Is it possible to be allergic to meat?

[PeaceMouse]

For the last year or so, I have been having horrible sharp pains in my stomach and right abdomen after eating meat- usually I only get it with pork and beef- I have not noticed any problems with whole fish(I only eat the whole imported mackerel we have at work)  and some chicken.   The pains usually give me severe stomach cramps for the next few days- even after I have passed it out.  At first I tried to rule it out as me eating too much meat and making myself constipated, but I limited it to one day a week eating meat and switching the meats to see if it was possible an allergic reaction to a certain kind of meat.

Last night I was eating a small amount of beef and started getting these pains, I didn't finish eating because I felt like I was going to throw up and I had hives and my lymph nodes were swollen (I had my boyfriend double check to make sure I wasn't just imagining it) and he told me my whole torso and only my torso was extremely hot to the touch.   I was reluctant to go to the ER because I cannot afford it, so I took some bennadryl and stuck my head in the window to get fresh air so I could breathe- it worked after about half an hour of tunnel vision.  The abdomen pains are still there today though.

Has anyone else had this problem?  Dose anyone know if this is an allergic reaction to what I am eating or could it possible be something wrong with my GI track?  Any suggestions on what this might be or any known treatments would be greatly appreciated.

[Jjewelz1987]

Meat today is injected with all kinds of chemicals and hormone. Your body could be reacting to those .  Honestly , pork is so bad for you, and most people shouldn't even eat pork AT ALL. Pig is an absolute filthy animal and it has connections with causing tons of different parasites etc.  Everyone would be better off eliminating all pork from their diet. Try sticking to turkey and chicken, poultry is much more healthy anyway.

[ChitChatNine]

You might want to look into the possibility of a milk allergy -- sodium casien is oftentimes used as a preservative and sometimes can be cross-reactive.  Just a thought.

[Colorado_Leo]

If you have not checked into the Blood Type Diet by Dr D'Adamo, do. Pork & beef don't get along with blood type A. I know a number of health-consciois people whose lives were transformed by this info.

[TStull65]

My husband had very similar symptoms and was recently diagnosed with a fairly newly discovered cause of beef pork and lamb allergy from a tick bite. If you google red meat allergies it will come up. Hope this helps.

[FurballsMom]

Thanks

[ChitChatNine]

Here's a link to Benadryl - they have coupon offers -

https://www.benadryl.com/coupons

C~

[ChitChatNine]

Benadryl works much better than Zyrtec and Clariten which are better suited, as I understand and told to me by my kids, for seasonal and indoor allergies v food.

C~

[FurballsMom]

Oh, yes, Benadryl really will help.  Sometimes a bit of breakthrough burning with the GERD will occur because of the food sensitvities, even though I'm pretty careful.  Benadryl really helps with this, too.  It also helps when I get that slight feeling like I'm trying to swallow a hard rubber ball I get from all these allergies.  I hadn't thought of buying the liquid, but even the adult pills will work for me.  It just takes longer, as was mentioned.  I have to stick with what I can afford, but I do understand the reasoning for the liquid.

[SassyLassie]

I did not know that Benadryl could help with food allergies, that is great to know.

I get a stomach ache alot after eating chicken or beef (two more allergies of mine) I mean, I can take just two bites, and wham-o, the tummy pain begins. Other times, however, I do not get the pain, it is so weird.

You know, I think a lot of times, for me at least, it is all the "additives" they are putting into our food. There are so many "chemicals" now, and no one really knows if they are allergic to them until it is too late.

[ChitChatNine]

Oh --- mention to your Grandmother that Benadryl now makes the liquid in take-along spoons (for kids actually) that she can adjust the dosing accordingly.  I wish they had this when my kids were small -- I used to use a syringe med dropper and carry one ready-to-go in a plastic ziploc bag and needless to say, it did get messy at times!

C~

[seattlemom2plus]

I don't know if this will help at all either, but my mother-in-law has an allergy to sesame that causes this.  She eats meat, but there are a lot of things that include cooking with sesame that give her an allergic reaction right away.  So maybe check some of the things that you ate or see if this is something that has been an ingredient that bothers you.  I know you mentioned you didn't have health insurance, so I thought I would share with you that she also carries around liquid Benadryl in case she accidentally eats something with sesame in it.  It seems to help her quicker than the tablets.  She developed this when she was about 40.

[ChitChatNine]

Hi,

My daughter carries an epi pen because bee stings cause her tongue to swell!  When you get oral swelling, it can be very serious.

Good Luck -- glad you were able to stop back to get some info here

C~

[PeaceMouse]

Thank you both for your responses- I didn't know the allergies could get that bad.  Since I had the reactions to the meat- I'm eating a whole vegetarian diet- I'm scared to eat meat now.  My tongue is still swollen slightly so I lisp my words trying to say them clear, so I will defiantly take the advice of going to an allergist because its been almost a week.  Also- thank you for the tip about the epi-pen- my boyfriend said something about me carrying one too, I think that is defiantly something I will have to get- I defiantly don't want to have to go to the ER with a relapse symptom.  I will post after I see an allergist.

[ChitChatNine]

Hi,

I'd probably see an allergist because although I'm not a doctor, my children have anaphylaxis to different foods and what you describe may have been a life-threatening situation.  The hot to the touch, swelling of the tongue are all immediate reactions and the subsequent ones are probably delayed .. the immediate ones can progress and without an epi-pen one may not be able to reverse the process with Benadryl alone.

Also, after taking Benadryl in situation as you describe, our allergist has told us to be very careful 4-6hrs later when the Benadryl wears off -- to be wary of a rebound effect that can be worse than the initial allergic reaction.

Meat and eggs are two real items to be careful about ....

I hope you feel better soon ...

C~

[seattlemom2plus]

I actually have a similar issue which is why I normally switch to a vegetarian diet.  Fish does not bother me neither does shrimp.  But red meats and sometimes even chicken seems to cause cramps in my stomach and also constipates me.  Other people in my household do not have this problem.  I have always had a sensitive stomach though so I just attributed it to this.  I do eat meat when I am pregnant as that is what my body craves but yes it's hard on my digestive system and I still have to take breaks from it.  Keep us updated on this, I'm certainly curious what you find out or discover.

[PeaceMouse]

Last night after eating a small amount of eggs my tongue started to go numb and tingle- then it felt huge and heavy and i could not keep it in my mouth.  I looked in the mirror and saw a red dot on the tip of my tongue that was not normally there and my tongue kind of hurt and looked swollen.  I could breathe ok, but it took almost three hours for my tongue to fit back into my mouth and half that time the numbness had faded to the front of the tongue.  Today I still cannot feel the very tip of my tongue and the red dot is gone, but I have a lisp that I cannot get rid of that I did not have before- it's very alarming.  I heard that it could have been an allergy to the meat, a protein intolerance, vitamin b12 deficiency or it could be something like MS.  I am planning on going to a doctor but do not know what kind of doctor to go to for this predicament?  A neuro?  A general practitioner?  Or another kind of specialist?