pollen from pine and forsythia [every spring the damned plantings around here try to kill me =( ]
adhesive from bandaid type bandages
most antibiotics, but I am fine with sulfas
mushrooms - mushrooms are hidden as ‘natural flavorings’ in many commercial foods.
palm/tropical/coconut products - tropical oils are used in many commercial food products, and makeups/beauty products
bivalves to varying degrees though I can with reserve manage to eat scallops. Other bivalves make me projectile vomit within seconds of eating, scallops just give me the runs. I have to be very careful because clam juice is one of the most added hidden natural flavors in commercial seafoods.
And random drugs I have been given over the years. Celecoxib made my ankles and feet swell up to volleyball size. Can’t remember which one, but one of the blood pressure meds the doc tried me on sent me to the ER with my throat closing. Luckily I carry an epi pen. [too lazy to drag my med list out of my purse this morning]
Most of these are pretty normal allergies. My oddest med reaction was to byetta, but I don’t think you could call it an allergy - I gradually developed a nausea when I ate pig. First, after 2 breakfast sausages, I went to eat my third one, and when I brought it to my mouth, the smell made me nauseous. The next time sausage popped up in my meal rotation, I couldn’t eat one bite, the smell turned my stomach. I was fine with other piggy products, but then I couldn’t eat any form of pig, pork chop triggered the reaction, then ham and bacon. So I stopped eating pig entirely. Then I lost beef, and then chicken, then eggs so I was down to tofu and seafood/fish. i told my endo that I needed off it immediately because I was NOT going to turn vegan just to stay on byetta. Nobody has ever heard about this type of reaction, usually you can use it or you have nausea. I got everything back except for I am a bit iffy on eggs and pig products. Some days I am fine and others they nauseate me. Same with eggs. So when we are planning a meal with pig or egg, I make sure we have some leftovers in the fridge I can change to if I can’t manage dinner that evening.
It really isnt that unusual, they supposedly also make a hypoallergenic adhesive for those allergic to the usual one. I used afunky brand that was an almost papery sort of medical tape with gauze pads for years, now I try not to get cuts. Supposedly my phlebotomist uses that clingwrap instead of bandaids because of adhesive allergy.
For me it’s beer, but not all beer, just one type of beer that just so happens to be a fairly popular beer on the cheaper end of the spectrum (it must be since when the places I went to had stuff like dollar beer night they sold that one).
I get hives if I drink it. Annoying as all get out, but the best part if I don’t mind being itchy? I can get as drunk on a single pint (less!) as if I’d drunk a pitcher of another brand. I tried it a couple times a few years apart and had similar reactions both times so I just avoid it now. I don’t drink much beer nowadays but I always thought that one was really weird since it seems to be just that brand.
Another one with an allergy to adhesives. I discovered this when I had a few moles removed, and developed a Band-Aid-shaped rash over one of the biggest. That was fun - I had wounds I needed to keep covered, and no way of covering them. The derm. office finally gave me some weird patch thing that I don’t know how to describe well: the whole thing sort of bonded to my skin, and there was no separate place on it for the wound i.e. the whole thing got stuck over the removal site.
I mentioned my nickel allergy to my dentist’s office before getting my first dental crown last year (I’ve read the metal-allergic can react to dental work), and ended up shelling out an extra $500 for an all-precious-metal crown. Ouch. But it would have been a bigger ouch (financially and physically) if I’d had the cheaper crown and reacted to it, so I spent the money and didn’t take the chance.
Mosquito bites: I don’t have the grotesque swellings some of you describe, but I do have a mild hypersensitivity reaction, the “wheal and flare” type (big pale welt surrounded by a bright red patch, all VERY itchy, appearing within seconds of the bite). I didn’t have this until a week into my first lab job, which involved tending an insect colony of blowflies, fruitflies and Aedes aegypti mosquitoes; after a week and about 100 bites from escapees, I started flaring lividly after every bite.
I’m allergic to something in certain soaps that I’ve never figured out. Mr. Bubble when I was little gave me horrible hives, so my mom used to use dish soap if I wanted a bubble bath (I think it was Palmolive!). Sometimes I just get a mild rash on my shoulders from some bar soaps, the last time I had a bad all-over hive attack from soap was when Lever 2000 was new and advertised heavily in the early 90’s. I bought a bar, used it once, and had hives from head to toe. It was awful. I’ve used Dr. Bronner’s for years now, and no problem from that, and never problems from shampoos or hand soaps or dish soaps. Weird.
Allergies that aren’t weird: I’m allergic to both 'cillins and 'cyclens, so if I need antibiotics we have to hope it’s something the 'mycin family will work on. Short-haired terriers (derm allergy only, usually washing clears it up quickly). No food allergies. I feel really lucky about that.
Oh, and bed bug bites. When I moved last year I apparently picked a couple up either already in the new apartment, or from the moving truck. I’m so allergic to the bites, though, that I was able to get rid of them fairly easily since I’m pretty sure there were just a couple of those damn things around. I got a welt on my calf that was 3 inches across and 6 inches long, itched so bad it got infected from scratching it in my sleep, and there’s a cyst now on that spot. It took me a while to figure out what was going on, and then realized it was bed bug bites. I had horrible welts that were inches across. Apparently the infestations tend to get bad before people notice them because the bites don’t bother them. Not so with me. They got gone really quick once I figured it out, and I guess I’ll know if I have a problem again pretty fast, since I’ll swell up like a balloon and itch for weeks wherever I get bitten!
Grapefruit, but not oranges, lemons, or limes.
Scallops, but not clams.*
Pecans and cashews, but not almonds or pistachios.
Balsam of Peru and that shit’s in everything.
*Don’t know about oysters or mussels; not going to risk it.
Vinegar. The only thing I was allergic to until about 6 years ago (I’m 52) was/is vinegar. I used to eat pickled cucumbers till my Mom realized I broke out in hives every time. Any condiments or pickles, if I only eat a small amount are alright (minor rash maybe)
6 years ago I was hospitalized with SARS (Respiratory failure/pneumonia) and on life support for 11 days. Since then, I’ve become allergic to most antibiotics.
Me too! Man, does it suck. I can usually avoid the hives for a few hours with sunscreen and/or shade, but at the end of the day I’m completely wiped out with nausea, headache, and fatigue. Car trips are the worst.
[QUOTE=Sue Duhnym]
I am allergic to sun and sunscreen.
/But not garlic so no worries.
[/QUOTE]
I actually don’t tolerate garlic all that well, and I have super pale skin. My husband calls me his little vampire.
Sr. Olives is allergic to 13 foods. Wheat, yeast, dairy, tomatoes, beef, chocolate, caramel, malt, soy, garlic, peanuts, apricots, and vinegar. Cooking for him is loads of fun.
Poultry (but not eggs). So no fried chicken, turkey on Thanksgiving, or duck, or kiwis (the birds, not the people). It causes my throat to get itchy and makes me break out in rashes.
A certain friend of mine keeps threatening to pin me down and rub chicken breast in my face. Now I always look over my shoulder just in case.
