Was this anaphalaxis?

Hi all, I just got home from the lake and I am really concerned.

last night after dinner my boyfriend and i went out on the lake and did some fishing.. we returned home to the cabin, I just walked in the door and all of a sudden I felt hot.. like really hot.. and then my heart just started racing and pounding.. I thought I was gonna pass out so I called my bf to come in and help me.. I was totally dumbstruck as to what was happening. Then I felt like I couldnt breathe and was getting less and less air... then I felt sick and said Im gonna puke.. so he got me a bucket.. by this time I was beat red all over and felt like i was on fire.. i was very scared, I kept saying " I am so hot , i am so hot" then right after I puked I had to move bucket below me because I had diarrhea ?? All of these symptoms came on in a flash and all at once..I was dizzy and I felt like I had to fight to stay with what was happening , I felt like i could just fall over any minute. When i sat down on bucket I noticed my legs were beat red as well. I had uncontrolable shaking in my hands and arms and my teeth were chattering so loud I could barely talk.....my bf was thinking I had sun stroke so he turned on shower and told me to get in.. so i got in and the cold water helped my red hot skin but that was about it... I remembered that a few months prior I had had my first and only allergic reaction ever in my life and it was to freezing in a needle at my dentists..I turned beat red and very hot on my chest with that reaction.. to which the dentist promptly gave me allegra or something and i felt fine...but I started to wonder if I was having a allergic reaction to something and it was just WAY more severe then the one at dentists.. so i asked if he had any benedryl or something lying around cabin.. he looked around and found some from 2001...I didnt wanna take it because I was scared already that I was dying and I thought maybe the pills had gone bad and would really do me in so I asked him to go see if anyone else down at the lake had a epi pen or benedryl.. he ran and asked and came back and said no..I was still shaking all over the bathroom so I took the old benedryl and hoped for the best... I said if this doesnt work go to lodge and call for an emergency..because we are 3 hours from medical attention and they would need to fly in the lodge to get me... so anyways...5 minutes later things were calming down... so my bf hurried to pack up the cabin and the 3 dogs and we headed back to the city.. about 45 min later i was soooo tired I just wanted to sleep so bad....I felt better and I could breathe......so my questions are for future reference... does this sound like a anaphalactic reaction?? Should I have called for an emergency??? Thank you .

I'd see the doctor. too.

The freezing the dentists gave me was a new one that had "sulfa" in it so I am clearly allergic to it. Last time I went he used the old school freezing on me and I was fine. He wrote it down for me so I know what I am allergic too.

As for what happened at the lake...We just ate dinner...steak shrimp and mushrooms..all of which I eat all the time without incident...What happened to me happened about 1 hour after we ate. If it was food allergy it would of been instant?? Thank you all for your replies. I appreciate it.

I agree with the others who suggest you go talk with your doctor. You do not want to find yourself in an emergency situation without the appropriate emergency drugs.

I used to be able to eat shell fish, crustaceans, until I was in the 5th grade then all of a sudden, without notice, I was out with my family eating shrimp and crab and wham, my lips swelled up, my eye lids swelled up, the whites of my eyes got red and swelled up, and I itched all over. I have no memory of what treatment, if any, I got at that time.

Some doctors would argue that you were in anaphalaxis, others would not. Everyone allergist I have ever talked with said you have to have a positive IgE to be truly allergic. From my personal experience, I do not believe a positive IgE tells the entire story. I believe one can have an elevated IgG, a later antibody response, from an allergic reaction days after exposure. Getting a positive IgE can be tricky. The lab needs to be done within a specific period of time after a reaction. Sorry, I do not recall what it is, but I think it is a matter of hours.

I will get red "tails" coming out from red, itchy lesions from insect stings days after being stung. I can get huge red itchy lumps after stings. All this without ever scratching the area. Test me for a specific IgE and it will be negative.

Although I have never gone into anaphalaxis I am fortunate enough to have seen doctors for other reasons when I have had the "tails" and swollen lumps, so I carry an Epi-Pen with me at all times, and always have benadryl and prednisone in my house and purse at the suggestion of a few doctors.

I told an immunologist I was allergic to shell fish, milk and wasp stings. All give me the same sort of reaction. She did allergy testing and it showed I was allergic to shell fish and milk, but not wasp stings. I know better.

Turning beet red and having trouble breathing is scary enough and has to be much worse when hours away from a hospital and not have emergency stuff on hand.

Let us know what you doctor says.

Glad you have an appointment. Hopefully you can address what happened to you while at this initial visit.

Since I live in nowhere rural Texas and cannot always see doctors as quickly as I would like, I take pictures of any visible reaction to an unknown thing and bring my pictures along since the reaction is usually gone before I get in to see a doc.

I keep a computer file of these pictures that also includes radiographs.

