Help! I was reared in a family where I could dismember a whole lobster in my high chair before I was potty trained. I love food! Every type of cuisine and though I prefer some I love most. Shellfish has been my favorite food for life. Oysters (a mollusk) , crawfish, crab , scallops, lobster etc… At age 56 I had one spoon of clam chowder and went anaphylactic. 911, epinephrine and sick for days. I am so upset. Traces of eel and seafood in foreign cuisines etc. I have tried monk fish, yuck! , preparing cod like a shellfish and am searching for Triggerfish. Imitation crab seems to make me sick too. Does anyone have a suggestion? I’ll be seeing an allergist and hoping to desensitize myself but in the meantime I want my sweet shellfish meat!
[Moderating]
The section you posted this in is About This Message Board, for questions about, well, this message board. Since this message board is not made of shellfish, this isn’t the right place for this thread. Moving to IMHO.
Yes, I have two suggestions:
- Give up shellfish for life
- Get an epi-pen because it’s one of those things that sneak into foods.
I’m sorry but there is no, I repeat NO way to desensitize yourself to a food allergy, especially one acquired as an adult. No food tastes as good as being able to breathe.
I get it - I’ve acquired a food allergy in adulthood to a favorite food that I’ve had to give up forever. It sucks. But there isn’t a cure.
I’m 100% sure this is what an allergist will tell you. Why? Because I have food allergies, I’ve seen allergists, and I’ve had two trips to an ER with anaphylaxis.
Last I heard the only food allergy where any research is being done for desensitizing is peanut allergy in children, and that’s not to allowing eating of peanuts, it’s to moderate the reaction so an accidental exposure is less likely to kill an allergic person. Sorry, no work being done on seafood.
That sucks. Shellfish is about my favorite food, too, and I’d hate to give it up.
I have had to give up raw oysters, however. The last two or three times I ate them they gave me horrific intestinal issues. I thought I maybe got one bad oyster the first time, which is why I continued to try them. Nope, even one or two tiny ones still brought about vomiting and diarrhea. I don’t know if that’s the same as an allergy, but the results are the same: give up a food you love.
Thanks for your input. I always carry Epi pens. My siblings and grown sons have allergies to foods, environment and weird things like cottonseed, barley and jute. We have peanut allergies and tree nut allergies. So green beans pease, etc, every car and plane we own has to be gutted and the seating testuffed. Most family members can only drink Heineken or Corona to avoid barley. My sons outgrew BEEF, milk and soy. One became allergic to shellfish but 10 years later can eat it. We don’t mess with the peanut one. So I’m not 100% sure you can say that I can’t do something. I want input though and can anyone suggest an alternative that has a similar taste and texture til I know how to proceed?
I hear you both! Thanks tons! I just won’t give up easily. If I find a way I’ll keep you posted . In the meantime, I’m on a mission. Determined and hungry!
To the OP, sorry to hear it. I too love shellfish; it’s pretty much my favorite food and I would hate to develop an adult allergy to it.
Just curious about this— what is in car and plane seats that you are allergic to that you have to have them restuffed? Also, how many planes have you owned in your life? For most people I know, the answer is 0.
The Food Allergy Coalition seems to be making strides and I’m hoping they can control some anaphylactic reactions soon. Btw they will send you an allergy “chef card” and even have them in foreign languages. They will notify you when places like McDs use peanut or restaurants add ingredients that may cause problems. When my son , 31 had a peanut allergy it was unheard of and an upward battle. It has become more common and I send large donations to allergy awareness. Anyone with allergies should utilize their resources. Allergies can KILL. Scary shit. Pregnant woman need to tread lightly if allergies run in either family and parents need to be careful introducing foods that are controversial. Cross contamination happens easily and foreign foods have ingredients we may be unfamiliar with. I’ve read that people even use peanut butter in chili. We can’t change the world and rearing 3 boys with various allergies was a challenge. I visited sports camps and schools asking to avoid certain foods. My boys couldn’t randomly even kiss a girl for fear of a reaction. I started thirty one years ago and now my boys are grown and having children. This Mom/Grandma continues to worry.
See the allergist and listen to their diagnosis and/or advice.
The allergist may be able to determine what you are allergic to. Allergic reactions to shellfish may be the result of whatever the shellfish had recently eaten, or the start of a life threatening allergy. If the allergist can’t determine that then you just can’t eat shellfish any more. Imitation crab (surimi) is not safe because it may contain some shellfish in it. Monk fish is sometimes called the Poor Man’s Lobster because cooked properly and slathered in butter it can be similar. I’ve also found it to be the Person Who Doesn’t Know What Lobster Tastes Like’s Lobster so that’s probably not going to make up for the lack of seafood in your life. Best of luck in dealing with this, there’s always pork.
That’s not true.
