What Causes Abdominal Pain And Facial Swelling After Eating Ice Cream?

Posted on Mon, 21 Dec 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 21 Dec 2015 Answered on

Thu, 21 Jan 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi! My daughte ate ice cream pistachio while waiting on a train stations and walk for about 40 minutes looking for boarding gate in Italia. When we about to board, she had a abdominal pain and maybe after a while she had this swelling face and eyes, and some rashes , I was able to asked for help for a doctor and he gave some kind of tablet for my daughter, and after another 15 minutes the emergency staff came, and gave her a shot, I didn't know what they gave her, but she is fine as the moment. It's been 3 hrs and she is ok , but her face still swelling. Am just worried that it might come back and we are from Canada and we still have five days here in Italia. Would you please let me know what to do? Should I go straight to a doctor ? Or is she gonna be okay
Thanks

Answered by Dr. Eric Goldstein (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Reaction

Detailed Answer:
Hello. I just read through your question.
It is likely your daughter experienced a reaction to something in the Ice Cream. Not that I can say for sure, but the shot she received was probably a steroid. this is standard in kids having reactions.
It is not surprising that the symptoms are still lingering. This can happen and it can last 1-2 weeks before fully resolving.
I recommend finding a pharmacy and looking for EITHER Cetirizine (the generic name for zyrtec) OR Loratidine (the generic name for Claritin). She can take 2 teaspoonfuls daily. these are long acting anti-histamines and will usually control the reaction until it resolves.
I typically recommend to my patients to take this for a week and follow up with me if the symptoms persist beyond that. However, in your case, i recommend seeing your doctor when you get home, regardless.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar