Bright eyes and breathless; this is how love feels

[venta]

Well. That was unnecessarily exciting.

I, and a couple of colleagues, went shopping at lunchtime. And hjalfi bought some cobnuts, to find out what they were like.

So after my lunch, I ate a couple of cobnuts[*]. We hadn't realised that they were solid enough to require nutcrackers, so I cracked mine open with my teeth. And they're quite nice - interesting crunchy, juicy texture and a very mild flavour. I decided I quite liked them.

And then I noticed that the roof of my mouth was tingling. And the insides of my ears. And I thought, gosh. That's not ideal. I won't eat any more.

And a few minutes later I could feel a distinct lump-in-the-throat sensation that hadn't been there before. And was feeling a little breathless, and rather tight and wheezy about the lungs. And a bit dizzy.

Which wasn't great. I had told my colleagues this, so they'd have some idea what was going on if I toppled off my chair. As one of the work first aiders, I know perfectly well that allergic reactions weren't covered in our first aid course ;)

Anyway, about 90 minutes later and I'm back to normal (modulo a residual slightly sore throat, and the generally bizarre feelings you get from trying to over-analyse whether you feel ok or not). So, no harm done.

Using the absolutely-100%-reliable diagnosis-by-internet, I'm considering oral allergy syndrome and have filched an anti-histamine from a colleague. However, I suspect the best course of action from now on is "don't eat cobnuts".


[*] Which the internet tells me are the same as hazelnuts. Except these were the fresh kind, with green leaves still wrapping them.

Comments

[beckyc.livejournal.com]

Glad you are a bit recovered, hope it continues.

Hmmm that sounds quite a lot like when I was getting occasional oral allergy syndrome (which is faffsome but often not too serious)

Worth checking with a medic though to make sure it won't go to full blown anaphylaxis?

(FWIW, when I was getting it frequently, I had an epinephrine inhaler to use under the tongue to help with* throat closing sensation. These are over the counter in the US and approximately hospital issue only in the uk, because its either antihistamine or epipen here. And if antihistamines work, and it doesnt look horribly serious then that's what they give you)

*I was never sure if it worked by stopping swelling or just made you so buzzed you didn't feel it any more :-)

[venta.livejournal.com]

Do you think it's worth checking with a doctor? I assume they can't determine that much after the fact, and are likely to say "well, it clearly wasn't serious, don't eat cobnuts".

[erming.livejournal.com]

Go and see the doctor.

If you describe what happens they may send you away for an allergy test which should give you a better idea of things to avoid.

[erming.livejournal.com]

Oh and as someone who is seriously allergic to nuts and carries an epi pen, every allergic reaction you tend to get tends to be more severe than the last.

So maybe not the next one but the one after you could have difficulty breathing, so go and get it checked out.

[venta.livejournal.com]

I'm aware that allergies worsen. It's just that (from friends with serious allergies) I've learned that doctors are extraordinarily disinclined to do anything other than tell you to take anti-histamines (right up until the point where you need an ambulance, at which point it's epi pens everywhere).

[erming.livejournal.com]

Well go and see them and ask for an allergy test.

The worst they could say is no!

[uitlander]

Given that you were feeling breathless with a 'lump-in-the-throat' yes. That sounds like your airway was constricting, which First Aid will have taught you is not at all good. get some tests done, a second incident could be more serious - don;t wait for it to happen.

[beckyc.livejournal.com]

Anything breathing related, yes, absolutely! You can even get to see an NHS allergist pretty promptly for breathing-related stuff (hayfever and skin stuff, not so much).

Like the other people say, nuts can get pretty serious pretty quickly.

[But on a less doomy note, nut issues do come in mild non-progressive versions too, so it's well worth testing to see just how avoidant you need to be, because who knows, they MIGHT potentially give you good news! Nut OAS from cross-reaction to pollen allergies can happen, and it can sometimes just mean "don't eat the raw version" or even "don't eat the raw version at X time of year". (Disclaimer: that's my experience with raw walnut OAS, but my atopy tends towards the "gazillion itchy-making things, very few serious things" type, so may not be typical)]