Sulfite Reactions: How do you treat one?

[AdminCM]

McCobbre
Moderator
Posted: 01.11.2008 at 10:29:40


Avoidance is great, but once you are having a sulfite "reaction" how do you treat it?

It happened tonight. We were watching Dr. Who for about 2.5 hours (2 episodes and 30 minutes of bonus stuff), and about 30 min. before I had my first beer. I had two more--so over 3 hours. It hit me like a ton of bricks--I felt awful. I couldn't stand up well at one point and lay on the floor. DH gave me benadryl although I don't think it can help.

I know what to do for an allergic response but what about a chemical response?

ETA: See this thread for sulfite levels:
http://allergy.hyperboards.com/index.php?action=edit_post&topic_id=502

Beer is in the low category, but I am thinking that my reaction was the result of a cumulative effect. I also had four slices of (frozen) pizza (also on the low list) topped with pineapple (no doubt canned) and Canadian bacon (don't know of that's a problem). I had also been eating grapes (on the low list). There's a lot of low level stuff, but I think it accumulated and wham--hit me.

This wasn't my worst reaction. My worst was when I actually threw up. But this was probably my second worst. At one point when DH was trying to hand me a benadryl strip (before he went to get the liquid bena in the next room) I had a hard time lifting my hand. Perhaps we should have Epid, but the inability to move well was quite temporary.

I did start feeling better after the bena but I don't know if that would have happened anyway without it--since this is not technically an allergic response.

I think I will ask Lupin to split this thread. I don't know if a reaction belongs in the same thread as info about sulfites.

« Last Edited by McCobbre 02.29.2008 at 08:14:08 »


"Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic. They are potent forms of enchantment, rich with the power to hurt or heal."~Albus Dumbledore


Me: shellfish, chamomile, sesame and a few odds & ends
DS: peanuts

[admin rebekahc]

McCobbre
Moderator
Posted: 01.12.2008 at 10:28:43


Just to add: this was after three Shiner Bocks.

<sniffle>


"Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic. They are potent forms of enchantment, rich with the power to hurt or heal."~Albus Dumbledore


Me: shellfish, chamomile, sesame and a few odds & ends
DS: peanuts

[admin rebekahc]

ajasfolks2
Moderator1
Posted: 01.12.2008 at 10:43:50


Not trying to second guess, but I'm not sure the benadryl would have been advisable after alcoholic beverage, even spread out over that amount of time. I would address this with the doctor.

For me, I know that my sulfite reactions seem to be the toughest to get under control -- more blood pressure-ish issues as well as asthma/breathing issues than with any other allergen. In fact, some of my worst sulfite reactions have been when I've had a beer (a typical brand for me, never a problem previously) or two and then unwittingly eaten something like olives with sulfites.

I am wondering about the Canadian Bacon. Once upon a time there were meat-with-rind products (hams, turkeys, etc) where peanut oil was in the glaze/rind but NOT on the ingredient label.

Just thinking that there may have been a combo reaction here (low-level sulfites and peanut or other allergen xcontam)?

If this were me, I would cross off that brand of frozen pizza.

Also, I would want to be certain that there is no other underlying physiological/medical cause for blood pressure issues. (BP monitoring of some kind seems like good plan.)


I don't know if 1 word of this is useful.

Hope you are feeling better SOON!

~e

PS -- Consider that you have recently not been well and that your immune system was already in heightened mode.


Enable the child with LTFA: Disable the food use!

Committee Member FIREBIRD

DS - PA/TNA, latex, other legumes, mango
DD - TNA/verifying PA; drug allergies
Me - sulfites and other drugs

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Daisy
Member
Posted: 01.13.2008 at 09:23:50


Oh my! {{{HUGS}}}
Sulfites are the worst, because they pop up in the craziest things. They are listed on the label if they are >10 ppm, but I react to less than, of course.

