1. Take an Epinephrine Injection
Epinephrine (adrenaline) is the best defense against a severe allergic reaction. You can get a shot in a hospital or emergency room, but if you accidentally ingest any nuts, you might not be able to wait that long. Your body could go into anaphylactic shock, which may lead to a coma or even death. Get a prescription for epinephrine from your doctor and carry an injector with you whenever you go. When a reaction hits, you can take it immediately or have a nearby friend or family member administer it for you. Ask your doctor for instructional materials to pass out to your friends, family and coworkers so they know how to administer the shot in the event of an emergency.
2. Use Asthma Medication
Asthma medication, or bronchilators, helps keep the air passages open during an asthma attack. Allergic reactions can cause symptoms similar to asthma, closing the air passages and making breathing extremely difficult. Besides anaphylactic shock, it's the biggest worry for those suffering from nut allergies. If your doctor thinks that bronchilators can help in your case, he can prescribe some for you. They can be inhaled, swallowed in pill form or taken as a liquid. Carry some with you at all times, and take them as soon as an allergic reaction starts.
3. Administer Antihistamines
You can take over-the-counter antihistamines to help treat the symptoms of a reaction to a nut allergy. Your body treats nuts as poison, releasing an excess of histamine chemicals into your system to "fight" them. The histamines produce the swelling, itching skin, vomiting, difficulty breathing and other symptoms associated with an allergic reaction. Oral antihistamines can treat these symptoms. More importantly, you can take them right away during an allergic reaction without having to wait for a doctor. You may need to take them for several days after an attack until the symptoms vanish.
4. Watch Out for Nuts in Unlikely Places
The best treatment for food allergies is to avoid eating the problematic foods in the first place. It's easy enough to avoid the nuts themselves, but keep an eye out for less obvious culprits. Check the contents of any food you buy--the manufacturers should include a warning if they contain nuts--and watch out for homemade baked goods like cakes and cookies. You should also look out for cross-contamination, when nuts get into your food because it was prepared with the same utensils or in the same location as food containing nuts. Scoops at ice-cream parlors, for example, may have residue from nuts on them, even if there are no nuts in the ice cream you ordered.
