Ok, since I can't remember which family members I told about this or not, here's the story:
Thursday 1/1 -- We eat breakfast tacos at about 11 am, and afterward the kids split a candy cane that Katelyn got from one of her friends. In about 20 minutes Audrey started to cry unexplainedly, and wanted to be held. She was clawing at her jaw and ears, so after holding her a while I figured she needed ibuprofen for teething or something. I set her down on the kitchen counter and was about to give her some when I really looked at her face. She was swollen, broken out in hives all over, and red. Immediately I gave her Benadryl instead and the swelling lessened slightly. I racked my brain to think of what she could have eaten to cause the reaction and the only weird thing was the candy cane. I talked to Kari about this on the phone and we decided to keep her on Benadryl round the clock for a few days until the reaction went away. She continued to break out over the course of the day on her legs and tummy. She was extra sleepy that night because of the Benadryl. After she went to bed I got out the trash bag and dug through it for the remaining 1 inch of candy cane that the girls didn't finish. Yes I ate some of it, it was still wrapped. It was some unidentifiable fruit flavor and packaged in Winnie the Pooh designs, info that would be helpful later (although I threw it away again, doh!)
Saturday 1/3 -- We went to a birthday party. Audrey was still itching and had residual hives but felt good. She ate a cupcake with a few sprinkles on it and broke out again within a few minutes. Fortunately she already had Benadryl in her system or this could have been worse. Bleeding diaper rash occurred later in the day, which was rough, so she ended up staying home from church the next day.
Monday 1/4 -- The kids ate Lucky Charms for breakfast, a very occasional treat. I gave Audrey Benadryl again (she was still broken out and itchy) along with a children's vitamin. We went to playgroup and within an hour she got really tired and crabby and I noticed more hives on her neck. Later, at home, I noticed that she had now broken out all over her arms and the backs of her hands (these were previously unaffected areas). At this point I was determined to get her in to the doctor the next day, and I started reading my Food Allergy and Intolerance books for more info. I started to suspect a reaction to food coloring of some type.
Tuesday 1/5 -- Took Kate to school and a very miserable Audrey to the doctor. He agreed with me about the likely cause of allergy, and he changed her antihistamine to Zyrtec to be more around-the-clock and pan-spectrum with less medication. We will stay on that for 10 days then return for a blood test (RAST test) that can tell us more specifically what she is allergic to, hopefully. He prescribed Epi-Pen (an epinephrine injection) to be used in case of a severe reaction (anaphylactic shock, which is when your airway swells shut and you can't breathe). Usually in children it is not the first reaction that is the most severe, but a subsequent one. So we are to avoid food colorings until further notice. Yes she has probably eaten lots of food with these ingredients in the past, but the thing about allergies is that they can develop suddenly!
Now I took it on myself at this point to do some internet research (I had waited until the doctor offered his opinion, rather than let my mind run wild with frightening thoughts caused by awful pictures on the internet). Thank goodness that stupid candy cane was printed with little Winnie the Pooh pictures, because it gave me some identifying mark to work with. I got online and searched around and found what we think is the offending item. The company that makes the product actually is VERY allergy friendly in terms of labeling and processing style, so I can say for certain that the candy cane did not contain the major allergens peanut, milk, gluten, wheat, soy, almond, or shellfish even in trace amounts. It does however contain the big four artificial colorants in use in the US: yellow #5 (tartrazine) and yellow #6, blue #1, and red #40. These are known allergy triggers in many children. Audrey eats yellow 5 & 6 in large quantities in Kraft Macaroni and Cheese without adverse reaction. Blue 1 and red 40 are also present in Lucky Charms, children's vitamins, and cake frosting and sprinkles, the other suspicious items that caused her to break out again over the weekend. Tuesday night she took a bath and began to itch again afterwards. I read the shampoo label and guess what I found: Blue #1. So I think that she is definitely allergic to blue 1 and probably red 40 as well.
I am really overwhelmingly grateful. First of all, she did NOT have a shock reaction, and now we are prepared if she ever does. Secondly, she is still young enough that we have control over probably 90% that goes into her mouth. Thirdly, and I can't emphasize this enough, it's not something she needs to eat anyways! There are thousands of families that are daily trying to figure out how to give their kids a normal healthy life because they are deathly allergic to things like milk and wheat. We are so blessed!
So anyways, that's what is going on. It won't be a big deal if we just pay attention to it and read labels (which I am used to doing anyways, being allergic to soy and almonds and Tylenol, which is apparently in everything). I know personally how PAINFUL an allergic reaction can be and I want to spare her from that. So if I seem a little more neurotic than usual reading the labels in your pantry, grandparents, or bring my own cupcakes to your kids' birthday parties, friends, then please bear with me. It's a small price to pay for my Audie-bug!
