We ate dinner tonight at a local place we usually do take out from. My son ended up having a hive reaction. The only thing he had tonight that he usually doesn't have when we do take out was Lemonade. Could the acidity in the lemonade have caused his hives?
He had a milk allergy when he was a baby, but he outgrew that in exchange for a peanut allergy around 13 months.
In the past month, he has had a few reactions. A few weeks ago he had hives over his eyes. We were around someone eating peanut butter. And then about 1.5 weeks ago he got a few hives (like 2, no big deal) while eating a pasta dinner at Noodle Company. He again had lemonade.
He does have super sensitive skin (tomatoes will turn his face red), so i'm thinking the acid in the lemonade is the culprit?
Yes, my Mom is like that.
With any citrus.
Give him an antihistamine.
I would also take a photo of it if the hives are still present, and show your Pediatrician.
Head's up: Kiwi fruit is also highly allergenic, though not common. My daughter, as a Toddler, started reacting to it and is allergic. The reactions can vary from minor to severe.
Riley's right. Unless they made that lemonade by hand, fresh squeezed, it has a bunch of "stuff" in it other than water, lemons and sugar.
It's good that you know some of his allergy triggers. Try keeping a food diary and mark down when he has a reaction.
You are right to worry about him having a bad reaction (your other thread) because sometimes something that only causes a small reaction several times, can turn into something full-blown all of a sudden. Figuring out the allery triggers can really help you manage it.
Dawn
Updated
Riley's right. Unless they made that lemonade by hand, fresh squeezed, it has a bunch of "stuff" in it other than water, lemons and sugar.
It's good that you know some of his allergy triggers. Try keeping a food diary and mark down when he has a reaction.
You are right to worry about him having a bad reaction (your other thread) because sometimes something that only causes a small reaction several times, can turn into something full-blown all of a sudden. Figuring out the allery triggers can really help you manage it.
Dawn
There are certain fruits /vegatables that can trigger a reaction if you have a mold allergy or hayfever . This has happened to my son from cantalope. Check online for the list of trigger fruits. It doesn't happen all the time .We give him Zyrtec everyday . Hope this helps
Yep, citrus can do that to some.
My nephew also has a citrus allergy. be careful with the nut, tree nut also. you can have sensitivity testing as well as allergy testing. talk with your Dr. You want to be sure and find out if he reacts to "processed in a facility that handles" or just the ingredient itself.
Maybe the citric acid, but also maybe:
eriocitrin
diosmin
hesperidin
Quercetin 3-O-rutinoside-7-O-glucoside
chrysoeriol 6,8-di-C-glucoside (stellarin-2).
apigenin 6,8-di-C-glucoside (vicenin-2),
eriodictyol 7-O-rutinoside, 6,8-di-C-glucosyl diosmetin, -
hesperetin 7-O-rutinoside,
homoeriodictyol 7-O-rutinoside and diosmetin 7-O-rutinosid
((http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=15410602 ))
PLUS
"Carbohydrates represent most of soluble solids in citrus fruits; they are present both as simple sugars and as polysaccharides. Citrus soluble solids are on the average made by a 70 % of sugars, whilst pulp solids are made by a 40 % of sugars and by a 50 % of polysaccharides. Citrus flavor is due to the blend of sugars, acids and specific flavor compounds, some of which are sugar-containing substances known as glycosides. Contribution to fruit colour may be made by sugar-containing anthocyanidins while texture is controlled by the structural carbohydrate polymers."
Source and further information:
http://www.citrech.it/English/Informations.htm
PLUS
Any preservatives the lemonade is packeged with
((Which all just boils down to that he may be just fine with the citiric acid, but be allergic to another chemical component in the lemon juice.))
OR
It was made in an agricultural factory that also processes nuts (unlike soda, fruit juices are often processed in AG factories, so cross contamination is possible.
OR
There's mold growing in the lemonade spigot (common, clean at the beginning of shift, but moldy by end of shift.
Until my daughter was 5yo she had to avoid all citrus fruits and anything with a lot of vitamin C, including any juices that had added vit C. So she couldn't have: any juices, cantaloupe, kiwi, pineapple, lemons, limes, oranges, or tomatoes, cooked or raw. The allergy tests didn't show any of these as allergens, but she reacted to them when she ingested them nonetheless. In fact, all of her food sensitivities were found out through trial and error, the only ones that showed up in the test (skin prick on her back) were cantaloupe and dust mites. Antihistamines are your friend :)
Good luck, it might take some time to figure them all out, but you could start with an elimination diet and go from there. Hopefully, he will grow out of them like my daughter did. Unfortunately, to this day (she's 10), she's still allergic to chocolate or anything from the cocoa plant (like coco butter creams).
I have allergies to Strawberries that developed when I turned 21. After that, it spread to an allergy to Kiwi, and now Starfruit. If they even offer strawberries as an option for a dish, I avoid it to prevent me from accidentally getting any bit of juice or a seed into my food. Find out if the lemonade is fresh made, how often do they break down the machines. Let them know your son has a food borne allergy, and you are trying to rule out things. It could be as simple as someone was breaking down a machine and wiped it with the same rag that may have wiped away peanut particles. They may not even think that a rinsed out rag could spread allergens.
Hope he feels better.
he can be allergic to the lemon in the lemonade not the acidity
and I bet he is, so wait a few weeks then do a test - make sure he only eats things you are 10000% sure he is ok with for 2 days straight then at the end of the 2nd day have him drink lemonade or have some lemon curd (real lemon) or just plain ole' give him lemon juice with sugar and water at home (if you do the lemonade then you are really only sure he is allergic to SOMETHING in that, not for sure it's the lemon, so I suggest doing pure lemon juice with water and sugar). If he shows up with hives you can pretty much say that he is allergic and should not have it again.
Tomatoes turn almost every kids face red where it touches, but skin reaction is not what hives is, that is a body immune system kicking in.
I would bet, especially if it was Chinese, it was the peanut allergy again.
We have pretty much stopped getting any Chinese, Thai, Indian, etc. from restaurants for takeout. They often use peanut oil or peanuts/other nuts in their cooking. Makes me sad because I love food, but better to give it up than to accidentally cause an anaphylactic reaction.
Noodle & Co. makes all kinds of dishes, and the cross-contamination in their kitchen from the peanut dishes/utensils/counters is probably what caused it. I would say to stay away from that restaurant as well.
However, some people do develop allergies to citrus.
If you do decide to dine out or get take out, call and talk to the chef or restaurant manager first. Explain the issue and ask if they use peanut oil or other nut oil in their cooking or any nuts in their recipes. Peanuts and other nuts are often cross-contaminated, since most nuts are all packaged in the same facilities.
Please talk to your child's pediatrician, and ask for a referral to a pediatric allergist or immunologist. It sounds like your son needs additional allergy testing, and that you need to start carrying an epi-pen for him, until he's old enough to do it himself. Start coaching him now to ask "Do it have nuts in it?" to any food that is offered. If it does, or the person doesn't know, then it's a no-go.
