Think my 10 year old (NKFA) had a reaction today but not sure to what

[SwayGirl]

My 10 yo son was eating Quaker instant oatmeal, which he has had before on occasion. After a few bites he wasn't eating (having specifically asked me to make it for him) and when I prompted him to finish eating before it got cold, he took another small bite and made a face, rubbed his throat, and said "It makes my throat feel funny. It feels...scratchy." I told him not to worry about finishing it of course. I gave him Benedryl chewable and Zyrtec. The Benedryl helped right away, it seemed. I didn't think all that much about it but for the rest of the day he wasn't himself. Sort of foggy and sleepy, upset tummy several hours later, and finally a bit of tummy upset and/or diarrhea about 6 or 7 hours later, after which he said he felt better (although was rather low energy still). Thoughts? Does this sound like an allergic reaction? I know I certainly have that foggy/groggy thing for a long time after even a mild reaction.

He doesn't have any known food allergies, but he does have asthma. I recently took him to see an allergist for the first time, because although his asthma is very mild I wanted to see if we could pin down a seasonal cause and perhaps cut back on his steroid inhaler if he didn't need it year round. During the course of that visit the allergist did skin prick testing on milk, wheat, soy, and egg, in addition to indoor/outdoor triggers.

On the form with the test results, egg and wheat are noted as "+/-," soy and milk are noted "0."  The doctor mainly focused on cat and dust mite allergies as his asthma triggers, and we didn't discuss food results. Although when the dr came in and took a look at his back with all the pricks, he said, "Oh, poor thing, he is one allergic kid!" Can anyone clue me in on what these notation means? I'm not sure if these are mild positives or not. Unfortunately the dr is out of the office till after the 4th of July, so I can't ask him. I needed to schedule a follow-up apt anyway and will be sure to do so ASAP, but obviously it will be a couple of weeks.

The oatmeal was "cinnamon and spice" flavor. Ingredient list doesn't really have anything obvious that jumps out at me. I did add milk to it after cooking, but he drinks milk every single day without incident, so that seems unlikely. But, as I well know, things change!

Ingredients: Whole grain rolled oats, sugar, salt, cinnamon and other spices, calcium carbonate, guar gum, caramel color, niacinamide, reduced iron, vitamin a palmitate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, thiamin mononitrate, folic acid

For what it's worth, after I was diagnosed with FA last year, I realized, thinking back, that he might have had a food allergy as a young child but perhaps has outgrown it. It just wasn't on my radar at all then, but when researching for myself I would often come across mention of young children, having no way to express how foods affected them, saying that a food they were allergic to was "spicy." This really rang a bell with me because my son, for years, would say something was "spicy" that just was in no way at all what anyone would consider spicy. It particularly came up with regard to pasta with tomato sauce (canned tomatoes in winter, fresh in summer) that had been his favorite until about 21/2 or 3, when he suddenly refused to eat it and would basically have a tantrum at the mere thought of it being served. Also would routinely get upset if a stray cherry tomato in a salad would end up on his plate, and he would insist I remove it--forget about just eating around it! Just within the last year or two has he started eating that pasta with tomato sauce again, and a few months ago he announced that tomatoes were "ok now" as he ate them in a salad. Now, of course, he'd never said they weren't "ok," we just never gave him any because we thought he didn't like them.

Any thoughts or opinions on what this might be are much appreciated. It wasn't a particularly alarming situation, but I'm certainly curious what the very knowledgeable folks here think about it.

Thanks!
Swaygirl
Allergic to almonds, walnuts, & strawberries, plus ragweed, grass, & molds

[LinksEtc]

I don't have answers to offer you, but I'd probably just wait for the allergist to get back and then ask him ... hold off on giving your ds any suspect foods until then.  It sounds like you are familiar with food allergy symptoms ... hopefully you have a food allergy action plan for yourself.

[PurpleCat]

I do not know what the +/- means and echo the suggestion of getting info from the allergist.

I will say my kids came home from school with a weird tummy bug that was short lived and that reminded DD of a gi reaction or like eating bad food.  DD was worried but we knew what she ate and then her brother started and she was relieved.  3 of her friends had it too and wondered if it was bad food.  Then other moms started talking......sigh.....

DS2 brought the cold with 102 fever home with him.

What a way to start summer vacation!

Any chance there is a bug around you?

[CMdeux]

Do know that benadryl will often help a GI problem no matter WHAT the origins.

[rebekahc]

A long time ago, DS had some SPT results that were classified +/- .  To our doc, that meant equivocal - not fully negative, but not as large as the histamine control, so not really positive either. 

[lakeswimr]

Was he fine after that?  When I have a sore throat food doesn't feel good and if he had a bug it could have caused the other things.  Or it could be a new FA.  Hope you figure it out soon.