Arlo visits the ER
Arlo has food allergies, the dimensions of which are still not completely known to Zoe and I. This is kind of scary, as anything he eats that he hasn’t eaten before could produce an allergic response, which at its best is a few hives here and there, and at its worst could lead to severe anaphylactic shock and a trip to the hospital.
Unfortunately, today Arlo had a response closer to the latter end of the spectrum after consuming part of a fruit/nut bar which contained cashews, almonds, and a few other things. Since he’s not allergic to tree nuts (he is severely allergic to peanuts), this should have been safe to eat. Unfortunately, either we have stumbled on a new allergic food, or there was some cross-contamination that occurred during manufacture, because after a few hours of a variety of milder symptoms, his lips started swelling up, and that’s when we administered the epi-pen shot and took him to the ER. His symptoms subsided after the epinephrine kicked in, and the ER gave him some corticosteroids, and observed him for 2 hours and then released us. But still, extremely stressful.
It’s just so incredible that the body’s immune response can be triggered this way by food. Western medicine doesn’t really seem to know what to do with it other than counsel strict avoidance and then treat it with a concoction of antihistamines, hormones and adrenaline, which don’t seem to address the root problem. Meanwhile, subsequent exposures simply trigger increasingly stronger responses. There has got to be a better way… Has anyone had any experience with TCM (traditional chinese medicine) or other alternative/homeopathic treatments and their efficacy with this kind of thing?
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