Really glad that she is okay.
So her symptoms resolved... when, exactly?
Because all of DD's aerosol-triggered reactions have resolved upon leaving the area--
not before, no matter how she "calms down" about some perceived level of non-contact risk. Does that make sense?
So we've run this kind of experiment a few times, honestly-- not because I don't think these reactions are dangerous, precisely, but because from a logical and research-backed place, it's just so hard to not chalk them up as psychosomatic. KWIM?
So we went through a period where we pushed back on them significantly when DD was 3-8yo. We'd calm her down, wash her hands, and put her right back. Well, we soon learned that "right back" led
right back to a recurrence of the exact same symptoms, regardless of how "calmed" she was, regardless of how much we all believed that "not contacting" the allergen should be fine-fine-fine.
People eating
right next to her is sometimes fine-- and sometimes not. Sometimes REALLY not fine.
DD had a very similar reaction which she treated with inhalers and benadryl in late Nov/early Dec when a classmate began eating pb from a jar of the stuff in her chemistry lecture course. Was it psychosomatic? Well, I simply cannot know, really. I do believe that it's plausible that it
wasn't, however, which elevates this to the same category as a made-on-shared-lines food that is MOSTLY not contaminated, but sometimes is.
Does that make sense?
I have no idea what to say re: treatment of such symptoms. As you no doubt know, (at least we do, as it reflects our particular experience) mostly they'll resolve on their own within minutes if one leaves the area for fresher air.
On the other hand, it certainly seems clear to me that if exposure to the allergen is causing those symptoms, there is probably in theory some tipping point beyond which a more serious systemic reaction is triggered-- like an avalanche, without additional ongoing exposure being needed to sustain the cascade.
It's just hard to know which is which. We tend to go with "wait a few minutes and see" but we've also been burned by that a few times, I think. Maybe one of these reactions out of... well, I don't really know, but my estimate off the cuff is that about one in twenty or thirty of them goes south in spite of evacuation for a better location. It's too high for comfort, for sure-- but not quite high enough to warrant epinephrine administration during them, since 95% or more of them turn out to be self-resolving without any additional intervention at all. They're also very common if you happen to be in the low end of the sensitivity distribution, and there's quality of life and normalcy at stake here, too.
Not sure any of that helps. Just know that you aren't alone. This kind of thing is SO beastly.