initiation of the reaction, though, I would look for some other trigger. Maybe there was some exotic insect on the produce that you handled, and you might have been bitten without realizing it.

Tex

[mbeezie]

Luce,

How scary! Anaphylactic reactions come on so quickly and when everything is happening at once it is hard to think clearly. Glad you feel normal again but since you arent't really sure what triggered the reaction you should carry benedryl with you at all times.

Take care,

Mary Beth

[Lucy]

Every one but me thinks it must've been an insect...or someone might've
walked by wearing some sort of scent...didn't notice any, however.

Probably was less than twenty minutes or at least less than 30 from the time
of the Altoids until the reaction.

Will just take precautions. Can live without the Altoids, I guess, but somehow,
now I'm thinking that wasn't it either.

Beth, what troubles me is that if I'd taken Benedryl right then, the whole
thing would've been over with before I'd have had a chance to take it.
Guess there was always the possibility that whatever it was could come my way
again in that store, if it was something there.

Oh well...can't go around worrying about what might happen next.

Guess everyone's heard that we can expect lots more insects this year due to the
lack of much of a winter this year. Have a friend whose dog recently acquired a
tick, most likely in her own yard. There are some woods that run up close to the dog's
outdoor space, soo.. Guess we'd all better take precautions when outdoors.

Thanks...Luce

[mbeezie]

Luce,

I carry an epi pen since I've had analphylaxis, and that's really what you need in an emergency. I carry benedryl and caritin redi tabs too (go under the tongue for faster absorbtion). Best to be prepared.

Mary Beth

[MaggieRedwings]

HI Luce,

I am HIGHLY allergic to bananas and plaintains and it sounds exactly what would happen to me if I touched them let alone ingest them. Just seems you would know if you had an insect bite you. Keep an epi pen handy and hope all goes well from here.

Love, Maggie

[Lucy]

Epipens are pretty expensive, I hear.

How much are they running you?

Have been eating bananas for several days now, and
just yesterday ate a little plantain.

Thanks for the input. Beth, I haven't forgotten
we were going to meet some Saturday for lunch.
By the way, you missed a good speaker at the last
meeting. Will tell you who she is in private sometime.

Hey, Maggie. I didn't remember your being highly
allergic to bananas and plantains. When did you find
this out...was it more recently?

Beth, do you think a regular allergist could help or what
would you recommend for testing?

Thank you so much...Luce

[mbeezie]

Luce,

My insurance covers my epipen so I have no idea what they cost without insurance. I think allergy testing would be a good first step in figuring out your strange reaction.

I hardly ever go to the celiac support group meetings - they are always held on the other side of town, and in Houston that means and hour+ drive each way.

Mary Beth

[MaggieRedwings]

Morning Lucy,

The first time I reacted to bananas was when I was 5 and went into shock after eating them. Have never touched them since and still if I touch them will immediately break out into a rash.

Love, Maggie

[Deb]

I bought an adult and a child's epi pen a few years back for nearly $400 for both (outrageous) without insurance coverage. I keep them at our cabin. Both DD and I have had an anaphylactic incident triggered by food. When they expired, my sister had bought a twin pack of them (she had coverage) and gave me one.