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Allergic to Vanilla?

I think I am allergic to vanilla extract or eggs but I can't be sure. For as long as I can remember, I havn't been able to eat cookies, cake, cupcakes, brownies, custard icecream, and vanilla ice cream in general. For some reason, I am able to eat short bread cookies and soft serve ice cream without getting my allergic reaction. What happens, is my throat swells up almost immediately, only to the point where it's uncomfortable to swallow. Then after awhile, I get a stomach ache and sometimes I throw up, but sometimes not.  I do not eat these things at all, although sometimes I will come across something I think I am not allergic to, and I get my allergic reaction from it. (Always some kind of desert food.) Any feedback? Is it all in my head, and it is possible to be allergic to vanilla or eggs? I know one time I handled eggs and then I rubbed my eyes, causing them to get red and puffy. (Also, for some reason I don't eat cooked eggs. I just have never eaten them.)
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Avatar universal
Hi I sm allergic to salicylates. I do the Feingold diet. I have allergies to anything containing salicylates, which vanillin is one of them. I'm allergic to dyes not only in foods, but in makeup. Can't wear perfume it is Salicylate. I had an egg allergy when I was a baby and allergic to penicillin. I have allergies to other meds. Can't take aspirin has Salicylate. Long story short look into Salicylate intolerance. I've been itching for years allergy to spinach (since childhood) brought it out since I've been premenopausal. Have to watch everything I ingest and put on my skin . I ate something with vanillin and broke out all over my face. Natural vanilla without artificial flavor is okay. Cocoa not  milk chocolate is okay for me.look up Salicylate intolerance I have a feeling that could be it. Also I must take dye free meds. Hope this helps.
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16877283 tn?1452089047
I recently experienced an itchy reaction, about 45 min. after I'd had something (specifically) with vanilla on it. The itchiness was pretty intense on my legs...bug bite like welts appeared all over them. Scratching only intensified the itch, and it lasted about 24 hrs. I get a similar reaction to blueberries.
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1 Comments
Do you eat other berries? Like blackberries, strawberries etc.?
Avatar universal
I have suffered from the itchy, burning, crusty, and what appeares to be bug bites described here. The short story is I self-diagnosed the problem as an allergy to something I was eating at home that I wasn't while on the road. I narrowed the trouble down to eating sweets especially the wife's chocolate chip cookies and other baked goodies. I then started narrowing down the different ingredients and ended up with VANILLA as the problem. So I suggest here that you too may be suffering from an allergy. I might suggest vanilla as a starting point in your search. You might do an internet search on vanilla and itching to verify what I am suggesting. Whatever is your cause I wish you luck. If you do find your problem I hope you share it here with others as I have. Greg
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168348 tn?1379357075
Interesting .. you'd think something as simple as vannila would be ok for everybody but obviously it's really not at all!

C~
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Avatar universal
Hey Alyssa! ChitChat had a very good answer for you I believe. I just wanted to comment on the vanilla extract issue since you should know that many of them contain gluten (one thing I had to learn on a gluten-free diet!) so maybe that could just be part of your problem.  
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168348 tn?1379357075
Hi -- this is a good question to ask.  I don't really know BUT I did some preliminary searches for you and came up with this .. written by another parent:

vanillin, vanilla, and artificial colors, in addition to the "big seven" (Eggs, corn, wheat, soy, nuts, dairy, shellfish) could be causing the reaction.

VANILIN is something to explore.  From reading other accounts written by parents, many of their children who have WHEAT problems also have Vanilla(n) issues, too.

Welcome!

C~

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