Jessica Reagan Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Not really that serious but here's the situation. Use coconut oil pretty often for cooking as well as beauty treatments. Eat a handful of almonds and walnuts almost daily. In the last week I've used coconut milk in 2 soups I made. I've had an almond joy, not recently but plenty in the past. (Don't judge me, they're amazing) Tonight I couldn't sleep so I made a trail mix with walnuts and almonds, raisins, and organic unsweetened shredded coconut?(which I've never eaten before). About an hour later I start getting big bumps on my wrist and it's swelling. My hands are swelling and itchy, my feet are getting itchy, my face feels weird, lips are burning, feel puffy. My chest feels heavy. Obviously I'm havin an allergic reaction but to what? Is it the nuts or the coconut?? I took 2 benadryl and I don't feel great but I do feel better, well very sleepy actually, but my lips still burn, face itches, only slight chest tightness. Anyone have an opinion or advice? Is it common to just suddenly develop an allergy to something?? Or why would I tolerate the coconut milk/ oil but not the shredded coconut? Could it be combining the nuts and coconut that threw me over the edge? Or is this part of the whole 30?? Day 15 here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SummerGirl Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 I think you need to get checked out at the ER to be honest,( or at the very least go to your doctor)-especially with the chest tightness and lip swelling. It sounds like a very strong allergic reaction, the type that needs medical attention. In some cases like this, people need to carry an Anapen in case of a further attack so you would need to talk it through with a medical professional to see what is appropriate in your case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsteen Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 This is not a normal part of a W30. i agree with SummerGirl, I would get it checked out medically. Allergies are not something to play around with. good luck and let us know how you get on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Tom Denham Posted February 15, 2013 Moderators Share Posted February 15, 2013 Like the others have said, you don't want to risk losing the ability to breathe. Getting evaluated by a doctor is the smart thing to do. That you developed symptoms after eating shredded coconut for the first time means you should be careful about coconut until you can rule it out as a problem. You should talk with a doctor about how to test the potential this is a problem for you. My thought would be to eat some shredded coconut while at the Emergency Room, but there are probably more sophisticated ways. By the way, all nuts are not created equal. In terms of health benefits, almonds are in the middle of the health scale and walnuts are on the bottom. The problem with walnuts is they are high in polyunsaturated fats and omega 6 fats. The top ranked nuts are macadamias, cashews, and hazelnuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb0426 Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 When it comes to allergies, it is often not the first exposure that causes the allergic reaction. Take antibiotics for example. You may go your whole life not taking penicillin, get an infection, take a full ten days of meds and feel better. The next time, wham - full body rash. After that it progresses to anaphylaxis. Allergic reactions can get worse over time. It is quite possible you missed the more subtle reactions. Go to the doctor for some testing and stay away from the coconut please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emily Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Like Tom and others said, anytime your airway is involved (in your case your lips and chest tightness) there is a definite concern that you might swell so much that you can't breathe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gatork Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 I agree with what everyone has said... I don't have any issues with coconut oil, but any time I make something with coconut milk, my stomach is not happy..and any time I make something or eat something with shredded coconut, my stomach is really upset with some weird pains...(nothing like your reaction though!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica Reagan Posted February 15, 2013 Author Share Posted February 15, 2013 I took a couple of benadryl and then called a friend that has severe allergies. The antihistamine really helped and the chest tightness let up. She told me that when you start freaking out it can make the reaction worse, so we just talked for 30 minutes to see whether or not it continued to escalate. Thankfully it didn't and I actually started to feel better, and very sleepy. Went to bed but kept the phone near just in case I woke up worse. I didn't eat much of the shredded coconut. I generally eat atleast a handful of walnuts and almonds everyday. I buy them pre-portioned in handful amounts so I never have to worry about over-eating and they're a great snack for my purse. I'll look into some of the other nuts you suggested Tom. Although I'm going to be very careful with the nuts and coconut products until I figure out what caused my reaction. Thanks for all your help everyone, I appreciate it very much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Cooking and other food refining process interfere with the protein chain in foods. That is why raw foods can cause an allergic reactions but the cooked version of the foods do not. I have multiple raw food allergies. From nuts, to fruit, and what I am realizing.....a mild to moderate raw coconut allergy. I also learned that I have different allergic reactions depending on the region of the food- so interesting! An example of this is that I can eat my local NH fresh Macintosh apples, but not NY fresh Macintosh apples. My allergist explained this as my body adapting to the local pollen. Thought that was so interesting. So for coconut, I also seem to be ok with the oil and also use it on my skin and hair. No reactions from that. I'm going to eliminate any raw coconut products like flakes, and coconut butter (sniff!). I also noticed coconut milk kind of upsets my stomach, unless it is in very small quantities (double sniff!). Last week during the blizzard here I made sweet potato latkes and used coconut flour for the first time. I ended up having itchy watery eyes, asthma, and small hives on my face. One bennadryl did the trick for that, but it was enough that I am not going to have coconut anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica Reagan Posted February 15, 2013 Author Share Posted February 15, 2013 Cooking and other food refining process interfere with the protein chain in foods. That is why raw foods can cause an allergic reactions but the cooked version of the foods do not. I have multiple raw food allergies. From nuts, to fruit, and what I am realizing.....a mild to moderate raw coconut allergy. I also learned that I have different allergic reactions depending on the region of the food- so interesting! An example of this is that I can eat my local NH fresh Macintosh apples, but not NY fresh Macintosh apples. My allergist explained this as my body adapting to the local pollen. Thought that was so interesting. So for coconut, I also seem to be ok with the oil and also use it on my skin and hair. No reactions from that. I'm going to eliminate any raw coconut products like flakes, and coconut butter (sniff!). I also noticed coconut milk kind of upsets my stomach, unless it is in very small quantities (double sniff!). Last week during the blizzard here I made sweet potato latkes and used coconut flour for the first time. I ended up having itchy watery eyes, asthma, and small hives on my face. One bennadryl did the trick for that, but it was enough that I am not going to have coconut anymore. Thanks for all the great information Holly! I was really wondering why the oil and milk didn't seem to bother me but the shredded coconut seemed to ellicit such a strong reaction! I've also used coconut flour once or twice and not had a problem. It makes a lot of sense to me. I think I'm just going to stay away from coconut at all cost which makes me sad because I really do love the oil! However, I don't want to develop more sensitivity to it! Thanks again, so much! I really appreciate the insight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoodles Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Was there sulphur dioxide as a preservative in the shredded coconut? That can cause similar reactions to the one you had.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica Reagan Posted February 16, 2013 Author Share Posted February 16, 2013 Was there sulphur dioxide as a preservative in the shredded coconut? That can cause similar reactions to the one you had.... Nope, it's 100% organic unsweetened shredded coconut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Jessica, I'm not certain that eating the forms of coconut that your body can tolerate will make increase your "sensitivity" to it. Again, because of the protein chain differences. For me, I'm comfortable with the decision to keep on using coconut oil. Maybe even coconut milk in small quantities, sometimes. You know your body the best, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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