Ever since I was young enough to remember, I was able to eat any type of food I wanted. I loved it! Well, at least I didn’t know how much I loved it until something happened.
Mom was cooking dinner, one evening in May/June of 2010, and something really good too! She made a lamb roast, with Parmesan-crusted Asparagus and probably baked or mashed potatoes. While we were all salivating in the kitchen as she was creating this masterpiece, we had some pistachios and cheese & crackers for appetizers. The food was awesome! I think I had a lamb roast only a few times before and it was never that good! Everything was great! I had dinner with people that I love and family was all around.
Then after a few hours of relaxing and digesting the delicious meal we had, it was time to settle in for the night. Later, the back of my ears began to feel irritated and my whole body felt like I was radiating heat. I looked at the clock and it was around 2am. It was strange! So I got up and tried to figure out what was going on. I went into the bathroom and then I noticed that my arms and stomach were covered with red blotches. Yup, Hives. I found some Benadryl and took (2) 25mg pills then went to sleep. The next morning, I felt okay but was curious as to what caused the reaction. Since nuts are a well-known allergy, my husband and I came up with the pistachios as the culprit.
The next episode occurred in late July 2010. My husband, one of his best friends, and I went out to an Italian Restaurant and I had the Pesto Pasta as my main entrée. Later that night, the same thing occurred. The hives, the radiating heat from my body; I had sharp stomach pains, the itching behind the ears. All of it. This time, I took (4) 25mg pills of Benedryl partly because it was really starting to freak me out and I wanted to knock the feelings out. I went back to sleep, then when it was time to wake up for work, the hives were still there! My throat felt slightly like it was tightening, but not enough to freak out. So I went to work after I took (2) of the Benedryl pills and tried to stick it out. I ended up going to the hospital after about an hour or 2 at work. They got me into a room pretty quickly after I told them that I thought I had an allergic reaction. They gave me an IV with Benedryl, Prednisone, and some other fluid. After about an hour nap in the hospital bed, they released me and the doctor at the hospital gave me a prescription for 4 days worth of Prednisone to keep any reactions from occurring. My husband and I think it may have been pine nuts in the pesto that caused the reaction this time. After being discharged from the hospital, I went back to work. I know… I’m a good employee.
The last episode occurred on December 1, 2010. My husband and I went out for pizza and we had a white pizza then a chocolate hazelnut pastry afterwards. 3-4 hours later, I got the same feelings again. This time, I woke my husband up at 2am from falling in the threshold of our bedroom. He got me some Benedryl, and stayed up with me while I was having the reaction. This time though, I lost enough blood pressure to pass out. He told me, after the fact, that while he was holding me up, I just collapsed with my eyes rolled back in my head and my skin was even whiter than it is now. He also said that it freaked him out because that’s what people look like when they bleed to death. He told my sister to call 911 and she did. The paramedics came and they did a bunch of tests then suggested that I go with them to the hospital. I told them that I was feeling much better and I signed the opt form. I did end up regurgitating something then drinking a whole glass of water before going back to sleep. Crazy!
More to come!
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