So after my last post I got ready for my appt...Went to see walk in Dr and told him about reaction and he didnt seem concerned.. So I waited for appt on Thursday with new Dr. On Tuesday I was getting ready after shower and noticed a painful spot under arm.. sure enough there was a deer tick embedded in my skin. I didnt think anything and plucked him out and flushed him. I went to see new Dr on Thursday and told her about reaction, she is referring to me an allergist and told me to bring benedryl with me everywhere until we know. I mentioned the tick bite to her and showed her it, She was a little perplexed because she was not really familiar with Ticks. Ticks are very common where we live and she has not been here too long. Anyways she sent me home. I had a normal weekend with a bad headache and my bf noticed that my tick bite had gotten worse...so i looked in mirror and it has a large circle around it now.. like a bulls eye.. ?? So this morning I googled tick bites and found information about Lyme Disease...my rash is exactly the same. So I got ready and took myself to emergency..The nurse asked me if I had told my family Dr I said yes... and she said " She didnt do anything?" I said " No" and the nurse was mad and said " Well she better learn real quick if she wants to practice medicine here"...so i sat and waited to see Dr... while I was waiting I got a call from a number I didnt know... it had been calling my cell over the weekend.. I answered it and it was my family Dr? She said she had been researching my tick bite and she was concerned and wanted me to come see her asap. I said " good cause I am at emergency right now" ...so I went to go see her and she looked at the bite again and said she had been thinking about me over the weekend and was trying to call me from her personal phone...she wants me to start the treatment for lyme disease...so I have started the medication and will be on it for 2 weeks...I had my blood test for lyme disease this morning...I dont know how long it takes.. but if it comes back positive.. at least I have an early detection and will already be on the first line of anti biotics for it. I hope we got it early enough. But I just wanted to update this thread because you all were kind enough to answer me, I just wanted to share with you what has happened since my initial post. I now believe that the tick bit me on Saturday night at the lake and caused my reaction... I believe the tick had been attached and feeding on me til Tuesday when I found it engorged...So if it comes back that I have lyme disease at least I know where and when i contracted it and I would bet money that the bite will prove to be what triggered the reaction.... Once I have seen an allergist I will update this thread either way....I hope this thread can help someone else out there who may have experienced something similar. My reaction was very scarey...and now adding possible lyme disease to the mix isnt fun.

Thanks for the update.

I am glad you found the tick and so glad that your doctor called you back after you saw her.

It has been 18 years since I was last treated for Lymes, but from what I remember (without looking it up), don't be surprised if you body shows no antibodies to Lymes. It may be too early for an out-of-range result, and after antibiotics tests are not always positive. Someone correct me if I am wrong and if my knowledge is outdated.

The most important diagnostic tool is the bulls eye lesion. I would suggest, for your records, that you take a couple of pictures of your lesion along side a ruler to show its size.

I have pictures of the last one I had. I did not get help until I mailed them to the Texas Health Department.

Best of luck!

P.S. It sounds to me that you also had an allergic reaction to that tick.

 

Hi Shannon,

I just now am reading your post, and I was gong to suggest that it sounded like you may have been bitten by something neurotoxic.  (Lyme, its co-infections, and spider poisons produce neurotoxins).  Having to pull the tick off and having the bull's eye rash are key!  Tests for Lyme are antibody tests and are unreliable 60% of the time, according to Pamela Weintraub's book.  You should get tested for the co-infections, including mycoplasma, as well.  IgeneX lab produces more comprehensive and accurate results than the mainstream labs doctors like to use.  A couple of weeks worth of antibiotics may or may not clear your symptoms, and if you do have a co-infection, an anti-protozoan may also be necessary.  I recommend you see a Lyme Literate Doctor.  If you post on the Lyme forum here, you should be able to get some more information.  I have had Lyme, Babesiosis, and Mycoplasma Pnemoniae for 16 years.  My tick bite occurred at age 14, but no one tested for it until last year.

Best wishes--we're here to help!

Ps... A sulfa drug allergy is not the same thing as a sulfite preservative allergy. Not many doctors understand sulfite allergy/sensitivity. Email me (click my name at the left) if you want more info about sulfites, or do a search here on HealingWell - there are many posts about sulfites.

 

Shannon,

Post your symptoms on the Lyme forum.  Many people do not react well to Doxy and can be helpful there.  Two weeks is likely not long enough to knock out Lyme, plus you still need the neurotoxins (waste products of the spirochetes) addressed.

As for candida, you need to find a loosener (biofilm detox) like boluoke or bromelain, and rotate 3-4 antifungals (like garlic, goldenseal, pau d'arco, caprylic acid) so the candida doesn't develop immunity (it will develop immunity if exposed to the same antifungal for 21 consecutive days).  While on the antifungals, do the candida diet to weaken it.  Diet alone won't kill it.  After 3-4 weeks of this, start on a good pro-biotic to recolonize the walls of the gut with good bacteria.  If you start on the probiotic before the candida is gone, it cannot populate the gut walls because the candida is in the way.  Slowly begin adding in foods over several weeks' time--small amounts of fruits, then grains, then dairy, and eventually back to normal.