Have you tried drinking that protein shake or whatever it was, epipen in hand?

Sorry that missed what happened to you.Could it be a one off situation?

Year back i went out to dinner. Hours later I developed a rash only one side of my body.

A dermotologist was able to help me. I never found out what it was and it only happened that one time.

The only thing i had that was out of character for me was a hazelnut liquor.

Try not to stress, Im sure you will get to the bottom of things. Good that you are prepared.

My point to you before was that in order for you to have this extreme reaction you normally have to be exposed once before to super charge your immune system and the second time can actually kill or close to it. So what was the same one week ago. People with hyper active immune systems like you can have an unusual reaction at any time. So what happened the week before? You had the previous reaction. What did you do or experince just before that happened? That is all I have to offer. When I talked about the epi pen I meant get some input about WHEN to use it. My training was the sooner the better but I could be out of date. I am wishing you well.

There was nothing different other than the one thing that I tested for.

I have no idea what the allergen is.

You can bet I will carry around that EpiPen for a month. But what I remember from my mom is, it will never happen again.

It sucks never knowing what it was, but I'll get over it. And I'm unlikely to ever know what it was it caused that reaction???!

Perhaps it was from a combination of things, not a single allergen?

I don't know what it was and didn't see any post about your reaction, but it's possible that whatever it was was contaminated by something you are allergic to but haven't been tested for, or even something you know you're allergic to but didn't expect to find in whatever it was you ate. Mistakes are made in manufacturing and labeling.

I've had multiple panels multiple times. Meant to say that. Whatever it is, is not common.

And I will never try that protein shake again.

What brand was it?

“And I will never try that protein shake again.”

Because you’re convinced the allergen is found in that shake? That should shorten your list. Look at the ingredients.

I'm convinced. Maybe it was another ingredient, but whey seemed the most "offensive" in the case of allergens. Whey came back with a level of "16" in the test, and it'd require anything about 35 to indicate it as the offender. Which is why it has to be something else, but I still don't want to drink the shake again. Maybe it was the maltodextrin, for instance. The rest of the stuff, I come in contact with on an ongoing basis. Milk, soy, chocolate...

Oh well.

P.S. and it was the only thing I'd done differently for the last two weeks.

Did you refill a prescription recently? I have had three separate occasions of allergic reactions within in two or three days of prescription refills. It took a lot of detective work to discover that the reactions were a result of cross contamination at the pharmacy. I am allergic to penicillin and if the pill trays are not thoroughly cleaned before filling my prescriptions, I get a severe rash all over. The good news is once I stop taking the offending medication and replace it with a clean one, the rash goes away.

I have not had any new prescriptions. I'm still wracking my brain, and I appreciate all the suggestions.

I too am HIGHLY allergic to penicillin. That rash sucks.

I guess it just comes down to how badly you want to know. If you’re convinced it was the shake, then there are really only two possibilities: 1) It’s in the ingredients. 2) You’re wrong.

My grandson is allergic to any milk and nuts. 5 out of 5. The least dairy of any kind is an epipen, trip to the emergency room, and loads of antihistimines.

Even a touch of dairy sets him off. He has outgrown, carrots, fish, eggs, and a few others.

His Dad took him and his two siblings to a fancy steakhouse in Washington DC. Did fine until the dessert. They brought sorbet instead of non dairy. Yep, Christmas Eve spent in emergenty room.

ETA: A. the ingredients are hidden in "natural" or B. they are not declared. The only way to be sure is to make everything from scratch.

Rob, after prescribing two epipens, surely your doctor had some suggestions as to how to approach the problem?

The allergist said my plan was great.

rob333,

The prescriptions that gave me the rash were not new ones but rather just refills of my regular prescriptions I had been on for years that got contaminated.

I understood. My inhaler isn't ever put into a tray, and is a closed system. Same with the nasal fluticasone. I order my Zyrtec over the counter, and it comes in a sealed container. I couldn't think of anything that I've gotten from the pharmacy that was a pill. Good thought, just didn't work for me this time

😉

It's good that you figured it out, and you finally got rid of the rash.

