A mother from Texas has taken to Facebook to educate other parents about what food allergy reactions really look like. A mild reaction to cashews quickly turned into a frightening experience for Julie Ferrier Berghaus, as her daughter went into anaphylaxis at a controlled allergy testing.
Berghaus took her three-year-old, Maren, to an allergist for an oral challenge to tree nuts, to confirm whether she was allergic. The doctor had only given Maren a tenth of a cashew when she started to react.
Berghaus said she had expected to see her daughter choking and grabbing at her chest and neck area. She also assumed the entire ordeal would be obvious and dramatic, but instead it manifested rather silently and quickly. ?It looked nothing like I expected it to look,? the concerned mom wrote in a Facebook post that has since gone viral. ?I hope I can educate some people on what anaphylaxis could look like, so they don?t wait to give an epi.? (Epinephrine is the medication given to stop an allergic reaction. In Canada, the brand name is EpiPen.) First, Maren?s ears started getting itchy. Then she got a bellyache and began to itch all over. At this point, the doctors administered a shot of epinephrine. But she still seemed fine to her mom?she was still playing, and she didn?t have more severe symptoms like vomiting or laboured breathing.

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