Food Poisoning or Anaphylactic

Hi Lynnette!
Welcome to the board!! :) Sorry you found us thanks to such frusterating circumstances.

I'm not terribly familiar with food poisoning/staph infections, but your son's reaction sounds very much like my early reactions (between the ages of 4-8) to my food allergin--with the except that I had *terrible* diarrhea after about 10 minutes of stomach cramping. It wasn't until a few years of encountering these reactions that I had my throat begin to swell. Do you recall if his heart rate became irregular or elevated (beyond what's normal thanks to the stress of such a situation?)? It is a little odd that his diarrhea continued for two days if it was an allergic reaction, but perhaps other's here have had the same experience?? Either way, I'm relieved to hear you have an epi-pen for him. Keep it around until you know for sure if it was an allergy or food poisoning!

As for the hives/itching, I've never heard of that reaction to food poisoning, but I'm wondering if the toxins may have triggered a histimine responce similar to the response given allergins (which are, in essence, "poison" to the body).

Sorry I had no definite answers for you! Hopfully someone here will say "AH HA! That happened to me too--here's why." ;-)

Hi.  Thanks for your responses.  He had fettucine alfredo.  I think one reason my doctor thought it was staph bacteria, is because it is often found on dairy products, cream sauces, etc.  Is it the "shock" reaction that causes the itchy hands and feet that are often associated with anaphylactic shock?  I've done some reading on food poisoning and anaph. shock and with both it said that the toxins both produce cause dilated blood vessels, thus a decrease in blood pressure.  I would think that the sudden drop in blood pressure would create the itchy hands and feet.  Does that sound logical to you?

My feeling is that it was food poisoning, simply because he has never reacted to any food.  BUT, I have kept him off of dairy since.  I'm scared to give him any...just in case.  He's had everything in his diet since then and done fine.  His diarrhea lasted Sunday, Monday and a little on Tuesday.  He did NOT have a tummy ache yesterday at all and seems back to normal.  I've had an allergic reaction to food before and didn't have the lasting diarrhea either.  Certainly that would make it seem like a bacteria.  My doctor said it takes a few days to clear out.  He said not to stop the diarrhea.  It apparently ran it's course.

Thank you so much for your input.  It helped to know "TickSquisher" :)  didn't have ongoing diarrhea.  I'll update in the days to come to let you know when I try dairy again and what happens.  Any other input would be so much appreciated.

Have a lovely day.

Lynnette