The only time I had an allergic reaction ( that I am aware of) was about 35 years ago. The family went out for Chinese food, and all was fine. In the middle of the night, I woke up thinking there was a mosquito going crazy. I was so itchy. I kept waking up to scratch. Then in the morrning, my whole body was full of hives - so itchy I just could not get dressed. I then thought it could be chicken pox because I never had that ( that I was aware of). No other symptoms but this crazy itching all over. I went to an urgent care and the only thing they could suggest was iodine/seafood. I had had shrimp in the Chinese restaurant. There was nothing wrong with the shrimp- it was delicious and everyone else had it and was fine. I got tested for iodine allergy and sure enough, I had become allergic. I used to eat seafood and enjoyed it , probably once a month or so. It seemed to me out of nowhere I developed this allergy.

I was told I was lucky that I reacted with hives, and that a subsequent exposure could be severe. I'm fine being around it and people can eat it near me, but I for sure will not eat it again.

I guess it's good if you had a full panel of allergy tests, because quite possibly it's something you assume is a safe food.

Could be something unrelated like a bug/ant/flea/mosquito/tick bite.

I just can't even imagine what it was. I feel like I would have noticed a bite? Or a sting? But neither I nor the medical staff could find anything. I'd give a million dollars for it to just be a wasp sting. That one I already knew. I worried about it so much last night when I went to sleep, I dreamed I was getting stung by scorpions repeatedly that were inside my clothes?! I couldn't get them out, and they just kept stinging me. I'm pretty sure that's my worst nightmare I could ever have, in reality. I am scared to death of scorpions. Not that I've ever been stung, but I don't want to find out. Terrified! Actually thought there were no scorpions in Tennessee, but I found out today, that that is not the case. We do have them 😯

I've had a pretty bad allergic reaction to a tick bite a few years ago. Well I guess "pretty bad" is relative, didn't end up in the hospital, but I had a very extensive rash for a while. Never had an allergic reaction to anything in my life before. At no point did I feel the tick biting, but my wife found it on my back. I suppose it could latch on in other areas of the body where it would be really hard to spot, and then it will let go eventually.

We certainly searched. 😔 Nothing found.

“The allergist said my plan was great.”

What’s your plan?

Does it matter food? If a medical professional is on board, I am going with that.

(We both know the testing didn't show anything. And I said I have my two EpiPens. Which is all I can do)

It does matter. You started this thread asking for our suggestions. We could certainly offer thoughts on your plan, and give our own experiences. You mentioned in one of your posts that you would be carrying an epipen for a month. What happens after that? Surely your professional did not tell you to go bare after the month was over?

Yeah, you open the thread concerned about going through life not knowing wjat caused it, asking for suggestions, seem convinced it was the protein shake but only tested one potential allergen, apparently thinking about anything other the other ingredients, appararabtly have some great plan that the allergist likes but you won't share with us as you express your anxiety and ask for suggestions, and essentially tell me it's none of my business when I ask.

Tell you what, no it doesn't matter. All that mattera is that I once again fell into the trap of responding to a thtead gone insane. Outta here! 😘

I told you the plan? But ok

I asked what brand shake, so I could warn my granson to be careful.

We have Wind Scorpions here in Colorado. Nature adapts. I'm just glad your OK....and have new epipens. Protein shakes you can live without, while you test your theory out. :0)

Good luck on figuring it out.

I had a bad allergic reaction one time where my face around my eyes swelled up really bad. My husband was afraid he was going to have to rush me to the emergency room. My husband had used the carpet cleaner to clean the carpet. I'm not sure, but I'm thinking I had a reaction to something in the carpet cleaner. I probably touched the carpet to test the dryness and then touched my face.

Sherry,

Carnation instant breakfast. I figured since my oral surgeon told me it was okay, it probably was pretty reasonable. Best of luck to him, because I know he has far more issues than I have. Hugs

I shouldn't say anything, but I don't understand why you think the thread went insane, food. Apologies.

I don't think it's necessary to answer every single question, or to agree with everything that's on a thread? For instance, I think your suggestion to try the allergen again was the worst advice. I thought Patricia was talking to me, but she might have been replying to anybody that was reading this thread... Never ever never use, or consume, or touch, something you think you might be allergic to, because the next time I be your last time. She's 110% correct.

