Page 19 - The Ultimate Guidebook for Teens with Food Allergies

Do your reactions always have the same symptoms or are they different?
Emily Rose - Most of the time my reactions start with the same symptoms. Usually I notice that I am having a reaction when my mouth feels tight. After that I usually get itchy in my throat and around my ears.
Giulia – No, my reactions almost never have the same symptoms. It really depends on the allergen I accidentally ingested and the severity of my allergy to that particular food. For example, I’m not as allergic to almonds as I would be to hazelnuts. When I accidentally ingested a food containing almonds, when I was younger, I broke out in hives and my skin started to turn red. Only after those symptoms emerged did I start feeling other systems including shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. When I accidentally ingested a hazelnut one time, I did not get any of the usual “symptoms” of an allergic reaction. I started vomiting immediately and found that I had trouble swallowing.
Lindsay - My reactions typically have the same symptoms: an itchy throat and hives around my mouth. What symptom do you find the scariest?
Emily Rose - This has only happened to me a few times. The scariest symptom is when my blood pressure drops. It is one of the strangest feelings. My vision starts to go dark and I feel light-headed. I end up unable to hear aside from a ringing in my ears.
Giulia - I find shortness of breath the most frightening symptom. It feels as if you are drowning. You desperately want to take a deep breath. But your body is preventing you from doing that.
Lindsay - I find having an itchy throat the scariest because I know this is a sign that my airway could close very quickly.
At what age did you start to fully understand how serious your allergies were? How did that make you feel?
Emily Rose - I realized the severity of my allergy when I was about eight. This was when Sabrina’s Law came out in Ontario. At first, I found it strange that I had to carry my auto-injector everywhere with me. My mom used the truth to explain why. If I ate peanuts, I could have a life-threatening reaction. When I was eight, my parents also started to teach me how to handle my allergy independently. At first, I was very scared. I think that helped me in some ways. I was kept ‘on my toes’ and never took risks.
Giulia - I think I realized the severity of my allergies from a really young age. My mom always made sure to emphasize the importance of keeping my auto-injector with me at all times and the importance of never ever eating anyone else’s food. I wouldn’t say she instilled fear in me in terms of making sure I was aware of the severity of my allergies. But it definitely made me more mature than the other kids