What Are the Symptoms of Nut Allergies?

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My child began to develop a problem with nuts whenever he was very young. I recognized the fact that whenever he ate certain foods, he seemed to be having a problem that was displaying itself in a number of different ways. It took me a little while to pin it down but it actually ended up being a nut allergy that he was dealing with. It was not only because of the nuts that were in the food that he was eating at times, it was also because of cross contamination which made it a lot more difficult to pin down.

If you are dealing with the possibility of a nut allergy, there are several different symptoms that may occur as a result. It is interesting why these symptoms tend to occur and you would probably be surprised to find out that it is not the nuts that is causing the symptoms, it is your own body. There are certain proteins that are in nuts which, if we have a nut allergy, is going to be seen by our body as being something very dangerous. In response to these proteins, our body will release a massive amount of histamine in order to combat it. We are not having a reaction to the nuts that we are eating, we are having a reaction to the histamine that our body is releasing.

Some of the more mild symptoms of nut allergy include slight respiratory distress, G.I. tract distress, skin problems and cardiovascular problems. Although many of these are not considered to be something that should be shrugged off, having a slight rash as a result of a nut allergy is not going to be life-threatening. There is, however, a danger that is lurking underneath the surface which should never be ignored.

If you are dealing with a nut allergy, you never know how your body is going to react. The most severe form of allergic reaction is known as anaphylaxis. This is very common for people that have nut allergies and many of them even carry an epinephrine autoinjector should such a problem occur. This is a reaction in which our airways can swell shut and our blood pressure can drop quickly. That is why it is important for you to talk to your doctor about any nut allergy symptoms that you may be experiencing, whether they are severe or mild.

Do You Have a Nut Allergy or a Nut Intolerance?

As parents, we are often told that we need to watch what our children are eating in order to find out if they are having a reaction to it or not. If we do notice that our children are having a reaction to food, we must speak to their doctor about it as quickly as possible in order to find out what can be done.

Unfortunately, there are times whenever nothing can be done, such as whenever we have a nut allergy. The only thing that we can do is to make sure that our children are avoiding them altogether and to be prepared, just in case a reaction should happen.

You might be surprised to find out that it is possible for you to have a reaction to nuts and peanuts without actually having an allergy. The difference is that if you only have a nut intolerance, your symptoms are going to be light and are probably only going to include such things as diarrhea or perhaps heartburn.

There will never come a time whenever your nut intolerance is going to become a life-threatening situation that you may have to deal with. Although it is uncomfortable, you can continue to eat nuts without a problem.

The same is not true of individuals that have a nut allergy. For them, ingesting a small portion of nuts can cause a reaction within them that can take their life rather quickly. Although most reactions as far as nut allergies are concerned are mild, you never know when an individual is going to have a reaction that is severe. That is the main reason why it is important to find out if we are actually dealing with a nut allergy or if it is a simple matter of being intolerant to that type of food.

If we find out that we are actually dealing with a nut allergy, we need to do everything within our power in order to avoid eating nuts. This not only includes eating them directly but it also includes finding out if where our food is prepared might also include preparation of food that contains nuts.

This type of cross contamination can be just as damaging to our health as eating them directly. Make sure that you are informed about all of these things and always be watching for a way to identify these problems in advance.

Severe Nut Allergies

Most people that have nut allergies tend to experience mild reactions to them. There may be times, however, when an individual has such severe nut allergies that it becomes a life-threatening situation. I can remember being on an airplane one time whenever they announced that no nuts would be served on the flight.

They also said that any individuals who happen to carry any onto the plane should keep them in a sealed container and not open them. Believe it or not, just having that little bit of nut dust in the air would have been enough to kill these individuals. That is how serious a severe nut allergy can be.

You might be surprised to find out that a nut allergy is not actually a reaction that you are having to the nuts that you are eating. It is actually a problem in which our body is unable to recognize the fact that the protein within the nuts is not a bad thing. It attacks it as if it were a foreign toxin and in order to fight it away, it produces antibodies within our system along with dumping a lot of histamine in as well.

The symptoms that we are experiencing come about as a result of this histamine being released into our system. It is not the nuts that are making us feel poorly, it is our own body.

Even if you have only had a mild reaction to nuts in the past, don't let this fool you. Every time you ingest nuts, you are going to have a different type of reaction than what you had before. It may appear the same on many occasions but it is actually different in some subtle ways. There may come a time, however, whenever you have a more severe reaction or perhaps even anaphylaxis, a condition that can kill you.

Don't think that you can get away with eating these because you have not had a problem with it in the past. If you're dealing with a nut allergy, it is a severe nut allergy, regardless of how you reacted earlier.

If you tend to have extremely severe nut allergies on a regular basis, ask your doctor to prescribe an injectable medication for you. You should also make sure that you are carrying antihistamine around incase you have a reaction. These two things can save your life so never be without them.

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