Oh Nuts, Say It Isn't So

[bigbird16]

I sure hope it was a fluke, but I seriously doubt it. I've known for years that walnuts and pecans (raw or baked) make my mouth itch and burn. But I like them. They're so yummy alone, in baked goods, in salads encrusting fish, etc. Maybe I've been playing with fire.

I made some gluten-free blondies today with a safe mix, safe chocolate chips, and pecans and tried one to make sure they were palatable for the intended recipients. My mouth started itching like usual, but then my airways started closing. I was able to lessen the reaction with benadryl. But that's never happened with nuts before. Kinda strange that it happened, too, in that earlier in the week I was eating raw pecans for snacks and was just itchy. Or maybe it isn't so strange; maybe it built up in my system. When I went for allergy testing two or three years ago, no foods came back positive. (Though negative means nothing with the error rate.) I'll wait a couple of days and eat some pecans by themselves to make sure. I sure hope it was just some weirdness with my system and not the nuts.

Thanks for listening.

[stanleymonkey]

go straight to your nearest er and tell them what happened, when the benadryl wears off, and even over the next 48 hrs you are at risk of a second reaction and given what housewife it could be anaphylactic. If your er won't help call your doc immediately, you need to prescribed an epi pen.

I have an anaphylactic child and it is amazing how quickly thinks can escalate

push your doc to get youin to an allergist, don't take no for an answer, once you have a reaction to something this serious you need your IgE levels tested and testing for all the top allergens, our daughter turned out to be allergic to milk eggs and 2 strains of antiniotic

[stanleymonkey]

please please don't eat pecans by themselves to see if you are allergic, with that severe of a reaction your next reaction could be fatal, please please please call your doc our go to your local hospital, my daughter has what they call a bounce back reaction, and it is worse than the first , plus cooking nuts changes the composition slightly, so in turn lessening your reaction, a pecan on its own will be a much worse reaction if that is what you're allergic too

(I know this seems like scare tactics, but I've been there done that and got the t-shirt in regards to my 3 yr old!)

[Skylark]

I'll wait a couple of days and eat some pecans by themselves to make sure. I sure hope it was just some weirdness with my system and not the nuts.

Get to a doctor and don't even dream of eating nuts again!!! You need an epi-pen. These kinds of allergic reactions tend to escalate and your next reaction has the potential to be life-threatening. I went from "Gee what the heck made my hands itch?" one time I took a medicine to anaphylaxis the next. I can't stress how seriously you need to take that reaction.

[GottaSki]

I developed such reaction to seeds while trialing foods on elimination diet - first reaction we handled with benedryl - second was much worse. Before the seed reaction I had almost got an epi-pen for exercise/heat induced anaphylaxis. Because of the seed reaction I have not trialed nuts and am not sure I will.

I've been carrying epi pens everywhere for the past few months and am now used to it.

Your reaction can become life threatening very quickly - please call your doctor - mine presribed the epipens without an office visit - docs never take anaphalaxis lightly - nor should you or your family.

[Ryniev]

I have an oral allergy to apples, almonds and hazelnuts since before the term oral allergy was invented. The allergist said it had to do with my pollen allergy. I think that may be what you have. Since I've started taking zyrtec every day, I can handle an occasional almond (like a lunabar). I'm more scared of raw apples and hazelnuts than I am of gluten. It used to be so bad that if I even touched an apple and then touched my face, I'd blow up like a balloon. This explains it better than me. For instance, I can eat applesauce just not raw apples.

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[bigbird16]

Thank you all for being the voice of reason. You're right; it would be rather not smart to trial the pecans again. It's not like gluten, where if I eat it I wish I was dead. I'll get in to see the doc as soon as I can. When I saw a nutritionist shortly after going gluten free, she warned me this might happen.

Man, this means decontaminating the kitchen again. At least I won't have to replace half the kitchen. lol

Already thinking of substitutions, I wonder if I can make baklava with almonds or hemp seeds....

Thanks, y'all.

[ciamarie]

Already thinking of substitutions, I wonder if I can make baklava with almonds or hemp seeds....

Thanks, y'all.

I wouldn't think hemp seeds would work very well, since when I tasted a few by themselves they were sort of bitter. Almonds might be good though. Or hazelnuts? Pine nuts? I'm not sure how different nuts relate, as far as allergic reactions go, though. You'd probably want to check on that or ask the Dr.

[Skylark]

Whew, I'm glad you're not going to challenge pecans without medical support.

Tree nuts include almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, chestnuts, filberts/hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, coconut, pine nuts, pistachios, and walnuts. If I were you, I'd avoid them all until I got to the Dr.

Maybe sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds for the baklava? I agree with Ciamarie that hemp seeds might taste a little weird.

[bigbird16]

Thanks again, all. I went to see the doctor this morning. He actually listened and took me seriously. (I guess I'm kinda jaded when it comes to doctors.) He himself has a nut allergy. He prescribed an epi-pen and took some blood for ImmunoCap testing.

Pumpkin seed baklava...that sounds yummy. :-)

Thanks!

[bigbird16]

The doc left a message for me a little bit ago. The blood test was negative for all tree nuts. He's not convinced by the test results and said to continue avoiding nuts and to see an allergist for further testing. He thought it was odd that I tested negative on the foods yet positive for dogs and dust. I could have told him about the dogs. Hives are a daily occurance with the doggies. lol

[Skylark]

That's encouraging. Maybe the reaction was to something else.

[Juliebove]

Almonds and pistachios make my mouth and throat itch and burn. It's not an allergy but the allergist said it is oral allergy syndrome. I just tested as intolerant to pecans and macadamias so those are gone as well.

[Ninja]

I agree with the posters on OAS (Oral Allergy Syndrome). OAS allergies can escalate supremely fast. Any food that itches, burns or creates swelling in/on your mouth, lips, tongue needs to be avoided. This is because an OAS reaction can be just as severe as a "regular" food allergy. Unfortunately, unless you want to watch the pollen counts everyday you just will never know how much pollen is still on/in those nuts. :/ Have you ever been tested for pollens? The strange thing about OAS is that it can develop at any time even if you've had the environmental allergies your entire life.

Anaphylaxis is scary — I hope you don't ever have to go through that again!

~Laura