Trusting my instincts

I haven't been to the doctor yet, but I'm positive Charlie has a tree nut allergy or at the least a cashew allergy, and a fairly serious one.

 

Ages ago, we went to visit Lachlan's parents, and Charlie tried a tiny bit of dip on crackers. She went all itchy, and got welts on her skin and (of all places) her eyeballs, and vomited. My immediate thought was, "nut allergy" as the dip contains cashews. But it also had chilli, and since she's had no problems with peanut butter, I talked myself out of the nut allergy theory. Until last night.

 

I crushed up some cashews to put in our dinner, and stupidly gave it to her. She was mucking around, and wouldn't eat. She did eat some, but not very much. After dinner, she was coughing a lot, and wouldn't drink anything. She wouldn't let me brush her teeth, and she was acting really strangely. She went to bed, but wouldn't go to sleep. So I let her get up and sit with us. About an hour after eating dinner, she was still coughing, and then let loose a big vomit. So I turned to my good friend, the internet, and discovered that not all nut allergies are created equal. Peanuts (the most common nut allergy) are a different nut family than cashews. It is common among those with tree nut (which is the family of nuts the cashew belongs to) allergies to not be allergic to ground nuts (peanut).  I always assumed that anaphylactic meant specifically not breathing, and it does, but it encompasses other things as well.

 

The following is from the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy website:

Anaphylaxis occurs after exposure to an allergen (foods like peanuts or tree nuts, insect stings or some medicines), to which a person is already extremely sensitive. It results in potentially life-threatening symptoms, which include:

• Difficulty/noisy breathing
• Swelling of tongue
• Swelling/tightness in throat
• Difficulty talking and/or hoarse voice 
• Wheeze or persistent cough 
• Loss of consciousness and/or collapse
• Pale and floppy (in young children)

In some cases, anaphylaxis is preceded by less dangerous allergic symptoms. Symptoms can include:

• Swelling of face, lips and eyes
• Hives or welts on the skin
• Stomach pain, vomiting

And as it turns out, when Lachlan eats walnuts, his tongue swells. So that answers the question of where this came from!

 

So, like I said - It's not been diagnosed, but my momma instincts are telling me that she has at least a serious allergy to cashews, and maybe tree nuts in general. I've booked her in with the GP next week, and I'm going to request a referral for allergy testing again. They wouldn't do it before because she wasn't two years old yet.

 

So the moral of this story is, if I had trusted my instincts the first, time, I would never have given her nuts again last night. It's turned out okay, but I feel so incredibly stupid and guilty, and neglectful. The important thing now is that I'm aware of something, and I'm taking steps to avoid another recurrence.

 

Mothers,

Trust your instincts!!!!!

 

Cheers,

Sarah