Peanut Reaction

[GoingNuts]

DS is away for the weekend.  After a night out he and his buddies went to a local pizzeria and DS ordered a slice of Buffalo Chicken pizza.

He started feeling a tingling in his mouth and throat, they asked about ingredients, and the Buffalo Sauce turned out to be contaminated.

He did not use his Epi. 

They did call an ambulance, and he is at Saratoga Hospital ER right now. They only gave him Benadryl in the ambulance. No hives, no GI symptoms.  They are taking his medical history now.

[Macabre]

Oh GN.

I'm so glad they called 911. It's good he has the experience of doing that as an adult. It's good he has the recent experience of being in an ER for this. I know you're frustrated he didn't use his epi, but it's good he at least has adult context for the others. And that he is okay. Please let us know that he is.

He should maybe avoid alcohol today. 

[BensMom]

Why didn't he use his epi??    (I'm not even sure what some of these emojis mean).

Seriously, what did he say about not using his epi? 

[Stinky10]

Scary!!! Curius to know why he didn't epi.  What was he thinking? What was his reasoning?  I'd be worried  that because this seemed mild that he won't epi in the future.....and guessing the doctors he saw probably think that's fine. Ugh.

[my3guys]

Yikes GN!!!! Hope all is fine this morning! That phone call had to be very rough to get in the middle of the night. I loathe middle night phone calls.

Let us know how he's doing when you can. 

[GoingNuts]

I've heard from him and all is well. I'll post more details later after I've had a nap. The combination of lack of sleep and the aftermath of the adrenalin rush has left me exhausted.

[Macabre]

Glad he's okay!! Whew. I've been wondering about him all day.

[GoingNuts]

Scary!!! Curius to know why he didn't epi.  What was he thinking? What was his reasoning?  I'd be worried  that because this seemed mild that he won't epi in the future.....and guessing the doctors he saw probably think that's fine. Ugh.

I have a few more details, but didn't want to interrogate too thoroughly over the phone.  I concentrated on what he did right (call 911, go to the ER via ambulance) and not what he did wrong.  I'll save that for when he gets home.    All joking aside, I do want to do a thorough deconstruction of what happened so he can learn from this.  He barely remembers his last reaction, which was when he was 10.  Interestingly, this was completely different from any other reaction that he has ever had. 

Apparently after a night out they were hungry, and they went to a pizza joint that was still open at 3 AM.  His first slice of pizza was plain, and that was fine.  He added Buffalo sauce to the second slice, and within 4-5 minutes started feeling his mouth and throat tingle.  He asked the folks at the restaurant if there were peanuts/tree nuts in the pizza, and they said yes, in the Buffalo sauce.  He had no other symptoms beyond his mouth and throat, so he didn't Epi (wrong, wrong, wrong - that is not what his action plan calls for).  But what he did do correctly is since he didn't know if it would get worse, he called 911 and headed to the hospital.

At the hospital they gave him a Zantac, Steroid, Pepto and (more) Benadryl cocktail and watched him for 2 hours.  He said he felt fine, and they let him go without any written discharge instructions.     I told him he was not to be left alone in the house, if he saw even one hive, felt one tingle, had any GI symptoms, etc., to Epi and get back to the hospital immediately.  No alcohol, no vigorous exercise.   I figured he'd sleep until at least 1 PM.

I was surprised to hear from him at 11:30, he was awake and tired, but that's certainly to be expected since he got to bed a little before 7 AM and had a ton of Benadryl on board.

I'd like to call the pizza place and find out whether the sauce is made on premises and has actual peanut as an ingredient, or whether it is a May Contain, bottled, etc.  I think that info would be helpful to have. 

Oddly enough, one of my college BFF's called me last night and I told her that DS would be up near her this weekend, so she was on duty.  Good thing I didn't have to call her, because she would have had the hospital staff running around in circles, LOL.  She can be an absolute drill sergeant.   

So that's as much as I know now.  I'll add more details when he gets home.

[MaryM]

GN, I'm glad he is ok.

[starlight]

Maybe he didn't use the epi because the reaction made his thinking cloudy/illogical? I think I've seen Mac and possibly Ciel mention that during reactions their logic got pretty warped. I think the big reasons people don't use it are because they don't want to cause a scene and/or go to the ER, but if you're going to go to the ER anyway and already causing a scene with an ambulance, why not? Which makes me think he wasn't thinking straight about it. Either due to the reaction or if he had been drinking beforehand...or there's the possibility he just didn't have it with him. I may or may not be guilty of not bringing it with me all the time when I was that age.

Glad he's ok and recovering now. 

[GoingNuts]

I don't think the reaction was bad enough to cloud his thinking (I'm familiar with that myself - when I anaphylaxed from my allergy shots I made some truly bone-headed decisions due to being completely illogical), nor do I think there was much alcohol involved.  Had there been significant alcohol in combination with Benadryl, I would have been able to tell from his speech (DS had speech issues when he was younger, and when he is very tired or has had any alcohol, I can hear it immediately).  His speech and voice were crisp and clear, which is what kept me calm.

It is completely possible that he didn't have his Epi with him.  I've "caught" him forgetting it a couple of times, yet he gets super-irritated with me when I remind him.    I think most likely though  he didn't think it was that bad, and he's also probably afraid to take that plunge.  We will have to discuss that.  I wonder if having the Auvi with him would have made a difference. 

I allowed myself a nice big glass of wine tonight, very unusual since I'm pretty much a complete teetotaler.  I have to say it hit the spot. 

I'll be very glad to see him walk through that door tomorrow, knock on wood.

[my3guys]

I will be very glad when you tell us he's walked through that door. Glad all is well. And I'm glad you enjoyed a nice big glass of wine. Hope you slept well!

[GoingNuts]

Didn't sleep.  I think I'll be waking up at 3:52AM for the next few weeks.  But he did text me @ 1am to let me know he was back at his friend's house.

[Macabre]

I'm so glad he texted you. I hope you get some good rest tonight

[momma2boys]

Oh no! I just saw this! So glad he is ok!!!