dd had a non-anaphylactic airborne reaction to roasting nuts

[Jessica]

We were on vacation in Vegas and went to a place where there was a booth that was roasting almonds, cashews and pecans.  She has tested positive to almonds and pecans. The place was indoors so probably concentrated. I didn't notice what the booth was at first but when I did we just stayed away from it. But an hour or so after we left the back of her neck started to itch and it wasn't long before she had hives on her waistline and neck. Gave benadryl and it started to go away but came back later, even worse, on her arms and legs and more on her trunk. Went to the ER because all urgent care clinics were closed. They gave her a mix of pepcid, prednisone and benadryl and watched for a while and then let her go with a prescription for all 3. That was Saturday night. She still has hives off and on but from what I understand it's normal for them to take a while to fully resolve. At times she had some redness and a few hives on her face which freaked her out. Never had full-body hives or trouble breathing or any other symptoms but I had the epi at the ready at all times. It probably didn't help that it was extremely hot there which always seems to exacerbate hives anyway. Luckily it was at the tail end of vacation so we were headed home today (Tuesday). But we flew and it caused her to take her meds late (because she has to take them with food and she was not about to eat on the plane) and by the time we landed and got out of the airport she had a few very itchy hives on her waistline, bottom and arms. By the time we got home 2 hours later she was fine and she took a cool bath and shower and seemed fine after that. First reaction other than a hive or two since her first at age 1 and she is 18. I guess we should celebrate that fact but right now we're all just on edge.

I did learn, after this episode, that roasting nuts may release more proteins into the air so in light of that, we're guessing that is the cause. Although you just never know 100% for sure (she had only eaten from ff places that had no nut products at all and we'd never had problems with them before).

[eragon]

my son used to do this when young to egg frying in the kitchen. I suspect even now at 18 he would have a similar reaction to peanuts if made airborne. He had when younger a very similar reaction dog, with asthma symptoms (not an asthmatic btw) so we had to add similar treatments to his emergency plan for a few years.

We also used to wash or shower our son after a reaction in case minute particles landed on skin, certainly the egg reaction led to hives only on exposed skin.

Sorry to hear this happened, its a stressful situation that we are pretty familiar with!

[GoingNuts]

DS did this from the smell of falafel cooking (he is allergic to sesame and chick peas, in addition to PN, TN and soy). 

Sorry, this has to have been unsettling for her. 

[CMdeux]

Wow-- what a bummer to have this happen so far from home!   

We, too, are quite familiar with this kind of reactivity.  I'm glad that you went to the ER, though-- anything systemic as a result of aerosol exposure like this is inherently a more serious situation than a contact reaction.   

[Macabre]

Oh yikes. Yeah, airborne protein reactions can be scary. I can't believe this one lasted so long. Wow

[Jessica]

The hives have calmed down a lot today. I think that being back home, less stress, safer environment, and cooler weather has helped a lot. She woke up with hives on her arms but after taking her meds they went away quickly and unlike the other days, didn't come back other than some non-hive itchiness on the back of her neck tonight. Hopefully we're on an upswing. Tomorrow is the last day of prednisone and she has 2 more days (beyond that) of pepcid. What I'm not sure about is if she keeps getting hives, however mildly, after the pred is gone, do I need to take her back in or is that normal? I have a follow-up appt scheduled for a week from Friday.