I appreciate all the help people tried to give me. I was hoping somebody might have some ideas that I couldn't possibly guess? But mostly, I think I probably knew, there's nothing more I can do. I'm just heartbroken I can't figure this one out. I had a full panel done mid 2023. We tried specific testing this time. And it was negative. I don't think we can test for everything that could possibly come in contact with? And I don't think it's that unusual. It's scary to not know what you're allergic to. Especially when you're trying your best. I tried to find out. It's not going to happen. All I can do is hope I don't come across again, and be ready if it happens (EpiPen). I'm really not sure about your frustration? But I also don't think your characterization is accurate. I don't think it's all that outrageous to be frustrated with something that is unknowable and can threaten my life. However, I don't want to offend you, or anyone else.

Deepest apologies.

I actually didn’t make that suggestion with complete sincerity. I made it in anticipation of the response. I was right.

I have no idea what you're saying. At all. I'm sorry you don't accept my apology?

No apology needed. You repeatedly insist the ONLY thing different was the shake. Which means you have a limited number of ingredients to work with. Of those, you even mention a known allergen and suggest it may have been that. Which I assume means you haven't tested for it.

I admittedly have no personal experience with allergies. I do understand that sometimes they can be frustratingly difficult to identify. It just seema to me that if I had myself convinced I was down to a limited number of options, I'd at least test for those if I considered it a life threatening situation. Especially if one of them was as common an ingredient as the one you named. And I’d retest for the other common ingredients, as new allergies can develop at any time in life.

So my difficulty with this thread is that you seem to be looking for us to throw ideas out there, which could be an endless list, before doing what to me would seem like due diligence to test (or retest) for any likely culprits.

But what do I know, I admit I have no experience with any of this. If your doctors think the better plan is to carry an epi pen for a couple of months, then I trust that's the better plan. Good luck!

Just know, this is really hard.

There is no easy answer, there's no hard answer, there is no answer. There is not hit or miss. You would think it'd be easier but is not.

I may never know. Lots of people never know. Nobody's trying to pull the wool over your eyes. This is not black and white, this is not even grey. This is not a needle and a haystack. This is like a needle on the other side of the universe.

It's very frustrating. And my life is at stake. I am not alone.

I still think if you know of something you are highly allergic to, even if it's not in the ingredients in this shake, you have no way of knowing whether that batch could have been contaminated at the factory with your known allergen. It's not uncommon to see recalls of product that have been contaminated with allergens not listed on label. Have you contacted the company? The FDA? Maybe others reported problems.

If you don't know of anything you are highly allergic to, then, yes, it's a crap shoot of elimination (because the product could be contaminated with anything) and hoping you never run across it again.

People I know who have allergies or potential sensitivities to various things they could possibly ingest all seem to conscientiously prepare their own food from base level ingredients. And they avoid highly processed foods as much as possible, a good practice as well for those without sensitivities.

There's no mystery about what has been ingested if one sticks to making dishes using real food at the ingredient level and avoids anything "manufactured" or with too many different things added.

One thing I understand is that 'flavors', 'fragrance', etc., natural or otherwise, listed on labels for products can be virtually anything and also considered proprietary, so not mandated to be divulged to consumers.

Additionally, chemicals used in dyes on textiles are proprietary and can cause problems for people.

Are you allergic to sesame? There’s a recall on sandwiches, of all things, that have undeclared sesame seeds in them. (Tahini?)

I too am HIGHLY allergic to penicillin. That rash sucks

Was reading some material about how salami is produced when I ran across this interesting tidbit: "Salami has been found to be a possible allergen to some people due to the use of penicillium species mold starter during the drying and curing portion of processing to add flavor and stop growth of undesirable molds. These molds occur predominantly in the skin of salami."

I'm truly grateful that, while I'm allergic to penicillin, I am not allergic to salami. Thank heavens.

Me either. But different styles of salami have different ingredients and different styles of production (it is actually quite interesting) and I'm sure not all of them use penicillium molds. But since Rob says she is highly allergic I thought it was worth passing along.

If only I ate pepperoni. I have to be the only one in the universe who prefers spicy sausage ;)

I still appreciate you passing it along. I'm open to any thoughts since mine are all deadend.

NYT has an article about a new medication Xolair, said to help prevent severe reactions to trace food allergens. But one has to keep taking it all the time.

The other non helpful issue is that this could be a new allergen for you since it is entirely possible to develop an allergy to something you have contacted or eaten with impunity all your life. That is so exasperating and of course potentially life threatening. This is really the pits.

Exactly.

It's why I bothered testing again. I just did a panel a handful of months ago. Both of my forearms were covered with sticks from my wrists to my elbows. Very uncomfortable. But it was worth trying to find out.