My 15th Birthday

I woke up on the morning of my 15th birthday ready to spend a fun day with my best friend. Although we didn’t have anything that resembled a plan for the day, I was eager to spend the day doing activities together. Her mom picked me up in the morning. First stop: nail salon. I was never one to get my nails done (and I still do not prefer getting my nails done today), but my birthday was special. I still recall the shade of teal I chose for my gel nails; ironically, teal is the color of food allergy awareness.

Our stomachs were rumbling for lunch by the time the nail techs finished curing both sets of our nails. Having known me since I was little, my friend’s mother suggested that we go to a local cafe/restaurant with vegan options on the menu. Not wanting to refuse the offer, I hesitantly agreed.

We arrived at the restaurant, I informed the server of my allergies, and I chose a simple seitan dish as my meal. In all honesty I don’t recall details about the food further than that, even though that dish was the cause of my first and only biphasic allergic reaction.

While eating my meal, I thought that I sensed an itching sensation, the sensation that comes with a mild allergic reaction. I set my fork down, but did I say anything to my friend or her mom? No. The last thing I wanted was for them to feel bad for taking me to a place that gave me a reaction on my birthday. I thought to myself, “The itching is mild enough that it might go away on its own if I wait it out.” Well, I was right in one way. The itching did dissipate as they drove me home. What followed an hour later was far worse than I could have imagined.

Biphasic Reaction

A biphasic reaction is “the recurrence of anaphylactic symptoms within 72 hours of the initial anaphylactic event, without re-exposure to the trigger.” To put it in plain terms, you get two separate reactions after eating an allergen once. These types of reactions are very rare and poorly understood. I was not even aware that this type of anaphylactic reaction could occur until it happened to me.

Although information you find online tells you that the first reaction tends to be equally or more severe than the second, my second reaction was more severe than the first. I had been home for nearly an hour, and felt as though I was suddenly catching a cold. My birthday is during the beginning of August. I thought it was strange to be getting sick in the middle of summer. I was sneezing, my eyes were watering, and my voice started getting hoarse. I really did not think much of it until my mother arrived home to cook my birthday dinner, took one look at me, and exclaimed in fright upon seeing me. My face had blown up like a balloon. Two epipens and an ambulance ride later, I ended up in the hospital for two days.

. . .

I was very near death that day. I will never forget it. Now I am beyond cautious when I choose to eat out. I make sure my opinions on my safety are voiced. I say no to “finding somewhere we can all eat” because, truthfully, there are not many places where I can do so safely. We sent my birthday leftovers to a food testing lab in Nebraska. There was such a tiny amount of milk in the food, even I was surprised by the scale of my reaction.

Biphasic reactions are not talked about nearly as often as they should be in the food allergy community. I hope that more people can be aware of this reaction, because knowing what to do in a situation like mine could mean the difference between life and death for a food allergic individual like myself.