The only intolerance I have is to some dairy protein, but it’s not lactose. My dietician and I decided it wasn’t worth finding out exactly what it was, as I’m perfectly fine with a dairy free diet. The things which effect me tend to be the fattier milk products - cream, cheese, etc. milk itself isn’t as much of an issue (although it is some, so I avoid it), which is the opposite way around from normal lactose intolerance - cheese is relatively low in lactose for example. (Still enough to cause a problem for most people).
A friend of mine has an intolerance to sweet peppers - not chillis, they’re fine, and as far as I know nothing else is a problem either. Another friend has intolerances to caffeine and gluten, and yet another can’t have dairy or chocolate. We’re an awkward bunch. (Cooking for people is a nightmare. )
My friend, if their stomach distress is accompanied by rashes, or especially hives, it’s an ALLERGY, not an intolerance
Not all food allergies cause anaphylaxis or shock, just some.
And that’s a different thing yet again.
My food allergies: corn, barley, tomatoes, peanuts, peas, lentils (but other legumes OK), oranges, kiwi. So far, as of this year (I pick up new ones now and then). Oddly enough, I have zero problem with dairy, fish, tree nuts, and the other “big offenders” (except peanuts). And the corn might actually be an intolerance rather than an allergy, but since most folks don’t know the difference I usually don’t bother to explain it.
The reaction I usually get from doctors is disbelief and a lecture that multiple food allergies are very rare in adults. Well, I guess I just won that particular lottery. The only time I don’t get the Lecture of Disbelief is when I’m seeing the doctor because I’m having a severe reaction.
Heh, if any doctor disbelieved me, I’d say, “Well, if you’d care to get me a very, very small piece of Walnut or Brazil nut, I will eat it and you can observe my tongue swelling up and my inability to breathe. Walnuts also make me vomit copiously, which I intend to do directly on you.” No one who has ever seen me after I have accidentally eaten a peice of walnut or brazil nut ever questions whether my food allergies are real or not.
What I think is strange is that when I was a teenager, I was given a whole lists of foods that I was supposedly “allergic” to, by the allergist. Most of these were foods that I eat all the time with no problems. And exactly what the hell do you eat if you can’t eat corn OR wheat? Apparently the only things he thought I WASN’T allergic to were rice, chocolate and oranges. However, as far as I can tell from personal experience, my food allergies are only a severe reaction to nuts (other than almonds & peanuts) and a milder reaction to fish and seafood (except for shrimp, clams and tuna). What’s the deal with that? How can an MD say you are “allergic” to something when it apparently doesn’t give you a reaction when you eat it?
I had Vega testing when I was 11, because they thought it was hyperactivity caused by allergy to foods. Aside from an immense list of E numbers. colourings and preservatives, I was tested positive to being allergic to:
milk
cheese (though not cottage cheese)
oranges
bananas
apples
pears
coffee
tea
and a few other things. As time has passed (i’m 26), I found I can eat cheese no problem, but milk just ruins my stomach for 2-3 days. Oranges/orange juice/apple juice give me severe headaches and I end up coughing and producing a lot of phlegm (nice!). the other things I simply avoid.
dont bother with Tea/coffee, as I never liked it much in the first place, and things that contain a lot of additives (sweets etc) I leave alone.
Soya milk tastes like crap, and its not like I lead a super healthy lifestyle, but you can live quite easily without many of the things most others I know take for granted or can’t get through the day without.
Plus, you learn to control your behaviour. and not eating sweets as a kid means I got better teeth than about 90% of folk I know.
I’d also love someone to explain how Vega testing works. Its the one where you hold the metal bar in one hand and they stick another metal bar inbetween your toes and a dial says how allergic you are to something.
I can’t eat raw carrots. I don’t get the typical “allergic” reaction (hives and itching) but they will trigger a migraine. I can eat them cooked (like with a pot roast), but I can only have a few bites. Too many carrots, even if cooked, will trigger a migraine also.
I have to be careful about all root vegetables. It makes getting a salad in a restaurant lots of fun… they always put that damn shredded carrot in with the lettuce. I usually ask if it’s mixed in, and if so, I ask for my dressing on the side, so I can pick out the carrot before I eat it.
