Yeah, Broomstick was absolutely right. Sunday now and I feel worse than I did on Friday, as far as life-affecting symptoms go. Honestly I feel as if I’ve had a mini-stroke, and I think I know how Keith Richards lives on a daily basis. Half my face is totally numb, I can’t walk without stumbling into everything and my motor response and reflexes are about nil. Lingering double vision (sporting a big black eyepatch under my glasses - who’s sexy now!) brain feels sluggish. Blood pressure still on the high end of normal, pulserate back to my norm., I am taking the meds and monitoring what vitals I can.
Boy, I am still amazed at the level of fucked-uppedness from something so simple. Thanks for all your well-wishes and I really do hope my updarte is coherent.
My sympathies. Try to get extra rest and fluids until you’re back to normal. And you will be back to normal soon. Then you can get tested and know what to avoid so as to minimize the chances you’ll have to go through this again.
I’m amazed at how many people have posted that they are allergic to strawberries. I, too am allergic to strawberries, pineapple and kiwi…and I have also decided that I am allergic to almonds as well (although other nuts don’t seem to be affecting me) and am also highly highly allergic to caffeine. Typically I get itchy mouth and throat, with majorly runny nose after eating any of those (except the caffeine reaction which is much worse and similar to what you described). I never was a fan of any of those fruits, but I love the juices from all three of them and hate that I can’t have them. I’m so glad you are feeling better and sorry you are bummed out about not being able to enjoy your treats any more.
You have my condolences, food allergies suck. I’ve had a unique experience with mine. I once reacted to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich even though i had eaten it plenty of times in the past with no trouble. I was quite young at the time but still remember the massive full body rash of hives that ensued. thankfully my throat did not constrict and i was able to breath okay but i was rushed to the hospital nonetheless. several months later, after several allergy tests, they concluded that I was in fact not allergic to peanuts (a skin test and a blood test were done). go figure. So we slowly started introducing peanuts back into my diet and on about the third day bam. Full body rash again. The only thing our doctor could think of was that it builds up in my system until it reaches a toxic level and then my body reacts to it. This seems a little strange to me but I cant think of a more likely reason. I have mainly stayed away from nuts since then (thankfully trace amounts don’t seem to bother me) but every once and a while i get a couple hives on my arms or back and I watch myself a little more closely.
Um, no. In most people none of those foods give them that tingly-feeling reaction. Don’t eat these foods either, since you’re probably at least mildly allergic to them as well.
My ex was allergic to strawberries, but it wasn’t a sudden thing…he’d been allergic all his life. If the berries were frozen, then there was no problem, because that particular enzyme was destroyed in the freezing process. In all the time I knew him, I only saw one reaction…from eating another piece of fruit from a fruit tray…the strawberries on the tray had leaked juices onto the pineapple or the melon. Fortunately his reactions weren’t quite as systemic as yours, just hives and a bit of trouble breathing until the Benadryl took effect.
Seconding this, for the good of the people. If your mouth or throat feels funny after eating something, and it’s not supposed to be spicy, that’s a bad sign. Don’t eat those foods again.
I remember going for a CAT scan once. They did one scan and then gave me some dye for a second scan. Before giving me the dye they asked me if I was allergic to either fish or strawberries. I am not allergic to either so I get the shot and promptly break out in big itchy hives all over my body.
I’d be very very if I had to give up strawberries… but if I’d developed an allergy and couldn’t make myself give 'em up, I suspect my family would be even more :(.
For what it’s worth: as I understand it, blood testing is more accurate for food allergies than skin testing is.
**Dweezil **has a known peanut allergy (at about age 16 months, I gave him some PB/crackers and within 10 minutes his face was swollen and eyes itching…). A visit to an allergist, who did skin testing just in case, but wouldn’t even do a peanut test because of the risk. He showed “positive” for a number of things he’d eaten without incident, so we had to do some food challenges (withhold for 3+ weeks, then slowly reintroduce). All were reintroduced without problem.
Since then the blood testing technology has improved and they do that for him when he revisits every couple of years.
