WTF... He's allergic to What !!!!

Thought there was a This happened to me section but couldn't find it. Anyway --

WTF. He’s what?
 I just got my work / hobby space (mostly for fishing) in the garage all tricked out. Got this beauty of a custom rod stand and organized a mountain of fishing lures and accessories. Was even contemplating buying another kayak.

Then a couple weeks ago we went to Costco. We did our shopping and tasted the many food samples. Suddenly my 16 month old son started really scratching himself and his face got all blotchy.  Was it the recycled rubber entry mat we bought and that he was touching?  Was it something in the food samples? Those samples are small to start with and the wife only gave him a bit of some including some Salmon and Tilapia. I went to the restroom to wash off his face and hands. A man in there with his five year old son said,’ that looks like a fish allergy.”   I’m thinking, geez, I hope not, maybe it’s a chemical or spice in the processed food.
The next day we had the last of the cod I caught last year,. Pan fried with a little salt & pepper. Within minutes he was itching like crazy. His face broke out and it spread down his chest and a bit on his back. We took my son, Will, to Urgent Care and they said it looked like an allergic reaction.

Today we went to an allergist / MD. The drew a grid on his back and poked him with a whole bunch of potential food allergins. The fish and shellfish areas lit up. The biggest reactions were from white fish like Cod, Halibut and Catfish. The doctor even seemed surprised that he had a reaction  to Flounder. I guess that is one of the least allergenic fishes
Fortunately Salmon and mackerel did not cause a reaction.  Maybe someday we can feed him those again.  He also had milder reactions to olives and pepper. We feed him canned black olives and there has been pepper in his food, but we have not seen him reacting to those.
We had been slowly adding different foods to his diet.  He’ll eat just about anything. We have been giving him fish for months with no problems. He has had Salmon I caught in Alaska, Salmon fish sticks from as it turns out – China. He has had Cod from fish & chips, & fish sticks from China and imitation crab which is made from Pollock.  He has had local cod from our areas. None of these, as recently as a week before his allergic reactions, had caused any problems. Then BAMM, he is allergic to fish. Geez Lord, You’ve got a fisherman dad and a Japanese American mother, couldn’t you make him allergic to something else? Something off the wall like Grapefruit? We’d be cool with Shrimp or other shellfish. Why did his biggest reaction have to be from Cod? ARRRGHH !!!!
I was really looking forward to teaching him how to fish. At this point we don’t know if he will react if he just touches fish. The doctor said that it was likely he would react to contact with fish. It’s a bit depressing, but we are glad it’s not worse, as in peanut or wheat allergies.

So if you see my son at an event like Albion and the little bugger is about to pounce on a plate containing fish (Warning, he can go from innocent to pilfering your plate, faster than a Cobra can strike) just yank his ass away..

Kirk

Damn bro, I'm really sorry to hear that. Hopefully he will be able to touch fish, so you guys can at least fish together.

wow kirk, well at least it isnt nuts or flour, looks like you will be teaching him the way of catch and release. hope along the way he will out grow this allergy, cameron

Sorry to hear this...  Mine was sudden onset too... I can touch fish but have to rinse my hands afterward or they start to swell up. I'm glad he was ok. Sometimes they will grow out of the allergy so don't panic yet. Get him tested every few years. My reaction to fish first set in at 19yrs old. (hospital trip) Has gotten less severe and I hope to be able to eat fish again someday... watch for other reactions...

Oh no!!!!!!!!

 

Man...that really sucks, but glad it is not something more serious....I will make sure to keep him away from the fish at future events.

Sincerely,

Jim

ps...he can still fish with gloves on though right?!? 

I totally here ya.  My oldest (5 years now) has food allergies, but I can say that as he gets older they become less and less pronounced.  Same scenario, we would give him dairy and within minutes he would break into a rash, itch, and swell.  His allergy panel came back with corn, dairy, eggs, peanuts, tons of grasses, dogs...all kinds of stuff.  We adjusted his diet and as he's gotten older the only one we are super careful of now is peanuts.  We have him retested every year, and every year the levels drop to where he can now eat pretty much anything...just no peanut butter, ever.  We carry an epi-pen, just in case.  Along with food allergies often comes eczema, and we have to constantly watch for 'hot-spots' that come up and slather him up with aquaphor before they break out.

But he's a happy, healthy, smart-ass 5 year old, just like any other!

Yep, allergies are mysterious things that can come and go.  My buddy never had allergies until he was 32, then boom, every spring since he is sneezing up a storm.  My niece developed fruit allergies when she was about 7.  Like the others said, just get him tested every so often, and hopefully he can handle the fish at least, and that the food allergy will subside in time. 

My nephew could not touch seafood when he was young but now he outgrew the allergy.  He should be ok in a couple of years when he is strong enough to land the big ones

that sucks.   like others have said, many childhood allergies get better over time.

my oldest son Josh is allergic to lobster.  If you have to be allergic to anything, thats the one!

My older son, who's now 18, is allergic to peanuts and sesame seeds. His first reaction was at about 6 months old, when we fed him some peanut rice crackers. He suddenly got blotches all over his face and started coughing. I was just ready to make a run for the ER, when it started subsiding as quickly as it had started. We then had all of the allergy tests, and peanuts showed up as being off the charts. We carried an epipen (epinephrine injection) everywhere for many years.

The sesame thing seemed to come much later---maybe age 5 or 6. His mom is Chinese and he loves Japanese food, so sesame is almost harder for him to avoid than peanuts. Fortunately (I guess...), sesame seemed to just cause him to barf, but in larger quantities, it might have been as bad as peanuts.

Anyways, it seems that his allergies are now much less severe than they used to be. He has accidentally eaten peanuts and sesame (not large quantities) several times over the past few year. In the worst cases, he puked, but nothing close to a life-threatening reaction. Interestingly, it seems that he knows when he eats something with peanuts, because it gives him a very bad taste in his mouth (he describes it as sort of a burning sensation).

These kind of allergies are no fun to deal with, but it's possible to work around them.

Thanks all, for your input and encouragement. The doctor said, that fish allergy don't resolve themselves/ improve as much as other allergies. However we hope they do. Only time will tell.

Kirk

We carry an epi-pen, just in case.

Good idea to keep one or two around just in case of a slip up.