Hi catie,
Well you don't have to take meds for food allergies - unless you eat the foods you're allergic to of course! Zyrtec is for the airborne allergies, such as pollen and dog hair, it's a strong antihistamine (anti-allergy) and its side affects can make you drowsy, but it doesn't affect me. I only take it during hay fever season, and avoid dogs. It's better than remembering to take a pill every day!
An epipen is an automatic injection of adrenaline, which counters the symptoms of anaphylaxic shock - so you don't pass out if your throat swells up, etc. It just looks like a tube. All you do is press it against your thigh and it injects itself. You'll need to see a doctor to get one as it has to be prescribed. After you've used the epipen, you still need to go to the doctor or hospital to get some strong antihistamines, because adrenaline only stops the symptoms, and they could return in a few hours if you don't.
How do you know when you're having a food allergy? For me, an unusual metallic taste in my mouth and back of my throat that I can't get rid of by drinking is the first sign. After that I feel sick, get a widespread rash and hives, then I can't breathe properly. I need to have the epipen before this happens, or I go into a coma. But I think it can be different for different people.
Panic attacks can be caused by allergies, so can pseudo heart attacks, but if they continue while you haven't eaten any of your known allergens they might be to something you don't know about - a friend of mine gets panic attacks as a reaction to preservatives! So you might need to do an elimination diet - eat only very basic food for a few days, if there's no reactions, bring in other kinds of food one by one.
Thank you Rowena, so are Pine nuts are actually classified as seeds, then?
Yeah, I have an epipen (but my medic-alert bracelet got stolen from my bag last week, along with some cash! I was like, why.....it's no use to anyone but me!! it's not even pretty >.<)
Catie - did you see a doctor about your allergic reactions to peanuts? It's a good idea to get an allergy test if you're getting severe reactions such as shortness of breath and dizziness because those are symptoms of anaphylaxic shock which can be dangerous. It's possible to grow into peanut allergy as well as out of it which would explain why you could eat peanut butter as a child. It sounds like you're unlucky with having allergies to a lot of things. For pollen, dog and cat hair try taking some antihistamine like Zyrtec (works well for me). For the food allergies, you just have to avoid them. Try Googling some gluten-free recipes.
Hi,
Pine nuts (piñon) are the edible seeds of from the family Pinaceae. The pine bears seeds in cones and the cones that open upon maturity and spread their seeds are usually the female pine trees. The seed itself is almost entirely endosperm. The cedar nut is the seed of the Swiss pine. This link may be interesting to read: http://www.soupsong.com/fnuts.html
If you had anaphylaxis reaction before, it is always good to carry a identification bracelet or epi pen with you. There are plenty of food that have nut component or ingredient that is not usually indicated and known.
Take care and regards.