We’ve been lucky in his exposures - apparently he’s not one of those who can’t be in the same room as peanut butter. He had a probable exposure at age 6 (some store-brand rice krispie treats that appeared to have been contaminated or mislabeled), which caused him to have a nasty case of hives for a couple of days. Nothing since then until last summer, when a combination of unawareness of ingredients and poor communication led to him feasting on chicken in mole sauce. Poor kid - he felt nauseous (and we had to stop the car several times on the way back to our hotel because he thought he needed to hurl). An hour or so later he finally did and was OK after that. Typo Knig, who had the same dish, was fine. I called the restaurant and yep, peanuts in the mole (which I’d known, but the guys were at a different table and they didn’t know it was verboten).
We were kicking ourselves - we have been lax about having his epi-pens handy since he’s gone so long without any kind of reaction.
When I lost my insurance I lost my epi-pens. Then I got insurance back BUT the new insurance doesn’t want to pay for an epi-pen because they don’t see any reason to - apparently they want either a blood test saying I’m allergic, or records of my being in the ER due to an allergic reaction. Recently. They discount that last visit from 20 years ago “because things might have changed, maybe you aren’t allergic to that anymore” but they won’t pay for a blood test because I haven’t been in the ER! Nevermind I have documented allergies back forever. Oh, but they might accept my original blood test. Which was 36 years ago. At an outpatient clinic. Which no longer exists. And no, we don’t have a copy of that piece of paper, which apparently was lost sometime during the ensuing 3.5 decades and 14 different residences across three different states… But who are they fooling? I’m sure even if I DID find that piece of paper they’d demand something more recent.
So, basically, even though I have severe food allergies, which are documented over decades, because I’ve been a good girl and haven’t eaten anything on the forbidden list for nearly a quarter century they refuse to give me an epi-pen for just in case I screw up. Even though it’s standard practice to issue epi-pens to people with food allergies.
:rolleyes:
I do routinely carry Benadryl and my inhaler, I just hope that will be enough if something bad happens.
My dad developed a strawberry allergy when he was around 40, along with an allergy to shrimp.
My sister became allergic to shrimp about when she turned 40.
One day, I was about 41 and made some shrimp alfredo. Within an hour I was one giant red splotch. I sekf-treated myself with Benadryl (and red wine) and felt better. I never saw a doctor over it, but I tell doctors it happened. Haven’t had shrimp since. Don’t miss it enough to care.
When Dweezil was first prescribed his epi-pen, our insurance (at the time) similarly refused to pay for it. We could have written a letter and gotten documentation from the doctors, and appealed it… but decided not to bother.
Sheesh. Epi-pens aren’t exactly something someone would have around for fun. I have memories of allergy meds that made me hyper (back when oral epinephrine was commonly used for asthma) - and it was NOT an enjoyable feeling. Any chance you could appeal?
Both my kids use Aero-chambers with their inhalers. Moon Unit uses one daily; Dweezil maybe once a year. It’s a crapshoot as to whether our prescription insurance pays for those… our current insurance doesn’t; the insurance we had before that did… I suppose we could try filing them through the main insurance’s Durable Medical Equipment clause…
Just in the last year I have noticed I have become allergic to fresh pineapple and cinnamon. This has been since the chemo and the massive doses of steroids, so I sort of chalked it up to that, but I guess you can develop allergies at any time.
Many food allergies will grow worse with each exposure. So you can eat the food for years without symptoms, but suddenly find yourself with tingly lips or hives or trouble breathing or somesuch. I had that happen with tree nuts (and the crossover allergy to stone fruits) and berries.
Other food allergies, this does not happen, but I’ve been told those can be allergies that appear or disappear over time.
If you’ve got symptoms of the first type – tingly lips or hives from eating – best get to an allergist, or stop eating the stuff. In most cases those allergies only get worse – you’re not going to “develop an immunity” by eating the food occasionally. There are some desensitization programs, though.
The OP’s experience makes me very happy my mother finally stopped trying to slip me food with nuts “because I was just being picky”. My nephew is much more allergic to nuts, and she didn’t want to kill him. (Obviously, then, she’d had no such issues about killing me.)
I have had no income other than food stamps and my dad paying my rent for the past five months. No, I do not have the money. I had to borrow money to buy toilet paper last week.
if I had to give up strawberries… but if I’d developed an allergy and couldn’t make myself give 'em up, I suspect my family would be even more :(.