First Acute Allergic Reaction
Have you or your child just experienced their first allergic reaction? 
It was likely frightening, if not at least uncomfortable and puzzling. Hopefully it was resolved easily. This page is intended to give you my understanding of how this reaction might have happened, and hopefully, give you the tools to make it less likely to happen again.
Allergic Reactions are always of one of two kinds:
- from something injected into the body
- from a food or medicine which was eaten, breathed in, or applied to the skin
Reactions to injections
Is the reaction to something you were injected with; possibly an immunization or an insect sting? This reaction might have caused swelling of the skin locally, or possibly of the airway. Any difficulty of this kind requires medical intervention. Advice will include suggestions to avoid the possibility of future exposure (i.e. insect sting) and to carry injectable adrenalin. Similarly, severe food reactions may require avoidance and the use of emergency adrenalin.
Other causes of allergic reactions
Breathing in an allergen can cause acute respiratory distress in the worst case, or itching, sneezing or wheezing in less acute situations. If there is no history of insect exposure, immunization, or the use of a skin cream or other substance inhaled, or applied to the skin, it must be to something you or your child ingested.
One of the common ways an acute reaction shows up is by the appearance of hives. 
Hives (illustrated here) is an acute skin reaction which may be intensely red and itchy and appear and disappear over the course of a few hours. The reaction my be more intense and cause swelling around the lips and/or eyes, or worse, swelling of the airways; a situation which requires acute medical intervention.
The history of these cases often reveals having taken an antibiotic days, or even in some cases, weeks prior to the emergence of the allergic reaction. It may be that the allergic reaction in this case is to the antibiotic itself. This is not necessarily true however. It can be that the antibiotic has directly caused the reaction but it can also be that the taking of the antibiotic has lead to a condition in which the intestine has become damaged. In this case, the reaction can have been to a food. Usually it is very difficult to determine the culprit.
In other cases, there is no apparent direct link to the use of an antibiotic and the reaction appears to come "out of the blue".
What follows is my simplified explanation of how this type of reaction might have happened and how food allergies develop and how to minimize the risk of them recurring.
If you just want to know what to do, jump directly to action steps.
Food Allergies
Some people are born with sensitivities to certain foods. While this is unusual, it can occur the first time an infant or child eats a certain food. More likely however is the situation in which the allergy develops. It is usual to think; "Why now? There has never been an allergy to this before",
In order to understand this link to the digestive system it is helpful to first understand how normal digestion works. Please see the preceding page first then read the page on "Digestive Immunity".
When you understand how allergies can develop through the process of developing leaky gut, you may appreciate that it is difficult to heal them.
Action Steps for Dealing with an Acute allergic Reaction
- take immediate steps to deal with the acute situation including using antihistamines, inhaled bronchodilator i.e. Ventolin®, injected epinephrine (i.e. Epipen® and possible prednisone, with medical supervision when necessary
- start a food log and record all the foods eaten for 48 hours prior to an episode of hives
- if possible, identify the offending substance and if it is a drug, make sure to reported to your physician and keep a personal record of allergies in case your physician is not available
- start a simple diet for a few days beginning with congee as your only food. This will have the benefit of eliminating any possible allergen and help your digestive system to settle down
- begin taking digestive enzymes. Good quality digestive enzymes assist in the breakdown of protein thus reducing the chance that a food will trigger a further allergic reaction
- probiotics are important in promoting healing. I strongly recommend taking an antibiotic-resistant probiotic during the course of taking antibiotics. This reduces the chances of getting into trouble from the antibiotic. When the antibiotic is finished, consider continuing to take a good quality acidophilus, possibly blended with other beneficial organisms.
- make a radical diet change - see the candida diet for starters
- consider a diet which is wheat free and dairy free as these are often the root of the problem
- consider having allergic testing but most methods of testing done by medical allergists are good at discovering certain types of allergens i.e. insect, pollens etc. They are not so good at discovering food allergens for which challenge testing in a medically safe setting may be needed - or for which blood (ELISA) tests may be helpful.
Food allergies are not easy to deal with. The condition may persist for a lifetime, or perhaps, with 'right' care it could resolve sooner.