I treat an anaphylactoid reaction the same way an anaphylactic reaction is treated. But like ajasfolks said, I don't know about how much Benadryl is safe with beer. Both have quite a sedative effect. In the ER they usually give me Benadryl & steroids for reactions that do not involve a drop in BP or pulse-ox. Have you asked your Doc about prescribing steroids to keep with you? I keep the 10 mg prednisone, and prefer to use these even in the ER because one of the injectable steroids has sulfites.  :  yes...a royal pain to deal with...  My Pharmacist is very careful to read the ingredients & give me a copy when she fills my Rx.

The enzyme that breaks down sulfite needs to build back up in your system. Be especially careful to avoid grapes, raisins, frozen dough, packaged coconut, or anything fermented (beer/wine/vinegars). Even if it is not something that usually bothers you. Sadly, even some tortilla products contain sulfites, so be careful.

{{{hugs}}}
Daisy

PS. This is my own personal experience. No advice or recommendations given. I do not have asthma. Everyone please remember to discuss treatment plans with your Doc.


Self: seafood, egg, nuts, sulfites, yellow dye, IV contrast
GA - USA

[admin rebekahc]

McCobbre
Moderator
Posted: 02.28.2008 at 11:25:52


Pepcid AC (so an H-2 blocker) and water are recommended here, as well as treating a sulfite reaction as you would an ordinary reaction.

http://www.babyandkidallergies.com/avoiding-sulfites.php

I completely forgot about mentioning my problems with sulfites with my allergist when saw him two weeks ago. I got involved in talking with him about DS' 504.


"Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic. They are potent forms of enchantment, rich with the power to hurt or heal."~Albus Dumbledore


Me: shellfish, chamomile, sesame and a few odds & ends
DS: peanuts

[admin rebekahc]

McCobbre
Moderator
Posted: 04.18.2008 at 03:31:59


Just reraising because I'm tired of seeing the other thread.

Okay--say one hasn't had any alcohol.


Benadryl?


"Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic. They are potent forms of enchantment, rich with the power to hurt or heal."~Albus Dumbledore


Me: shellfish, chamomile, sesame and a few odds & ends
DS: peanuts

[admin rebekahc]

Daisy
Member
Posted: 04.19.2008 at 11:19:29


Ok, so I couldn't figure out whether to post this in the Hair Dye thread or this one. We think my reactions to Hair Dye are due to sulfites, instead of the PPD...

I went to the salon last Friday. So I wouldn't have to read all the labels, etc... I washed my hair just before I went & left it wet. Just got a cut/blow dry.

I scheduled the appt first thing in the morning, so she wouldn't be working on someone's color before me. Just one other client before me, & that was just a cut, too.

She did rinse me in the sink to wet my hair more, but had a towel behind my neck to protect it from the sink...always thinking of residue. Then she moved me to her chair & used a clean comb to trim my hair, & blew it dry with no product. Started that ever-familiar tingle & Uh-Oh feeling. 

So what did it? Residue on the drape, the brush, the towel? I took Benadryl immediately & drove home. Showered for a good 30 minutes. DD sat in the bathroom to keep an eye on me, & kept the phone nearby. DH came home to check on me at lunchtime. I was ready for a "Benadryl nap" by then, since the reaction hadn't progressed. No respiratory involvement this time. But just that awful doom feeling, the flushing, itching & tingling. Uggh!

So my hair is now well past my shoulders. I guess I will be growing it longer to donate it. 

Just uggh!
Daisy


Self: seafood, egg, nuts, sulfites, yellow dye, IV contrast
GA - USA

[admin rebekahc]

McCobbre
Moderator
Posted: 04.20.2008 at 10:11:30


Donating it is an admirable thing. And at some point you could learn how to cut it yourself. I used to cut mine myself.

I'm sorry--it's really, really awful that it's come to this for you. I'd suggest to go to a quick cut place because they wouldn't do color much at all I'm guessing, but they wouldn't be as sensitive to your needs either.

