Food Allergies

[shai76]

shai76, if you don't mind me asking, which foods cause your severe reactions?

I'm a class 3-4 with soy, and a class 2 with milk, eggs, corn, wheat, oats, and yeast. And a class 1 with turkey, tree nuts, fish, and coffee.

[Michi8]

They say spice mix is allspice, cinnamon, colves, ginger, and nutmeg.

Marcia, thanks for your reply. Does your daughter know for sure what causes her reactions? This is all very confusing for me as I am not 100% sure what caused the reaction. I wish my epipen were free, I had to pay $140! And I don't have insurance! Ah!

I had a skin prick test and they tested for a lot of different foods. I'm not too concerned about the foods I'm allergic to since most of them are easy to avoid except potatoes. I'm not really sure what peanuts do to me since I eat peanut butter all the time! And peanut allergy was very high on the test

Carrie,

That price for the Epipen was very high. I bought my sons at the Walmart pharmacy (in Alberta) for around $95-99. Fortunately, for us, the price is covered by insurance. I recommend shopping around for a better price the next time you have to buy one (the shelf life isn't very long unfortunately.)

In terms of the peanut allergy, it is possible that you will never have an anaphylactic reaction (given you eat peanut butter regularly.) I never did, I only ever reacted with itchy tongue, throat, ears and lips. The allergist had me carry an Epipen for a while (I think a lot of allergist are being very cautious nowadays), but I think it was overkill (I had lived with my peanut allergy for 26 years at that point!)...there was never a sign of anaphylaxis for me.

I "outgrew" that peanut allergy after I had my first baby. I've since develped new foods allergies in its place. From what I understand, completely avoiding peanuts was what helped my body "outgrow" the allergy...now I ingest them on a regular basis to keep my allergy at bay.

Michelle

[Carriefaith]

Thanks shai76

That price for the Epipen was very high. I bought my sons at the Walmart pharmacy (in Alberta) for around $95-99. Fortunately, for us, the price is covered by insurance. I recommend shopping around for a better price the next time you have to buy one (the shelf life isn't very long unfortunately.)

That is a lot cheaper! Mine is a Twin EpiPen, maybe that is why it is so expensive?

[Michi8]

Thanks shai76

That is a lot cheaper! Mine is a Twin EpiPen, maybe that is why it is so expensive?

It could be. I've never seen a "Twin EpiPen"...is it a double injection kit? My son's epipen is the standard adult dose, single injection. Because he has a penicillin allergy I only buy and carry one epipen at a time...it expires before it's needed, because it's pretty hard to get penicillin accidentally (although I really need to advocate for my son with doctors, because they prescribe penicillin without thinking.) I really need to get my son a medic alert bracelet instead, as I think it would be way more helpful if he ever needed medical attention in an accident away from home and family.

Michelle

[Carriefaith]

Michelle,

Mine is called a Twinject and there are two doses. I'm assuming that's why it is so expensive! There is one auto injector and one manual needle. They have two in case the first dose wears off before you can get medical attention.

A medic alert bracelet is always a good idea for someone with severe allergies. The bracelet would definately help him away from home. I am thinking of getting one myself now that I have this allergy.

[sasha1234]

I'm in Alberta too and was just recently told to switch over from Epipens to Twinjects because of the reassurance that you have 2 dosages, especially good for travellers. However, they are currently quite a bit more expensive (I don't remember what mine was, insurance paid, but it was about what you paid $140 I believe), anyway it is cheaper than having two Epipens. I expect as they become more prominent (they are a new product) the price will slowly come down, they certainly did with Epipens.

[Carriefaith]

I'm in Alberta too and was just recently told to switch over from Epipens to Twinjects because of the reassurance that you have 2 dosages, especially good for travellers. However, they are currently quite a bit more expensive (I don't remember what mine was, insurance paid, but it was about what you paid $140 I believe), anyway it is cheaper than having two Epipens. I expect as they become more prominent (they are a new product) the price will slowly come down, they certainly did with Epipens.

Hopefully the Twinjects will get cheaper with time. I think that they are a great idea! I got a practice one with no needles from my allergist and they are fairly easy to use.

[munchkinette]

Wow, that's really scary. I've never had that kind of reaction from just eating wheat, but my other allergies (dust mites and pets) can get really bad like that after I've been glutened. If it's within a week of eating a little wheat (it usually ends up being soy sauce in a marinade instead of contamination) then the addition of my pets often causes me to need my inhaler. It just seems to be a cumulative thing for me. One allergy alone won't make my throat close up, but the combination of two things will.

I definitely keep benadryl and claritin in my purse. I have a few inhalers in various places.

[Carriefaith]

One allergy alone won't make my throat close up, but the combination of two things will.

I am really glad that you shared that. I am wondering if my reaction was from a combination of being exposed to wheat and milk. I was having breathing problems the week leading up to the reaction and I now know that I was eating large amounts of gluten contaminated chips that entire week. I started unknowinly eating dairy contaminated chips a few days before the reaction. I almost wonder if it was an allergen overload. I am hoping that is what happened. But I am pretty sure that the gluten contaminated chips were causing my respiratory problems.