Once upon a time, about four years ago, Jamayia showed an allergic reaction during her first attempt at solid food. She was tested by an allergy specialist and was found to have an allergy to cow’s milk. I also had her tested for nuts, which was negative.
Fast forward to this last Saturday. We’re sitting around the dinner table with my parents & bro, here at home. Jamayia stops eating, saying that her throat was scratchy. Then her tummy started to hurt. She also got really quiet and kinda tired. Daddy ran to the store for some anti-histamine and we gave her a dose.
About five minutes later, she threw up. Once, but it was big enough. She instantly felt better. Her body felt the need to expel the offending food. Her normal mood started to return and she perked up a bit more. We encouraged her to just lie on the couch and rest. She even asked for a couple of strawberries, which she ate.
Then, about 10 minutes later, she started to get itchy. Very itchy. And scratching everywhere like crazy. Sure enough–hives! These things were all over her entire body. Literally, she was covered from head to toe and everywhere in between. Eyelids, back of neck, underarms, torso, etc. She refused to take more anti-histamine though. My mom was worrying. We were watching her breathing, which stayed normal throughout the entire episode. But when we saw the hives, my mom was thinking that a trip to the ER was in order. We just didn’t want her airways to the be the next factor in the reaction.
After a quick dip in the tub, to attempt dampening the itchiness (didn’t work!), she went off to the Children’s ER with Daddy & Uncle. She got in to see a doctor nearly immediately, where she was given a liquid dose of a 24-hr anti-histamine. Jamayia started to feel better almost instantly. They still went to Walmart for an oatmeal bath concoction. By the time they returned home, the hives were all gone along with the itchiness.
The only thing foreign in this roast was raw cashews. Needless to say that I’ve added that to the list of things that the allergist needs to test her for. Thankfully, her airway never closed up. That was the one thing that my mom & I were watching her closely for. And while she’s disappointed at hearing me say that we’re going to lay off the peanut butter for a few weeks, she remembers full well how she felt while she was sick. She’s going to continue to modify her diet.
All was back to normal at our house by the evening. We see the allergist next week. Stay turns to the allergy saga…