I also can’t drink wine or grape juice at all, and plain old grapes are on my “suspicious” list. I can eat a few at a time, but that’s it. If I sat down and ate a whole bunch of grapes, I’d get a migraine.
Guava. I’m very glad it’s guava and not, say, garlic, as there’s really not a lot of ‘hidden’ guava in the typical Canadian diet.
kitarak, your dairy-but-not-lactose problem sounds like mine, too ! A higher fat content (soft cheese, ice cream etc) makes it much worse. And I can’t stomach milk at all unless it’s cooked. But for some reason goat dairy products are fine. (I once stayed on a farm with goats and I had my first non-black coffee in years … it was divine, I had about six cups!)
And once, when I was suffering a miserable allergic reaction (not to food) and my face was swollen, eyes nearly shut, I met a charming fellow who jokingly commented that ‘allergies’ are just made up by people who want attention …
I have a similar problem with carrots. Actually mine is raw or cooked carrots give me a severe sore throat that lasts for a couple of hours.
Despite that, I still eat them. Masochistic tendencies are so attractive, don’t you think?
And I won’t even try to explain my body’s reaction to chiles, jalepenos, banana peppers, habaneros, or any other pepper aside from skanky nasty bell peppers. GAH!
Allergy is an area where quackery abounds. You can test by exposing someone to something and see if they develop symptoms. You can use a blood test to look for the IgE antibody. That’s about it for reliable testing.
I get a reaction to aspartame (NutraSweet). If I consume any, I suddenly feel like someone is driving an ice-pick into the back of my skull.
The interesting thing about this is that I have learned how much people consume of this stuff without even thinking about it. There have been many occasions when I have been offered (or asked for) “a Coke” and been given a diet Coke. In some cases, people just drank the diet stuff so regularly, they just thought of it as “Coke.” In other cases, such as in restaurants, I’ve been told things like “I assumed you meant a diet Coke.” When I asked why, they’ve sheepishly told me that in their experience, females always wanted the diet. :rolleyes:
In another case, a female friend invited us over to have ice cream sundaes and watch a World Series game. When we got there, we discovered that EVERYTHING she had gotten for the sundaes was artificially sweetened! And she didn’t have anything to drink that wasn’t sweetened with NutraSweet. She felt awful. I didn’t really care, and was perfectly happy with a glass of water, but I couldn’t help feeling really sorry for her, since obviously the fake food was “normal” for her. Now that they are finding links between excessive aspartame consumption and early alzheimers, I’m worried about her. Come to think of it, the last time I saw her, she didn’t seem to know who I was… Just kidding.
People have said that they are amazed at my ability to “taste the difference.” Taste the difference? Hardly. If I take a gulp from an unmarked glass of “coke” and suddenly feel like there’s an ice-pick in my head, then I know it’s diet!
Not only can I taste the difference, it makes me wanna barf. I avoid artificial sweeteners altogether because they taste nasty to me. I’m not gonna get on a soapbox, but it IS possible to diet without using the stuff (63.5 lbs down as of this morning).
As a crust began to develop over the lower half of his face, my husband and I were interested to learn he was allergic to mangos. Apparently, tropical fruit may cause problems for a lot of people. He should probably avoid cashews too, as they are related to the poison ivy family. Even the tiniest encounter with poison ivy and he will be covered in hours. Luckily, I haven’t seen this for myself and I hope I never will.
Now, my father is highly, highly allergic to corn - the call-911-his-throat-is-closing-up kind of allergic. And I’m not just talking about off the cob. Corn anything. Look at the ingredients for most everything you eat. Corn syrup is used to sweeten an endless number of foods. Poor Dad… but we have found alternatives for many food items that are corn syrup free. But seriously, look at the ingredients. Corn syrup is everywhere! It’s almost amazing.
On a more serious note, please be careful with epie pins, especially people at risk for heart attacks. Sometimes the symptoms of a heart attack are quite like the symptoms of anaphylactic shock. If you or someone you know is having a heart attack, but you think it is an allergic reaction, you could kill them if you use an epie pin. My father thought he was having a “corn attack,” but luckily a nurse was there who thought otherwise and stopped him from using his epie pin. My father’s cardiologist was furious that his primary care physician allowed him to carry an epie pin when he was at-risk.
