For the past few years I have had times when my throat feels like it is closing up, making it difficult to breathe sometimes, hard to swallow, I feel full, like I have a big peice of bread stuck in my throat. When it comes on it usually lasts a few days. It hadn't happened for quite a while but yesterday it did again. I recently started watching what I eat a lot closer so I remember everything I ate yesterday and the only thing different I had was a few pecans. But from what I have read online most nut allergies have many more and different side affects. I always have yogurt in my diet but have been eating more since I'm watching what I eat so I thought it might possibly be that too. I don't break out or anything like that. Any ideas what it might be?
my peanut allergy began at age 45+! My son's began at age 5.
I have also recently experienced the closed throat sensation. It seems to trigger more in the evening, & I still haven't figured out the source. If it keeps up, I will begin a food diary...& read every single label!
It sounds like acid reflux to me. Definitely get checked out. Good luck!
You will just have to keep a food journal for awhile until you can pinpoint it, unless you can visit an allergist. I also have a severe food allergy and I will tell you that it would be safer for you to see a specialist because at any time the allergy can change and the reaction can get much worse. Experimenting and trying to figure out the food on it's own could be dangerous. After you know what's causing it, hopefully things will get easier. Good luck!
My dad has something called a Hiatal Hernia. You might check in to that. When he has a flare-up he has trouble swallowing, to the point where sometimes he can not swallow at all. He started taking prilosec and that reduced his flare-ups signifigantly. It is worth checking in to.
I have a peanut allergy (and several other nuts as well). My reaction is similar, I feel like something is stuck in my throat and I am very aware of each time I swallow. It also turns my stomach. Usually I can drink a lot of water and that seems to help but the sensation lasts for at least an hour. Unfortunately every time I have a reaction it gets a bit worse, so I carry an epi pin, though have never had to use it.
It could be a food allergy but like a previous poster said it also could be acid reflux. I have both. The acid reflux is more of a 'long term' thing though and when I'm not taking my medicine for it (I take kapidex which is similar to prevacid or nexium), I feel like something is caught in the bottom of my throat all the time.
With the food allergy, it tends to start about 2 hours (sometimes more, sometimes less) after I have eaten whatever it is that I'm allergic to (still haven't figured it out) and I will have the sensation that my throat is starting to close, my lips and tongue 'burn', and I feel like I'm having the worst asthma attack of my life. This has happened to me on 3 different occasions and with the first 2 I took my inhaler and the symptoms went away, with the last, I had to go to the ER for treatment. I now have an epi-pen.
The previous poster mentioned taking prevacid and while this might work it's not a 100% guarantee that you are not having an allergic reaction to the nuts because prevacid contains an antihistimine and is one of the medications used when someone has a mild ANA reaction to a food allergen.
Personally I think it would be best for you to avoid tree nuts altogether and make an appointment either with your primary care doctor or an allergist to have food allergy testing. They can test for specific foods if you have a suspicion of the cause, which it sounds like you do.
I hope this helped. I'm not an "expert" on this subject by any means but I also have 2 sons with food allergies and they react completely different than I do to mine. One son vomits uncontrollably when exposed to a food allergen, the other breaks out in a rash. So people can react differently but when it comes to breathing difficulties or the sensation of your throat closing, I think it's always better to get tested.
There is an easy way to test whether or not it was the pecans. Wait a few days and then eat some again and keep a dose of benedryl close by. If you have the same reaction, it is the pecans. If no reaction, probably not a food allergy, at least not to pecans. Make sure that everything else you eat that day is something that you have had on a regular basis so there is not any chance that it is something else.
I'm sure an allergy is a possibility, but it could also be acid reflux. You need to have it checked out. I would keep a log of everything you eat, which could help your doctor narrow down the culprit if it is an allergy. You also might try taking a Pepcid Complete or another fast-acting acid reflux med when it happens to see if that has any effect. You might consider taking a good probiotic on a regular basis, too. So much of the good bacteria in our intestines have been depleted by antibiotics and the kind of food we eat. Probiotics really aid with digestion and can have other positive effects, too.
Mornin S.,
My dad had a slight pecan allergy. The pallate in his mouth would swell up a little bit. He knew about it but wouldn't listen and kept it up. Not everyone who eats a nut will go in to anaphylactic shock. Allergies definately affect people differently. when i had to get my allergy test in the office people were sitting in there sneezing, coughing, hiccuping (yep weird, huh), yawning, or itching. I thought i was headed towards a loonie bin. But anyway, so yeah, allergies affect people differntly. you possibly could be allergic to peacans. Call up your primary doc, although he might recommend you to an allergist. I see Dr. Aggarwall. He's pretty cool. His wife is in the same practice as well. Hope this helps!
A.
You should go see an allergy doctor and get tested for food allergies. I know they can come on suddenly at any age, and talking with your Dr, they can determine what to test you for.
this happens to my sister with bananas, kiwi, and strawberries. The kiwi is especially bad.
