Another new development

Starting this past week, before Lucy got sick, she had a few allergic reactions--hives, coughing, stuffy nose. The first time I noticed it, I thought, "Hmm! There must have been a bug in the bed during Lucy's nap time, because she has bug bites on her back." I am so dense. None of our kids has had hives before (and neither have I), so it wasn't my first inclination. But then, later that night, Lucy awoke crying; half of her face was swollen, and she had hives on her legs and back. Jon ran out and bought some Benadryl while I stayed with Luce on the couch; the Benadryl kicked in within 20-30 minutes, and she was fine. We didn't know what had caused the reaction.

The next day, Lucy got hives within a few minutes of having lunch. I finally was able to connect the dots and figure out what might be causing the reaction: cinnamon.

On the first day, she had helped me make some toasted almonds. When we added the cinnamon, I let her take a whiff (a big one). Her nap wasn't long after, and that's when she had the first hives. Then that evening at dinner and later, she munched on the almonds we had made. (Then she woke up around 11:00 p.m. with hives.) The next day, she had only one or two almonds at lunch, and she had hives soon after. She also had a reaction the next day, when she woke up from nap like this:



The problem is she hadn't had any of the almonds or cinnamon that day. I think I have eliminated almonds (she has had them many times before), her blankets (she has slept with them other times this week with no reaction), and our laundry detergent (I have made no detergent or laundry changes recently, and the stuff I use is fragrance- and dye-free) as culprits, but I'm not positive what the problem is. That makes it a bit worrisome since her symptoms seem to be getting worse each time (I know that's normal for allergies). At least the Benadryl is doing the trick, and I talked to Lissa (whose son has several life-threatening allergies) about Benadryl dosage and other measures to take.

Lucy has an appointment tomorrow at the pediatrician (I'm taking her even if she's still throwing up!) to get a referral to an allergist. I hope they can expedite the process!