Both are obviously very serious situations. Please be knowledgeable, so you may help friends and family in a crisis.
(this first bit is a little convoluted) My husband’s brother’s wife’s mother (no relation) is allergic or sensitive to just about any food you can think of. When her reactions get really bad, she CAN eat: rice and peach preserves. I’m not sure how long she is that restricted, but I do know that she’s eaten just those foods for a week at a time. Then she gets to add in one small portion of something else per day until she reacts again.
She also has loads of skin allergies as well - including titianium dioxide, which is in just about every facial product made, and can even be found in cake frosting. Poor lady.
For those of you with variable lactose intolerance maybe this will help. I recently saw a nutritionist and she said that lactose intolerance is magnified by the amount of fat in the item your eating. So something like cottage cheese would hurt less than say ice cream. She also gave me a list of low lactose items and cheeses so now I know I can eat cheddar with no problem, but brie would leave me in pain.
As far as my own intolerances/allergies;
-yellow #5 – tastes like burning
-garlic –sometimes a headache sometimes not
-MSG – feels like burning + headache
And, if anyone can figure this next one out I’ll hug you and squeeze you and love you forever and even call you George. Sometimes after eating this item (I have yet to pinpoint it although I think it may have to do with fermented items like vinegar, soy sauce etc…) the interior of my nose becomes excruciatingly itchy. It lasts for a few minutes and then I’m fine. It’s not too bad because I know the itch will subside, it’s the stares from my friends as I try to rip my nose off my face that bothers me.
When I eat raw carrots or avocado, my throat starts itching somethin’ fierce. I don’t know if it’s an allergy or an intolerance, but I avoid eating both of them. Well, I avoid avocado for the most part, but sometimes it’s hard to resist!
Those are the only reactions I have that I know of (to food, anyway), and no one else in my family reacts that way. My dad gets killer migraines if he has too much chocolate, which is terrible because he loves the stuff!
It took me forever and a day to find out that I can not eat onions and garlic. I don’t know if it’s an allergy or intolerance, I don’t really see the difference. When I was in college I started getting sick after eatting some things that had a lot of onions in it. Not always but I would get nasty gas, and almost right away.
Then after college I ended up having some garlic bread and got sick, the second day of my new job. Since then I have tried garlic bread and it always makes me sick, and it sucks because I love garlic bread.
Within the last couple of years I have gotten worse to onions, at first it was only fried onions that made me sick, easy enough to avoid, but then I started getting sick while eatting anything with onions in it. A couple of years ago I got ulcers in my esphogus, that sucks. Now if I eat onions or garlic, even a bit I get a terrible stomach ache, bad gas and sometimes get sick. It’s so bad that even if I get a little I can can tell and get sick. Sometimes I even get sick smelling the damn things, especially around Indian and other places that you can smell the spices.
What I really hate is every damn thing has onions in them. I have to make almost everything I eat now, even some pasta has onions in it and I can’t stand it. I hate having to read every little item in something only to find out the last thing is onion powder. I can’t even eat out much any more because of it.
I’m allergic to peppermint. I’ve suffered two ER visits due to reactions. One was from a drink mixed with peppermint schnapps, the other was from an OTC stomachache medicine.
So’s my mother. She didn’t develop it until I was a kid. Even smelling chocolate makes her queasy, let alone eating it. Obviously, I never baked brownies or chocolate cake as a preeteen or teenager.
Thank you, Broomstick . I perfrom many,many of these freakin things a day(while in the appropriate section of the lab). We have literally thousands of allergens to test against a patient’s serum for specific IgE. Serum antibody can be quantified as well and you get a class(1-6) rating, depending on the specificity and avidity of the antibody for the allergen. Most patient serum I assay for food allergies have either no appreciable antibody, or are a high class to only two clusters of foods. Shellfish and nuts.Thats it. Most people are class zero(no IgE) when tested against all other food types. You wouldn’t believe the number of negatives we churn out in a day. And when I say everything, Imean we have everything. Like some other posters already said what people commonly believe are allergies are in most cases intolerances. I’m trying to think of the strangest one I’ve seen…gotta be human semen Now airborne alergens, thats another matter.
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