Could you pay your stylist to come to your house? You could buy your own supplies, and she could come over? A friend of mine (the one who didn't die from the hockey puck in another thread) did that.




"Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic. They are potent forms of enchantment, rich with the power to hurt or heal."~Albus Dumbledore


Me: shellfish, chamomile, sesame and a few odds & ends
DS: peanuts

[admin rebekahc]

Daisy
Member
Posted: 04.21.2008 at 06:58:15


Thanks. This is just all getting so ridiculous. Right now I can go months inbetween cuts, so I don't have to think about it again for a while.

The good thing is that Benadryl stopped it pretty quickly. But, ohhh, that "Uh-oh feeling"...I could have done without that!

Take care,


« Last Edited by Lupin 04.21.2008 at 08:16:37 »


Self: seafood, egg, nuts, sulfites, yellow dye, IV contrast
GA - USA

[admin rebekahc]

McCobbre
Moderator
Posted: 01.10.2009 at 09:07:05


I had a sulfite reaction last night, and I want to put the details here. It's funny---I see that my last big one was a year ago. And also involved Doctor Who and Shiner and Pizza. And last night also two Doctor Who episodes. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

Okay, I have the Doctor, Shiner, and Pizza (almost always homemade) quite often, but there was one other variable: wine.

I came home after a long day--filled with getting ready for a school meeting after DS' ana rxn at school, going to work, the school meeting, and more work (with several deadlines), then worked extra to make up for time out for the school meeting. Whew! I needed to relax after a really rotten week.

I had a Shiner Hefeweizen. After a while we made pizza. DH made a crust he always does. We put things on it we usually do, but this time added pears and proscuitto. Yum!!

My errors: snacking on the pepperoni DH place out (which I didn't use on my pizza) and having about four sips of this really fabulous S. African wine DH bought (new to me). It was a red--a pinot. I've had good luck with pinot noirs from other countries--Argentina and European ones. This was absolutely delightful, but I started feeling funny, so I thought I'd go back to Shiner and poured another one that I drank a few sips of (poured most of it down the drain later, too).

I think it was the wine in combo with the pepperoni. And maybe the proscuitto, but I put very little of it on my pizza. I have this very pepperoni on pizza quite often and typically snag a few while building my pizza, so it wasn't the pepperoni by itself. I typically have a Shiner Hefe or Bock with my pizza, so it wasn't that combo. We do homemade pizza a lot on Fridays. This is nothing out of the ordinary. But last night I added a few sips of wine to it.

So--I want to note how I felt for the future, and I notice (in retrospect) that there are some commonalities with other reactions when alchohol is involved.

After a few sips (over the course of 15 minutes), I suddenly felt like I'd had way too much to drink. And that doesn't make sense with the amount of alcohol. Then my stomach started to feel strange, and I thought that if I ate more, it would help with having had too much alcohol. But then I felt so full I couldn't eat more. I just felt yucky. There's no other way to describe it. Miserable.

Last night the big D was also involved, which was also new, and I thought I was going to throw up a few times. A couple of years ago I actually did throw up with a sulfite reaction.

Last night I did take some benadryl. And I know what some of you will say about having it after having alchohol, but all in all I did not have that much alcohol last night, and I took the benadryl about four hours after having a beer. I honestly didn't know how else to treat it, and I didn't think about coming to this thread. I was actually scared of this reaction last night.

I felt better about 40 minutes after having the benadryl.

What upset me, too, is that I really just needed some down time after such a horrible week, and I ended up feeling miserable.




"Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic. They are potent forms of enchantment, rich with the power to hurt or heal."~Albus Dumbledore


Me: shellfish, chamomile, sesame and a few odds & ends
DS: peanuts

[admin rebekahc]

Arkadia
Member
Posted: 01.11.2009 at 01:28:44


um....if I had eaten pepperoini, pizza, prosicuitto, wine and beer, I'd have been blowing chow, hanging on while the room spun, and felt like I had a serious case of flu into the next day.

