Potential Egg Allergy - in need of clarity

[bamarine]

Hi all,
     I'm so glad to have found this forum and have a dire question. 

My belief is that I'm allergic to eggs and have been 3 days post reaction, and am still running into bouts of:
shortness of breathe (not life threatening)
headaches
sleep disturbances (slight)
anxiousness
GI disturbances
difficulty focusing/brain fogginess - you know what i mean:)

-the above symptoms improve with 1/2 benadryl ~12.5mg.  I took a full pill 3 days ago 2-3 times after the reaction.

Is this normal?
How long does it take to fully recover, considering I avoid the allergen? -or should I be looking for another culprit.

How long until my immune system improves? 

Thank you.
Brian

[eragon]

if you have difficulty breathing than you need something stronger than a mere antihistamine, a visit to a doctor is more in order here.
seek medical advice.

[bamarine]

I've been to the doctors and have spent over $30k trying to locate something seemingly simple. 
This isn't life threatening, this is life inhibiting.  I'll edit my post to say "shortness of breath". 


My goal is not to receive medical advice because yeah, duh, I should go see a doctor, but a month ago I lost my access to doctors and I probably won't get that back for some time.

[momma2boys]

Are you sure you aren't ingesting eggs due to cross contamination in something else? I wouldn't think you would be still reacting from something you are days ago, but I could be wrong.

[twinturbo]

Can you clarify your position and request?

We all have a specific medical condition called IgE-mediated allergies that manifest in reactions with acute, objective symptoms typically within 20-30 minutes of ingestion. We are all at risk for or have a clear history of anaphylactic reactions which require rescue meds in the form of injectable epinephrine while we await EMS.

We can't 'do' anything to resolve the mechanism responsible for allergic disease (including asthma) but some allergens individually are susceptible to heat treatment rendering the 3-dimensional composite protein partially denatured. Hen's eggs are one of the allergens whose proteins may be heat treated to make them less allergenic depending on which protein fractions the individual is more susceptible to.

In other words some people can eat some small amount of egg baked into a cake for example but not tolerate the high amount of albumin in an angel food cake or the closer to raw forms like mayonnaise.

I can't think of any non-medical advice we'd have. Am I mistaken that you are asking if a food allergy is transitory and how long until it is gone?

[bamarine]

let me make this very clear and easy. 

1. I believe I have an egg allergy
2. I came to this forum for help
3. I am still taking benadryl 3 days after a suspected cross contamination
    - each time I take it, i feel much much better.
4. My question is to how long it takes for me to recover from an Immune reaction/Allergic reaction to eggs? 
5. My second question is to whether the above symptoms are normal and possible while recovering? 

[bamarine]

Are you sure you aren't ingesting eggs due to cross contamination in something else? I wouldn't think you would be still reacting from something you are days ago, but I could be wrong.

Always possible.  I'll look into this as this is definitely a variable and hard to determine.

[twinturbo]

In the wake of a systemic and/or anaphylactic IgE-mediated allergic reaction the body can continue to have protracted symptoms depending on how bad the reaction was (possibly) and how much allergen was ingested (possibly) and how potent the form of the allergen (we already covered the allergenicity of hen's eggs). It can seem like many other things are causing allergic reactions.

Sleep disturbance - not in of itself.
GI - nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Respiratory - shortness of breath, tightness of throat, feeling of 'lump' in throat, tingling of lips/mouth, swelling, yes this is life threatening
Hives - visible outer or otherwise
Fogginess - not unless related to blood pressure dump from shock (dunno, could have happened)
Headaches - not really it's not a part of the package usually
Anxiousness - could manifest due to emotional state but not a mood induced unto itself

Recovery from a single instance of systemic reaction could be 4-6 hours or a week depending on how soon and how much treatment was sought or received. Most would resolve within 4-6 hours unless the reaction presented biphasic, but if it was biphasic you probably would not be here alive to type at your keyboard. So, some GI quakes, anxiousness and some lingering skin reactivity for a while possibly.

The rest of what everyone already mentioned still holds true. None of that changes.

http://theallergistmom.com/2013/02/12/the-science-of-anaphylaxis-an-allergic-storm/

The rest of what you'd need to go with it like Benadryl vs epinephrine and how they work or when to use them should all be in the Main forum. One thing you might have to consider is the use of prednisone. It's not fun but it's often prescribed post-reaction to help with the symptoms and help prevent the degranulation of the pockets on cells that dump all the histamines, etc. If you've never taken prednisone and need it make sure to go over with doc or pharmacist how to properly taper off at the end.

[rebekahc]

let me make this very clear and easy.

1. I believe I have an egg allergy
2. I came to this forum for help
3. I am still taking benadryl 3 days after a suspected cross contamination
    - each time I take it, i feel much much better.
4. My question is to how long it takes for me to recover from an Immune reaction/Allergic reaction to eggs? 
5. My second question is to whether the above symptoms are normal and possible while recovering?

Wow, way to alienate those you're seeking help from. 

