allergic reaction or anxiety? or both?

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StridAst:
So I'm 40 and I've been diagnosed with food allergies for almost a year now. after obvious reactions to both peanut and chickpeas. Hives from armpits to toes for 6-10 days for any peanut contact, however minor, and humus closed my esophagus off so tight I couldn't swallow, even water to wash it down. Vomiting eventually cleared the food impaction after 10 min followed by mental confusion and feeling very tired. (Was convinced I hadn't vomited despite the mess) I do carry an epipen now. Other allergens I tested positive for are every single other legume they have tested me on (soy included) sunflower, beef, onion, and garlic along with numerous fruits that might be oral allergy syndrome. So now that we have established that there are plentiful with no shortage of triggers, we get to the part that's perplexing me.

I have not been certain of reactions to soy. I have an IGE test that says it's probable. When I cut it out of my diet I had a huge reduction in anxiety attack frequency. But they still happen. Both times I've had an anxiety attack since, I've googled the chemical names on things I had eaten and found they were possible unlabeled soy products. (Magnesium Stearate and Stearic Acid specifically)

Symptoms. The most recent one was last night. Sudden panic about something that didn't really warrent any real panic followed by severe gastrointestinal distress. Had less then 5 min to find a toilet. Hit flashes cold sweats, mental confusion, drowsiness. This hit last night around 7 pm. Horrible sleep last night. It's now 7pm again so 24 hours Worst of the feelings of anxiety have faded. Still no appetite and still diarrhea. I still feel off though the mental confusion is much less. In about 5 min I went from nothing, to full on worst stomach flu ever symptoms.

Now I drank a limeaid last night. (calypso brand) I had an anxiety attack like this a couple years ago while drinking one. It has nothing that might have soy in it except *maybe* citric acid. (Read conflicting info on if that's a soy product.)
Time from ingesting the drink to onset of the panic attack was 20-30 min. Time after taking some generic Tylenol that contains the stearic acid was around 6 hours..... Way long for an allergic reaction.

Last bit of info. My mom is anaphylactic to halibut. However her blood pressure crashed 10 hours or so after eating it the last time she ate fish. So there's both a family history for me (both sides) of food allergies, and for delayed reaction.

Am I being too paranoid in thinking it might be allergies and not a run of the mill anxiety attack? Or should I use an epipen next time and find out? Expensive as they are?

Tl:DR. How do you tell the difference between anaphylaxis and severe anxiety?

StridAst:
Just to add, I also have asthma, EOE, and get allergic conjunctivitis if I so much as walk into a room with a cat. With plenty of environmental allergens. Definitely atopic here, so it's my natural inclinationt at this point to assume allergy.

Macabre:
I really can't speak to stearic acid, but the symptoms you're describing wet sleepiness, spaciness and diarrhea--I get those.

Did your doctor give you an emergency action plan?

StridAst:
Mostly my allergist just prescribed me the epipens, prilosec + a steroid inhaler to swallow for the EoE and told me to use the epipen if I had a severe reaction. He seemed to be mostly focused on sending people through to the shot clinic for the environmentals. *Shrug* he is board certified and all that, but when I asked him on the third visit if allergies could cause anything like an anxiety attack he just told me probably not. I'm not convinced he's worth seeing a 4th time.

Janelle205:
If seeing someone else is an option, I would look for someone that specializes in food allergy - a lot of allergists tend to treat more from the environmental allergy/pulmonology side. If you share where you are around, some members might be able to recommend someone close to you. I had to fire an 'iffy' allergist before I got the current one that I loved - the past allergist was giving me asthma advice that I am reasonably certain would have killed me.

That said, anxiety can be a tricky thing in terms of food allergy and the like. I don't typically have a problem with allergies and anxiety, but I do with asthma - sometimes I wonder if my chest is tight because my asthma is acting up or I am just anxious.