Allergies: Macadamia nut & Black wasp

A) I am allergic to Macadamia nuts. I have eaten them twice and had bad reactions both times. Once when I was 18 (I ate three nuts) and another time when I was 30 (one bite of a cookie) upon eating them my throat felt itchy and as they digested I could feel an itchy almost explosive reaction as they went down. I forced myself to vomit and was left with an acidic nauscuous feeling in my stomach.
My Questions:
1) why am I only allergic to this nut? I love peanuts, almonds all other nuts and have never had a reaction.
2) Is this hereditary? is my daughter (4yr old) at risk and is there some way of testing her?
3) Is there some medicine or antidote I could carry in case of emergency?

B) 1)I am also allergic to a small black wasp (been stung twice in Costa Rica) I've been stung by many types of wasp (the big ones, red, yello, the striped ones), I only get a reaction (horrible quarter-sized itchy hives all over my body starting on the arms and groin and spreading) from the small black wasps that make the round nests that hang vertically from trees/ roofs, etc.
2) Should I carry an epi-pen? Or benadryl? Or something else? In case of an emergency: If I use the epi-pen I only have 15-20 min, (from what I read on the forum). should I take a benadryl as well as using the pen? I spend a lot of time in remote areas where I won't be near any hospitals and I need to be prepared.
3) Is this hereditary?
4) could these two allergies be realated?

THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR HELP.

First thing -- Of course you should be getting these answers from your allergist.

After that, I have to say that your allergist might also be able to inform you of some really interesting stuff aside from simply helping you with the imperatives. For example, I am allergic to nearly all fruit. This wasn't always so bad for me but especially lately my whole mouth and throat get itchy from eating it.

Unless it's cooked (like in a pie!)

My allergist explained that the skins of many fruits have a protein that's similar to some other hay fever things I'm allergic to. When it's cooked the proteins get broken down and that's why I can eat it. She explained that I do not need to demand pies from my wife to get my fruit fix, but I haven't really seen the need to bore my family with all those details. No, seriously, she knows, and I can make a pie sometimes too.

My allergist also explained that the itching I described is a "contact allergy" and not in the same ballpark as a deadly food allergy reaction. The other kind results in swelling and a very different feeling overall. Please don't take this necessarily as your situation, though, and please heed the warnings you described that suggest you should have an allergist check it out.

Lately I've discovered that with all this organic fruit available I can now usually eat grapes & bananas again. If it's grown 'organically' then something in the different procedures or fruit strains seems to leave me more able to eat fruit again.

Therefore, you might also suspect not just the macadamia nut but the way it's grown and the factory processing after harvest. There might be something similar in the wasp sting that's also in the processing, growing procedure, or pesticides of the macadamia nuts.

Thanks for the insight Peter.

I can tell you that people who are allergic to "Nuts" are not necessarily allergic to Peanuts. Peanuts are actually part of the Pea family and not part of the nut family. It also works the other way. Many allergic to Peanuts have no problems eating nuts. I worked with just such a person.

Now having said the above, it is not unusual to be allergic to just one or a couple of items. Just dairy, Nuts, Bee Stings, Dust, Pollen, Cats, Dogs, etc... My niece is just allergic to Glutin. Be thankful, it could be a lot worse.

Bill

Thank you for your time and info Bill.

AnthonyMR said:

A) I am allergic to Macadamia nuts. I have eaten them twice and had bad reactions both times. Once when I was 18 (I ate three nuts) and another time when I was 30 (one bite of a cookie) upon eating them my throat felt itchy and as they digested I could feel an itchy almost explosive reaction as they went down. I forced myself to vomit and was left with an acidic nauscuous feeling in my stomach.
My Questions:
1) why am I only allergic to this nut? I love peanuts, almonds all other nuts and have never had a reaction.
2) Is this hereditary? is my daughter (4yr old) at risk and is there some way of testing her?
3) Is there some medicine or antidote I could carry in case of emergency?

B) 1)I am also allergic to a small black wasp (been stung twice in Costa Rica) I've been stung by many types of wasp (the big ones, red, yello, the striped ones), I only get a reaction (horrible quarter-sized itchy hives all over my body starting on the arms and groin and spreading) from the small black wasps that make the round nests that hang vertically from trees/ roofs, etc.
2) Should I carry an epi-pen? Or benadryl? Or something else? In case of an emergency: If I use the epi-pen I only have 15-20 min, (from what I read on the forum). should I take a benadryl as well as using the pen? I spend a lot of time in remote areas where I won't be near any hospitals and I need to be prepared.
3) Is this hereditary?
4) could these two allergies be realated?

THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR HELP.

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:welcome: Anthony!

First, I'll echo binky's comment about getting advice from a medical doctor.

That said, and having my own share of allergies:
1- Yes, having an allergic parent increases the chances of kids having allergies.

2- Different types of allergic reactions can be related (in the sense that allergies are product of an oversentitive immune system).

3- I've met several people with severe allergies to insect bites. They carry epi-pens and Benadryl. The instruction I've gotten from them is to apply the epi and dissolve a Benadryl pill under their tongue. I haven't checked with a doctor about this, but it's what I've been told by two different people.

4- Allergies can develop over time. I didn't use to be allergic to insect stings or food. At my older age, if I get stung by those small yellow wasps, my hand/arm/whatever gets stung will swell up. Likewise, I did't use to have food allergies until a couple of years ago. Now I can't eat bivalves or arthropods. Actually, I just to rush to the pharmacy the other night because the sushi I ate was *in contact* with some shrimp garnish.

5- Where in Central America are you? I'm in Costa Rica. :wave:

My bro is highly allergic to walnuts and almonds. One morning he headed off to the hardware store but took a bit of an packed donut on his way out the door next time his wife heard from him it was the doctor calling from the emergency room. Apparently some nut residue has found its way into the donuts and it started closing up his respiratory system. He now carries and epi-pen or two in his vehicle and in his edc kit. Sounds like the others answered your questions but to the one about the epi-pen my answer is a resounding "of course." I carry benadryl my even though I'm only allergic to pollen...as far as I know. It's a cheap and size efficient insurance policy for someone like you.

Patriot said:

Sounds like the others answered your questions but to the one about the epi-pen my answer is a resounding "of course." I carry benadryl my even though I'm only allergic to pollen...as far as I know. It's a cheap and size efficient insurance policy for someone like you.

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Pat reminded me: I don't carry an epipen, but I do try to have Benadryl handy.

Thanks for the opinions, experience and wisdom. I don't have access to an "allergist" so all this info is being filtered through so I can make a sound judgment of taking a course of action and becoming more knowledgeable on the topic. I have already learned a lot.
I live in Nicaragua. My experience with the doctors here in Central America is that they are quick to make opinions without any concrete data. (They routinely prescribe Acetometephin for ANYTHING then "next" (in line) so it is tough to trust their opinion (especially about an ailment that isn't present.)

AnthonyMR said:

I live in Nicaragua. My experience with the doctors here in Central America is that they are quick to make opinions without any concrete data.

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You should head down to CR for comparison. You can get first-world medical treatment here.

Good luck managing your allergic reactions!

I think we need to make a few important distinctions here. First, some of the reactions described by posters in this thread are allergies, and some are not. An allergy is a reaction of the one's immune system. One poster mentioned an "allergy" to gluten. While this is possible, it is more likely the problem with the poster's sister is an intolerance to gluten, which is not an allergy. The symptoms might be similar to an allergy, but an intolerance to gluten is often caused by a disease called "sprue," or celiac disease. This disease is a reaction of the cells lining the upper intestine to gluten- they react to gluten by becoming deformed, and they don't absorb nutrients as they should.

Second, reactions to specific foods can be caused by "intolerances," as opposed to allergies. Again, the symptoms can be similar, but the causes are different. Noone knows for sure what causes intolerances- they are not caused by any perceptible immune system reaction, as are allergies. In the future, we might develop tests that can indicate the causes of intolerances- we might end up concluding that there are indeed certain specific types of reactions going on in the body, maybe on a microcellular level, that produce intolerances, much like the causes of allergies.

Third, it is important to remember that allergy tests are notoriously inaccurate. "Scratch" testing of the skin is especially inaccurate, so it is often difficult to determine for sure which foods we are allergic to and which foods we are are not allergic to. It is common for people who test positive to one food to also test postive to other foods of the same type, e.g., several types of legumes, several types of peppers, etc. For many of us, the important bottom line is simply that we must avoid certain foods, even though we will probably never know for sure if our reactions to such foods comes from an allergy to the food or an intolerance. For the purpose of staying symptom free and avoiding disruptions and other problems in our lives, it really doesn't matter.