Anything over two drinks and I'm nauseated from room spins period. My mother had her gallbladder out around forty five (?) but it was a long call to supper prior to it. <crosses fingers>

I've been known to overthink things though and hey, it's just what I remember, I could be wrong, but your body will metabolize booze before it metabolizes fat and stores excess alcohol in the liver. Can't quite pull it out my head how it translates to a fatty liver, something to do with altered metabolism, but it's a pretty potent drug. Actually, anything in excess of one drink a day is considered excessive. Personally? If I had 30 drinks a month I'd be useless. Utterly useless.

I consider myself lucky I get sick off anything in excess of two drinks and always have.

If I drink two glasses of wine tonight it would take me up to three days to get over the effects. I'm that in tune to it. If I have a drink again in three days after that, I'll be hanging the entire next morning.

I'm not saying it's not a "sulfite" reaction, only you and your doctor can decide that, just imagining myself in those same shoes and thinking yes, I'd feel like death warmed over.


"We're going to make everyone get along whether they like it or not."

~Oldest son, age 16, upon being asked what most typifies his generation.

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Daisy
Member
Posted: 01.11.2009 at 08:10:09


01.10.2009 at 09:07:05, McCobbre wrote:

...
After a few sips (over the course of 15 minutes), I suddenly felt like I'd had way too much to drink.  And that doesn't make sense with the amount of alcohol.  Then my stomach started to feel strange, and I thought that if I ate more, it would help with having had too much alcohol.  But then I felt so full I couldn't eat more.  I just felt yucky.  There's no other way to describe it.  Miserable.

Last night the big D was also involved, which was also new, and I thought I was going to throw up a few times.  A couple of years ago I actually did throw up with a sulfite reaction.
...

I share Arkadia's thoughts, too. I bolded the section about how you were feeling...perhaps a little too much fatty food? A friend told me her doc said as folks get a little older they do not process fats as well, even without gallbladder disease.

Try the snacks again in a couple of weeks, without the alcohol to be sure.

When my sulfite allergy started to get noticeably significant I took Communion one day and just the tiniest sip of wine was enough to start my "Uh-oh", flushing, reaction cascade.

Take care,
Daisy


Self: seafood, egg, nuts, sulfites, yellow dye, IV contrast
GA - USA

[admin rebekahc]

McCobbre
Moderator
Posted: 01.12.2009 at 06:52:17


See what you mean, but I strongly disagree. This "full" feeling is not like anything typical. The only time I have felt like this is during sulfite reactions. It's not indigestion or overstuffing. I can't describe it, but it just feels very different than anything else.

I had about 5 thumb-sized pieces of prosciutto on my pizza, and I snacked on about six pieces of pepperoni. I had a total of about two drinks (one beer, four sips of wine, and later, a few sips of a second beer). This ordinarily wouldn't faze me with anything except a little buzz.

I put my symptoms here because I'm starting to see a pattern. And it's very, very different than any other reaction---or response to food.


"Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic. They are potent forms of enchantment, rich with the power to hurt or heal."~Albus Dumbledore


Me: shellfish, chamomile, sesame and a few odds & ends
DS: peanuts

[admin rebekahc]

Daisy
Member
Posted: 01.12.2009 at 07:52:01


I see what you mean. I thought perhaps this was more of a GI feeling, but it sounds like it might be a pattern for you.

Sorry,
daisy


Self: seafood, egg, nuts, sulfites, yellow dye, IV contrast
GA - USA

[admin rebekahc]

McCobbre
Moderator
Posted: 01.26.2009 at 09:30:31


Ah--last Friday night--same dinner with three variables present two weeks ago but not then:

--no Doctor Who
--no wine
--no prosciutto



I was fine.



I'm refusing to believe that the Doctor has a single thing to do with this. And I'm sticking to that.


"Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic. They are potent forms of enchantment, rich with the power to hurt or heal."~Albus Dumbledore


Me: shellfish, chamomile, sesame and a few odds & ends
DS: peanuts