Food allergies?

[Nickie]

Well, I found out that I'd make a lousy Hawaiian. I don't eat pineapple because I don't like the taste. However, at a luau the other night, I got hold of some food that was laced with it. I could smell pineapple all over the place, but couldn't see or taste it.
A few hours later, at home, I was worshiping the white porcelain god, as they say. I heaved up my heels for about 45 minutes, went to the ER, where the nurses stopped the nausea. I got about 2 hours of sleep that night. The PA and the nurses ruled out everything else, and i found that I definitely have to avoid the Hawaiian mainstay of dining.
Honestly, I thought I was gonna die, as Roseanne Rosannadanna used to say.

 

[Mike $]

Sorry to hear that, I hope you're feeling better. Hopefully you aren't allergic to Spam as well.

 

[badhabits]

Maybe it was just some bad (spoiled) food?

 

[rainbow21]

Sorry to hear about your ordeal and glad you are recovered. It is not clear that pineapple is the culprit.

I recommend contacting the hosts to see if anyone else got ill. It could be from any dish. Assuming it was pineapple may be jumping the gun (you can avoid it anyway since you don’t like it).

I have a number of food allergies. The worst is to fish where I may get an anaphylactic reaction with throat and mouth lining swelling (potentially fatal if the airway closes). Another reaction is itching and a hive outbreak. I associate the runs and stomach symptoms with food poisoning more than allergies.

Maybe it was just some bad (spoiled) food?

 

[Keith5523]

Well, I found out that I'd make a lousy Hawaiian. I don't eat pineapple because I don't like the taste. However, at a luau the other night, I got hold of some food that was laced with it. I could smell pineapple all over the place, but couldn't see or taste it.
A few hours later, at home, I was worshiping the white porcelain god, as they say. I heaved up my heels for about 45 minutes, went to the ER, where the nurses stopped the nausea. I got about 2 hours of sleep that night. The PA and the nurses ruled out everything else, and i found that I definitely have to avoid the Hawaiian mainstay of dining.
Honestly, I thought I was gonna die, as Roseanne Rosannadanna used to say.

Gosh that's terrible! Glad you're better. I've had certain food allergies most of my life, so please just ask your Primary Care Physician to test for your food allergies. The first test is a simple blood test, and you figure it out from there. Just knowing what you're allergic to will be empowering. Good luck. (I'll let the rest make the pineapple uke jokes). -Keith

 

[ksiegel]

I can relate...

I spent two nights in the hospital a few years back after getting a great hamburger at Five Guys... about 10 minutes after they grilled the bell peppers...

Turns out I'm allergic to bell peppers...

 

[Joe T]

Sorry that you had to go through that Nickie. I hope you are feeling better.

As Roseanne Rosannadanna used to say. It's always something.

 

[KohanMike]

Well, I found out that I'd make a lousy Hawaiian. I don't eat pineapple because I don't like the taste. However, at a luau the other night, I got hold of some food that was laced with it. I could smell pineapple all over the place, but couldn't see or taste it.
A few hours later, at home, I was worshiping the white porcelain god, as they say. I heaved up my heels for about 45 minutes, went to the ER, where the nurses stopped the nausea. I got about 2 hours of sleep that night. The PA and the nurses ruled out everything else, and i found that I definitely have to avoid the Hawaiian mainstay of dining. Honestly, I thought I was gonna die, as Roseanne Rosannadanna used to say.

I think it might have been something spoiled. I had the same incident a good many years ago after eating in a restaurant and it turned out to be rancid oil used in the cooking.

Otherwise, I'm lactose intolerant and completely, totally avoid anything made from or has milk in it, read every label. I actually frequent vegan restaurants and buy vegan products only for that reason.

 

[Nickie]

Nope, nobody else got sick, and there were at least 40 people there eating. Definitely pineapple allergy. I use only very few dairy products and am lactose tolerant. Milk cows are treated poorly on large farms....as are the calves.

 

[Nickie]

Sorry to hear that, I hope you're feeling better. Hopefully you aren't allergic to Spam as well.

Thanks. I don't like Spam. Especially in my email.

 

[KohanMike]

Nope, nobody else got sick, and there were at least 40 people there eating. Definitely pineapple allergy. I use only very few dairy products and am lactose tolerant. Milk cows are treated poorly on large farms....as are the calves.

I've heard it said, "Cows milk is solely for making little cows into big cows." I know lactose intolerance from cows milk is the reason for colitis, ileitis, Crohn's disease. My identical twin brother was diagnosed 30 years ago with colitis and suffered for years, having to take expensive medications and tests. I had a very mild case, until I went on a diet and arbitrarily stopped all milk intake, within a week my mild case was gone.

I was using a milk substitute and while eating a bowl of cereal, read on the carton, "Recommended by the Ileitis & Colitis Foundation." I immediately told my brother, who at first shrugged it off, but I convinced him to stop milk. He did and within 2 weeks the colitis was gone. He also said that his doctor has a plaque on the wall that he's a fellow member of the Ileitis & Colitis Foundation and never mentioned milk to him.

He made an appointment and told the doctor about stopping milk, but the doctor said it's a coincidence and wanted to do another $500 test. Needless to say my brother never went back to that doctor again and never suffered from colitis again. I've told a few doctors about milk, they immediately deny it. Those incidents are one of the reasons I've become my own health advocate and don't leave major decisions solely in the doctor's hands.

 

[Nickie]

Yes, we are each the Captain of our own health team.
I drink oat milk almost exclusively, it takes less water to grow oats than other milk product crops. I've also used almond, soy, and cashew milk.

 

[engravertom]

I’m very sorry that you suffered that way. I was diagnosed with celiac disease 14 years ago. I used to get cold sweats, bad cramps, and even pass out. I still have a lot of gut issues, but not as bad.

I generally drink oat milk too, but I guess the occasional ice cream will have to stop.

Hope you never feel that bad again!

 

[oldjazznut]

I seem to be allergic to most vegetables ......... except french fries and pinto beans. ...

 

[Mookulele]

Sorry you were so ill, Nickie! Hope you are feeling better now!

I don't have any true food allergies (thank goodness!) but there are several foods that I avoid because of Oral Allergy Syndrome.

As long as I can remember, certain fruits, vegetables and nuts would make my mouth, lips and throat itch and swell. Sometimes I'd get weird cramps and nausea from those foods too. Oddly, could tolerate some of them cooked but not raw. Or in winter but not spring. Made no sense at all but my allergist and other docs were sure it wasn't a true food allergy. They didn't know what was going on though, so I had an Epi Pen for awhile because I was doing a lot of flying and my doc worried about a reaction in the air.

Finally, in my 30s, a coworker told me about Oral Allergy Syndrome. His allergist at UPenn diagnosed him with it and gave him a chart that he shared with me. Suddenly everything made sense! In OAS, your body thinks a protein from a food is "close enough" to a pollen or mold you actually are allergic to and reacts. That's why sometimes a food that bothers you raw won't when it's cooked; the protein structure is changed by the cooking process. Explained why some seasons were impossible for me to eat cantaloupe, for one example, and others I'd probably get away with it too. When I was already dealing with a lot of pollens, OAS was more likely to flare up.

If you have allergies and have been called a picky eater your whole life or you have kids that inexplicably avoid certain foods, OAS may be the culprit. It generally doesn't produce anaphylactic reactions in people, though it can. Still can be scary though and very uncomfortable.