Dec 31 2005
I’ll never forget Dec 31 2005 - One of the scariest days of our life. This is what happened -
We gave our 1.5 year old an Indian sweet (Cashew sweet) and he really enjoyed it. But within 20 minutes he had an allergy breakout in a way we haven't seen before . His body was fully covered with rashes and his face began to swell out of proportions .In case you have seen the movie ‘Hitch’ – it’s the same thing that happens to Will Smith in that movie after eating oysters. Believe me - it is not funny as portrayed in the movie. It’s really scary when it happens to someone in your family. We were horrified, had to call 911 and thank god he became fine after a few hours. But those few hours as a parent was excruciating.
To those reading this – Don’t give any form of nuts to kids unless you are very sure he/she is fine with nuts.
There was a report in CNN recently which said that these incidents of allergy in kids have increased immensely in the last few years and they don’t have a reason for this. So be safe than sorry.
2 comments:
Good point! It could save someone's life!
I have heard many of our friends say that 'Food allergies are not that prevalent in India as in US'. I think that is not true. In India they call it 'Food poisoning'. If you come from a family that had a Doctor or had someone that has had a 'food poisoning' you would be familiar with that term. The reactions and diagnosis seem to be the same. Correct me if I'm wrong but what In India is called an 'Ulcer' is an 'Acid reflux disease' in the US. I think there are different names for the same condition between the two countries.
So, wherever you are, I recommend what is posted here. It is always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to 'trying something new' for a child that is less than 2-3 years. It is always a good practice to start anything new with a trace amount.
Sounds scary... you must have gone through hell for sure. Anyway, its good that you've discovered the problem, and that he was treated asap.
I've seen a whole lot of food and other allergies in people, so it helps to be careful.
One of my friends has an allergy with ants. If a particular type of black large sized ant bites her, her whole body swells up and she may even die if not treated within two hours. She keeps the required medicine with her at all times, and I'm glad they discovered the allergy before it became fatal.
Another girl I know has an allergy to a whole host of allopathic medicines, which come in the category of aspirin/dispirin etc. One consumed, within an hour, her eyes swell up like tennis balls, she experiences extreme shortness of breath, and watery nose/eye symptoms and its painful to watch her in those circumstances. We discovered the allergy when she got a back pain from a fall, and was given a medication for that. I took her to the hospital within an hour, and they administered an injection of "Avil" (which is supposed to be for allergic reactions), and after that, it took two days for her eyes to get back to normal size.
Strange, but true...
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