Huge allergy

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
Once again, difficult child is all puffed up with-hives from rolling in the grass. This time his eye is swollen (well, not the eye, but the epicanthic fold and orbital bone), his jaw, and chest. Last time it was his stomach, covered with-hives.
Maybe I should post this on the Natural Rememdies bb, but does anyone know what is related to grass... my mind is always looking for connections to behavior. I know he's allergic to wheat and gluten and milk, and some trees, but what about grass? EG, chamomile is related to ragweed, so some asthmatics will get reactions from tea.
Just trying to turn lemons into intellectual lemonade...
 

tiredmommy

Well-Known Member
Terry,
Duckie's grass allergy made her just plain mean. It is probably her most "violent" allergy in that her reactions were the most intense and physical.

FWIW, your difficult child's allergic symptoms warrant getting him in to see the pediatrician or into urgent care today. He may be a candidate for an epipen, if he doesn't already carry one.
 

Marguerite

Active Member
Wheat is a kind of grass, but is his wheat allergy caused by ingestion of wheat or by being in a field of wheat? For example, I test positive for allergy to tomatoes, but I can eat them with no problem. Walking through a garden of tomato plants, however, gets me very itchy.

I used to get very itchy from sitting on the grass, especially if it had been freshly mown. The cut ends of the blades of grass would be leaking cell fluid in trace amounts, enough for a contact rash.

Was he, by any chance, rolling around in a heap of freshly mown lawn clippings? That'd do it, in almost anyone prone to allergies. All it takes is a speck in his eye and the tissues in that area get swollen and inflamed. I bet his conjunctiva is red, too. It sounds like a possibility that there is some contact allergy here, worse in the mucous membrane area; as distinct from an ingestion allergy, which is in his bloodstream via GI tract or inhalation.

Whatever it is - he has to learn to be careful in future and avoid skin contact with bare grass. If he wants to lie on the ground he should lie on a blanket. My mother swore by cheap cotton blankets - throw them in the washing machine, but they also shake clean really easily. Soft on the skin unlike wool, little chance of contact rash.

If he's prone to allergies like this be careful of natural remedies - many of them could expose him to further allergens. Basically, if it's good enough to be recommended as therapeutic, it's got active ingredients. if it's got active ingredients, however natural, they are still just as likely to cause allergic reactions as anything man-made. Possibly more so, because natural remedies often contain many other associated natural chemicals simply because they are a natural extract and not a highly refined synthetic. Try natural remedies by all means, just go as carefully as you would for anything else and take the same sort of notes. If something works without a problem - great! Make a note of it so you can go right back to the same thing next time. For example, I used to deal with a group, some of whom had allergies to salicylates, which are naturally occurring chemicals in many foods as well as herbs and spices. We had someone turn up to a meeting trying to sell his "natural remedy" as a "cure for everything, including allergies." He had no training apart from in sales and was trying to sell a therapeutic herbal product (by definition, almost guaranteed to be loaded with salicylates) to people who are allergic to them, as a cure for their allergy. It wasn't being sold as a homeopathic remedy either (plus there was no way he was a qualified homeopath).

You just have to be careful and apply the same standards.

I hope the hives settle down. nasty stuff. Have you taken photos for the doctor?

Marg
 

SRL

Active Member
Sometimes it's not the grass but mold, etc in the grasses. With reactions that severe to something that can't be avoided in the environment, an allergy workup to find the exact cause is warranted.
 

skeeter

New Member
this time of year, it could be anything - the actual grass itself, mold, tree pollen, what have you.

If you haven't already, I'd seriously consider visiting an allergist and possibly getting him on allergy shots (if there's no needle phobia involved). My older son's allergies are of the sinus, nasal variety, where my younger one tends toward the hive type. His has responded much better to shots than the older one.
 

smallworld

Moderator
Another vote for getting your difficult child to an allergist to evaluate the extent of the allergies and consider all appropriate treatment options.

Getting him the proper treatment may actually help behavior. It's pretty intiutive that when you feel itchy, you're covered with hives and your immune system is going haywire that you feel "sick," tired and generally irritable.
 

bonkers

New Member
I have very sever allgeries, epi pen, inhaler.. etc... They used to be so bad this time last year I woke up hurling every morning because of night allgeries and the drainage into my stomach.. Gross huh? Last spring I was on three prescriptions and STILL miseriable... Grass, weeds, Trees etc.. Finally I decided to do to an allergy specilist that does immuno therpy.. They tested me against many (40) common elements in my region and found I was allergic to 29 of them with minor reactions to 5 more (though not enough to consider it allergic)... They started me right away on the immuno therpy shots. This year I am on one medication and doing great, for the first time I can remember It is almost may and I have not had a Single sinus infection or ear infection! I also do not hurl anymore!
 
Terry,

You've already gotten good advice from the others. I also would take him to an allergist to get him diagnosed and treated. Although I don't have anything to add, I hope you get to the bottom of this soon and difficult child feels better!!! WFEN
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
Thank you all!

Yes, he was rolling around in the grass.

We gave him children's Benadryl and by 3 p.m. his eye was almost back to normal. The rest of his skin still has hives.

Funny... he's not that cranky... he's getting lots of TLC and attention and he thrives on it. It more than balances out his discomfort. Go figure!!! LOL.
 
Top