What is it?

[goodmom809]

    Hi, everyone - newbie here.

    About ten years ago my lips would swell in the middle of the night - not often, and controlled by taking a couple of benedryl.

    Five years ago I had my first anaphylactic reaction to food. It started about six hours after I'd eaten. First, diarrhea, then hives and horrible itching all over. I was treated and released from the ER. The figured I was allergic to shrimp because we'd had deep fried shrimp for dinner. The next night I was back in the ER - the doc had no idea why I would have another reaction while on prednisone and benedryl.

    A couple of weeks later my insurance ran out, so I never had the opportunity to consult an allergist.

    Fast forward three years. I tried shrimp again, and had no problems. In fact, I'd had no allergic reactions to anything. Still no insurance, so I was thankful that it hadn't happened again. I was visiting a friend one weekend in Sacramento. We had Chipotle for lunch, an asian chicken salad for dinner and a couple of bottles of red wine between us. I woke up at 3 am with diarrhea, then the itching started and my face began to swell. My friend called an ambulance and I was taken to the ER. (Funny story at the end of that visit, but not pertinient at the moment!)

    Three months later I finally had insurance (I don't care what anyone says, Obamacare saved my life!) and I started seeing an allergist.

    Through blood testing, we've found that I'm allergic to tree nuts, sesame and sunflower. I've been trying so hard to stay away from those things - sunflower is the hardest since it's an ingredient in many ingredients.

    The problem is, I'm still having reactions on occasion, even though I KNOW I have not ingested any of my known allergens. My allergist is also puzzled as to why my reactions always occur about six hours after I eat my last meal of the day. 3 am is my witching time.... She sent me to a GI doc who found no problems with gluten or any other GI concerns.

    HELP!! Is it also possible to have an allergy to vegetable oil? How do you know? It seems that one time I'll eat something and I'm fine, and another time I eat the same thing and I'm in the ER.

    How do you all live this way? I'm having a hard time....

[masterblogger]

hi :)


welcome to medhelp :)

well, I had almost the same problems. And I got tested positive to histamine 2 years ago. But I found a dietary supplement called Daosin, its against histamine intolerance. But you need to be tested also! I don't wanna recommend it to you if you are not intolerant to histamine even if you can buy it easy online.

Its pretty easy, you need to take a cap right before you eat and its avoiding the allergic reaction. ;)

[goodmom809]

I will ask my Dr. about this next week.  Thank you!

[masterblogger]

and? What does your doc said? :)

[SassyLassie]

Hello,

I can relate to your frustrations. I have experienced them myself. Food allergies can be the pits to control and to find. Some days, a person is OK, then others, no way.

For me, it was stress that was causing the fluctuations in the way I could handle the so-called allergies. I know when the body is in flight-or-fight, our immune system is weakened and this can cause allergies to things we were normally never allergic to in the first place.

I do know that our allergies can change about every 3 to 5 years. They can also return for apparently no reason.

As to allergy to vegetable oils, yes, it is possible, especially if it is soy based. So many people have soy allergies, myself included, if this is the case, you will be adding allergens to all you eat and feel rotten. If possible, try experimenting with different oils and see how you feel.

[goodmom809]

Thanks for your response!  I think I was tested for soy and ok with it.  I see the dr. next week and will try to narrow this one down again.  It IS frustrating not knowing when something will affect me.  I pretty much just eat beef and nothing else.