@Gingergrrl , I am sorry to read what you have been through, and it rang a B-I-G B-I-G bell for me.
I am quite sure your reaction is linked to the candy - to the yellow dye in fact- as some have suggested here. And I will explain.
Last week I went through an allergic reaction too, 2 mn after taking a caplet of prednisone 1 mg. My throat closed up totally in a spasm of the larynx that left me without any oxygen at all for a minute. Muscles of the larynx didn't respond and I was in a panic state untill the muscles began to relax and let some air go in. I had also flush + tachy etc.
After reviewing all the food, supplements, drugs, that was the only drug I took for the FIRST TIME. I have taken with no problem the 5mg, 20 mg version and also the aero version of 250 mcg.
The 1 mg tablets is the only version which has a yellow-orange colour (the rest are white).
So I googled today to see what is there in this prednisone which is different, and of course, what popped up was the dye : SUNSET YELLOW #6.
SUNSET YELLOW belongs to the AZO DYE GROUP, like your TARTRAZINE, and is known indeed to cause intolerance reactions in sensitive people, especially those who have a preexisiting sensitivity to aspirin.
So, watch-out carefully, beeing sure, there is no such dyes in your food/supps/meds. The one who belong to the category are :
- turmeric/curcumin dye E100
- riboflavin dye E101
- Tartrazin dye E102
- quinoline yellow E104
- Sunset yellow E110
Thanks again
@Gingergrrl , I will be wiser too now.
Just one caplet, and it was total hell for me. So it may be powerful this stuff.
Edit :
"Sunset yellow looks like an orange-red powder. It is another azo dye, similar to
tartrazine, and
allura red. An azo dye is a chemical compound where two hydrocarbon groups are joined by two nitrogen atoms. The letters azo are derived from the french word for nitrogen, azote."
... Watch out also for the red colour (allura red), as hubby confirmed me immediately on the phone. I am going to dig deeper.