epipens

First: I will try to get a Year in My Yard picture up, but will probably be tomorrow…

A reminder to those who are food-allergic. Always check your brands. There are a couple brands of brown sugar or maple flavored sausages I can actually eat. They don’t have peppers in them, they don’t give me reactions. So I bought what I thought was pretty much the same brand. Except I didn’t really double check, and it wasn’t.

Then, I assumed based on my viewpoint. For some reason, the concept of someone putting heavy concentrated pepper (we’re talking both black and red peppers) in a sweet sausage…I can’t even understand, so I didn’t expect it.

Anyway, perfect storm. So, we had company last night and for dinner we had eggs and sausage. I take one bite of a small link and swallow it. I notice something odd. Then I realize that my mouth is burning. Within another minute, my asthma kicks in and it becomes obvious that I am quickly sliding into an allergic reaction. At first I thought I could contain it with some Tums for the sudden heartburn, and my inhaler for the asthma. But within twenty minutes my nose is tingling, lips are burning, face is beginning to itch, and I head for the Benadryl. After another half hour, the Benadryl eases the lip burning, nose tingling, and face itching, but my asthma attack lasted all night and my lungs are still unhappy today, and my stomach is still rebelling against that one bite.

I’m exhausted, I got about three hours of deep sleep last night and then was awake and miserable the rest of the night (on a full dose of Benadryl which usually will knock me out all night, and my stomach is still in knots. I feel like I was pummeled, which is pretty much the way I usually feel after a bad reaction.

Lessons learned: check your brands. Check the label each time—recipes change. Remember, not all ingredients are listed—on these sausages? Pepper…not listed. Or rather, dumped together under “spices” and “natural flavorings.” If you aren’t sure, don’t eat it. Sam asked me if I could smell the pepper in it. My nose was stuffed up—no, I couldn’t. And realized my Benadryl was almost out—always check your stock and buy it before you need it.

So…rough day. Thankful I didn’t need my Epi-Pen. Thankful I have friends who care enough to offer to stay over in case I need to go to the hospital. Thankful I have a husband who offers to run out and get more Benadryl so I don’t have to deal with getting fully dressed. But man, I’m tired.

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Pass the Benadryl, Please…
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17 thoughts on “Pass the Benadryl, Please…

  • 11/11/2015 at 10:34 pm
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    Yikes! Glad all turned out in the end but sending you positive vibes.

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  • 11/11/2015 at 10:18 am
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    Glad to hear you got through it. Many healing thought and lots of love coming your way.

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  • 11/10/2015 at 12:02 pm
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    So hoping that you are feeling much better. Blessed be

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  • 11/09/2015 at 9:10 pm
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    I’m like you, learning to read the labels EVERY time because they change constantly. I had an allergic reaction on Oct. 30th/31st that I had to keep underwraps because I couldn’t afford to spend it in the E.R. My mum and sister were visiting with my grandnieces (6 y/o and 2 y/o). We ordered pizza as normal from our regular pizza place getting a supreme, a meat lovers, and a pepperoni pizza. I grabbed 2 slices of pepperoni and sat down and noticed a small sliver of mushroom on one of the slices. I didn’t think anything of it as mushrooms only give me headaches. I moved it off to the side and bit into the pizza. It had the wrong texture but continued eating it and took another bite and thought this is really strange. My sister hollered at me for something and I was off and running and munching on the second piece without a thought. I went outside and did some more decorating and realized my lips and tongue felt swollen after wresting with the growling, shaking, light up eyes and the plastic ghosts, I had just put in the pine tree that was super dry for this time of year and kind of dusty. I decided to down a double dose of benadryl and let hubby and mum know what was up and kept decorating. By that night I had a big raised rash on my shoulders, down my back and welts/hives on my ribs that lasted two days.

    It could have been anything in the decorations, anything in the pine tree, or it could have been mushrooms on the wrong pizza. I’ve already had two new allergic reactions within the last year to medications and two new food items since my surgery a year ago. I’ve been having shortness of breath for over a year (before the surgery) that comes and goes and we are still trying to figure out. The prednisone helps but I can’t stay on it forever. My CT shows a haze in my lungs that has them baffled because it’s not definable by the way standard asthma and other diseases look on film, especially since my oxygen stays up above 90% *most* of the time unless I’m in REM sleep and then it drops to low 80’s.

    Like you, I keep the same items handy and Papaya tablets and an unsmoked cigarette. People look at me like I’m crazy when I say I have liquid Benadryl on hand. They’ve never had their tongue or throat swell to the point that there is no way a pill is going down.I have to use everything I possibly can because I take Metoprolol for tachycardia. It makes it harder to treat severe allergic reactions according to my allergy/immunologist.

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  • 11/09/2015 at 8:41 pm
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    Hey Yasmine, just wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying Autumn Thorns. I’m trying to savor it. Just met Penelope and she’s terrifyingly awesome! 🙂
    Hope this little note brings you cheer and that you’re feeling better.
    Blessings, Lorianna

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  • 11/09/2015 at 3:55 pm
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    That is horrible. Glad you didn’t end up with an anaphylactic reaction from the pepper. But yeah, it is sad what they end don’t tell you, or why things have ingredients they shouldn’t. Seriously, I’ve seen food that says it’s all vegetable and yet they stick chicken broth in it, allergic to chicken by the way, not a great thing to see. Hope you feel better soon.

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  • 11/09/2015 at 3:44 pm
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    So sorry to hear about your allergic reactions. You are right – we need to be more careful about what is in products and what we are eating. I hope you are soon feeling much better!

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  • 11/09/2015 at 1:16 pm
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    So sorry! I have asthma & COPD – the inhaler doesn’t always work that well. I am lucky, though, no food allergies. I hope you feel better soon. The advice about having a kit with you is excellent. Feel better!

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  • 11/09/2015 at 11:37 am
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    I’m so sorry you have to deal with food allergies, my son can not eat banana and pecans they burn his mouth and throat. But it’s a blessing to have wonderful friends and family that love and care for us. Praying you feel better quickly.

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  • 11/09/2015 at 10:16 am
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    So sorry, Yasmine. That stinks that the rules on food labeling laws are so lax. I run into that with my kitty patients with food sensitivities. Pet food rules are even less stringent. I hope it doesn’t keep you down for long. Feel better.

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  • 11/09/2015 at 9:37 am
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    Scary…I check, but like you, find ingredients NOT listed as they should be. Glad no anaphylaxis this time….

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  • 11/09/2015 at 7:47 am
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    I hope you feel well soon. Food allergies are such a scare. I have always felt that the companies should list all ingredients. Spices do not tell me what it is, I don’t want your recipe I just don’t want to get sick.

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  • 11/09/2015 at 7:04 am
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    Damn, I’m sorry that happened. Food labeling is something which can drive me up the wall, in part for reasons like this.

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  • 11/09/2015 at 6:04 am
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    Pepper in sweet sausage is idiotic. Glad you’re starting to feel better. Does this mean you’ll have to stay with a butcher, who is able to properly identify the ingredients in his/her meats?

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  • 11/09/2015 at 5:59 am
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    So sorry. Allergies can be very dangerous and I wish more food producers and people who don’t realize it would educate themselves. Have a snuggle with the kitties day and feel better soon.

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  • 11/09/2015 at 5:25 am
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    HUGS! I watch my friend’s son once per week or so and he has allergies. Making sure that my house doesn’t have anything accessible that could hurt him can be hard so I stay vigilant. His are carrots and milk for the bad ones. They all cause gastrointestinal reactions in him. Carrots are hidden in so many things! Steph was trying to buy chicken broth, and all the store brand and quite a few other brands didn’t list it but it’s in it. This is why ingredients should always be listed. I am so happy that you caught the reaction before it got any worse. Sending healing energy to speed your recovery.

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  • 11/09/2015 at 4:51 am
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    UGH! I’m so sorry. I hope it all passes really soon and that you feel good. And thank you for the reminder. You’re right about checking.

    Reply

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