My daughter has a LOT of food allergies. When she was a teenager, we had to put her on a VERY restricted diet. Just being in the same room as other girl scouts that were shelling peanuts sent her to the hospital. She was also allergic to both wheat and corn, which is basically 99.9 percent of all food today (statistic made up for exaggeration). She could eat McDonalds, but she had to just have the hamburger and the toppings, with no bun. We made special pizza for her, which basically tasted like cardboard with tomato sauce smeared on it, but at least she could have pizza.
After being completely off of wheat and corn for a couple of years, her allergist said that we could slowly re-introduce those. She still can’t eat peanuts and a lot of other nuts, or French fries that are cooked in peanut oil, but she can eat corn chips and she can have a McDonald’s burger with a bun. She does carry an epi pen with her wherever she goes. She hasn’t ended up in the ER in years though.
She hasn’t tried to desensitize herself from peanuts, because that one is a bit trickier. Corn and wheat can be done at home. If she starts having symptoms, she just cuts the corn or wheat out of her diet for six months then slowly re-introduces it again. Desensitizing to peanuts is basically the same, where you slowly ingest larger and larger amounts of peanut powder, but it has to be done very carefully and also has to be done in the doctor’s office. It isn’t safe to do it yourself at home. For my daughter, it’s easier to just avoid peanuts in her diet, so she hasn’t done it. It’s extremely difficult to avoid corn and wheat though.
She’s not allergic to shellfish, so I can’t comments on specifics on that particular allergy.
Actually, a lot of work is being done on seafood, especially with immunotherapies involving hypoallergens and DNA vaccines. See the NIH article above for details.
I haven’t done it myself, but i know people who have successfully desensitized a young adult to peanuts to the point where their kids can eat a peanut butter sandwich.
It’s true that a lot of very fascinating work is being done, but it’s highly experimental at this time (or at least as of early 2020). They do lay the foundation for future clinical trials, however. Until such trials bear fruit, the key to dealing with shellfish allergy remains avoidance and emergency rescue measures (such as epi-pens).
Note that I said acquired as an ADULT. Children’s immune systems work a bit differently and have some capacity for retraining. Adults - meaning mid-20’s and older - lose that flexibility. Now, maybe if an adult avoids an allergen for 20+ years they can try it again, but it could be literally be betting your life.
You were describing your daughter who was an allergic child and started her dietary restrictions in her teens. That’s a different case than someone in their 40’s or 50’s.
OK, I stand corrected on that.
But it’s still very preliminary at this point.
Thank you all for weighing in. Enjoy your shellfish and eat extra for me.
Not re food allergies, but my father developed a life-threatening allergy to bee stings as an adult, and successfully desensitized his immune system. He had an allergist inject tiny quantities of ground up bee into him every week for months to achieve that, iirc.
I think the immune system is very complicated, and not fully understood.
Yes, that technique is standard for things like pollen, pet dander, and insect stings. It does not work against food allergies.
Honestly, people, I’ve had allergies for over 55 years and spoken to a lot of specialist MD’s. I’ve been desensitized to things where that is possible but it’s not, with current technology, possible for adults with food allergies. I’d like it to be, more so than you can know, but it isn’t at present.
My Dad and 2 brothers were pilots. We had a small Cessna that we shared. I didn’t intend to sound “lofty.” My apologies. I guess the cottonseed and jute are the issues for whatever is commonly used in car interiors. My Dad need’s special bed mattress’s too. Allergies are hereditary and I’m one of a family of 8 with 3 sons. The allergy issues seem t be more prevalent to the males but we unfortunately all have allergies to different foods and substances. Feeding everyone safely at family gatherings and holiday’s definitely is tricky. There are definitely worse illnesses and am grateful that this is the only thing we have complications with so Epi pens, Benadryl and reading ingredients are just part of our reality. Inconvenient but doable.
This is absolutely untrue. I think I’ve related my own tale once or twice. But once more for posterity.
Decades ago I was a developer for a software company who had a tradition of hosting a crawfish boil for the employees once a month. I held out for two months before I popped a couple of Benadryl and having a spoonful. Yes, my Epipen was in my pocket. I had no reaction. The following months I repeated my self treatment having larger servings and then reducing the Benadryl dosage. 30 years later jambalaya and crawfish etouffee are staples of my diet.
Unwise? Probably. But I was younger and exhibiting typical youthful belief in my invulnerability.
But still, anecdotal evidence disproving your statement.
All this said, OP, consult a reputable allergist before attempting any self treatment.
ETA: The shellfish sensitivity was an adult emergent allergy. I was fine with shrimp growing up until I wasn’t.
No, you didn’t come across as “lofty”, and I apologize if I implied it. I was just curious; when someone says they’ve had to do a thing to 'every car and plane we’ve owned" it sounds like there’s an interesting story behind that, and I was not wrong. I think it’s very cool that your dad and brothers have all been pilots.