1.  What did you react to that leads you to believe you have an egg allergy?
2.  We can only help those willing to listen, answer questions and take advice.
3.  If you feel better when you take Benadryl, then it seems you are having symptoms which can be helped by Benadryl - there's no way for us to know if that's due to your reaction several days ago or if it's due to continued exposure to an allergen.
4.  See answer 3.
5.  It is not uncommon for mild symptoms (hives, eczema, etc.) to pop up for several days after an anaphylactic reaction.  Shortness of breath is not a mild symptom. When treated by a medical professional, often patients will be given a course of oral steroids to be taken for several days after a reaction to help alleviate the continued mild symptoms and to help their immune response calm back down.

[momma2boys]

Didn't think about prednisone. We usually use it post reaction, so that may be why we don't see symptoms this far out.

[twinturbo]

Yeah but if our good friend Brian hasn't taken pred before it's really important we hammer home the tapering off or he's going to up  creek without one of these .

[bamarine]

let me make this very clear and easy.

1. I believe I have an egg allergy
2. I came to this forum for help
3. I am still taking benadryl 3 days after a suspected cross contamination
    - each time I take it, i feel much much better.
4. My question is to how long it takes for me to recover from an Immune reaction/Allergic reaction to eggs? 
5. My second question is to whether the above symptoms are normal and possible while recovering?

Wow, way to alienate those you're seeking help from. 

1.  What did you react to that leads you to believe you have an egg allergy?
2.  We can only help those willing to listen, answer questions and take advice.
3.  If you feel better when you take Benadryl, then it seems you are having symptoms which can be helped by Benadryl - there's no way for us to know if that's due to your reaction several days ago or if it's due to continued exposure to an allergen.
4.  See answer 3.
5.  It is not uncommon for mild symptoms (hives, eczema, etc.) to pop up for several days after an anaphylactic reaction.  Shortness of breath is not a mild symptom. When treated by a medical professional, often patients will be given a course of oral steroids to be taken for several days after a reaction to help alleviate the continued mild symptoms and to help their immune response calm back down.

Everytime I eat eggs, and only eggs, my body fully shuts down.  I just applied that thought to egg ingredients and my health is vastly improving to normal. 

I am listening and I'm really sorry about the mis-communication - these things happen - my goal was to provide clarity. 

Steroids - hmmmm... I've never thought of that one...so my immune system could theoretically be over reactive right now and need to be settled down. 

[twinturbo]

Trying to think around your insurance issue. Your screen name wouldn't happen to be a Semper Fi marine reference, would it? I was thinking VA hospital or base doctor. The VA always puts my dad in good hands with his allergies and asthma. Could be he's near a good VA hospital where he lives. *shrug*

By the way... asthma or no asthma for you? Don't quantify it or qualify it just you have it or don't. It could raise the ante and not in a good way. It would be helpful for us to know it's an important factor in the equation.

Another med worth mentioning is ranitidine. I forget the brand name, Zantac? Anyhow, it can help with some of the GI issues post-reaction because it too is an antihistamine but it's a H2-blocker, I think. Help me out here guys is that right? Anyhow, I think also it's a proton-pump inhibitor to decrease stomach acid. The bad news there is repeated use is linked to increased severity of something called OAS. For a short endurance to help your body clear a reaction, assuming that's what happened it's IgE-mediated, it shouldn't affect too much to do it once.

[rebekahc]

I was wondering about the marine thing, too.  Be aware, food allergy is a DQ'ing condition...

Yes, to Pepcid or Zantac. Antihistamines like Benadryl primarily affect H1 (H for histamine) while the acid blockers primarily affect H2 and have been found useful in treating severe allergic reactions - after rescue meds, of course.  The last time we were at the ER after epi they gave IV Benadryl, IV Pepcid and IV steroids.  We were just sent home on steroids, though.

If your body completely shuts down when you eat egg, you really need an Epi pen!  Why, after $30K, were your doctors not able to diagnose your egg allergy?  Have you seen an allergist?  Since you don't have insurance, you should at least go to a doc in a box and get a prescription for an Epi pen.

Here's a link to the Anaphylaxis Grading Chart to give you an idea of when epi should be used. An allergist would be able to tell you exactly when you should use epi, but since that may not be possible, I would suggest use epi for Grade 2 symptoms if you've eaten and for Grade 3 and above no matter what.  When using the chart, it's important to remember that each grade includes a variety of symptoms - you don't need to have all the symptoms to be in that level, just one. So, for example, if you had mouth itching and diarrhea you'd be Grade 4.  Brain fog/lethargy/tiredness = change in activity level, so Grade 2 even with no other symptoms.

[lakeswimr]

Welcome.

Do you think it is possible you are having environmental allergies and asthma?  What you are describing sounds more like that than a food allergic reaction.  Do you have inhalers or epi pens?

Breathing trouble, even mild, is a very serious thing.  If it is from a food reaction the proper treatment is to have epinepherine and call 911 and go to the ER for 4+ hours for monitoring. 

When you say your whole body shuts down when you have eggs, what do you mean?  What exactly happens?  How soon after you eat eggs does this happen? 

I'm sorry you lost your access to doctors.  Everyone should have access to good medical care. 

Why did it cost you over $30000?

let me make this very clear and easy. 

1. I believe I have an egg allergy
2. I came to this forum for help
3. I am still taking benadryl 3 days after a suspected cross contamination
    - each time I take it, i feel much much better.
4. My question is to how long it takes for me to recover from an Immune reaction/Allergic reaction to eggs? 
5. My second question is to whether the above symptoms are normal and possible while recovering?