Monday, March 31, 2008

Food Allergies

Anyone want to read a list of things I've developed allergies to over the years? I thought so!

In no particular order:
Watermelon
Avocado
Canteloupe
Honeydew melon
Cherimoya
Kohlrabi
Mango
Papaya
Pineapple
Persimmon (the hard variety, not the soft one)
Walnuts
Pecans
Brazil nuts
Hazel nuts
Wheat flour

All of the above result in some sort of throat-constricting, mouth-itching uncomfortableness. If my lips are even slightly chapped, avocados make me swell up like Angelina Jolie. Raw cookie dough? Can't. Even some chocolates (e.g. Fannie May, Ghirardelli) make me itch, no idea what ingredient causes that. And the nut thing? I can't eat a cashew that's even come into contact with a pecan.

Interestingly, once any of the above are cooked (although I've never cooked watermelon), I'm fine.

Also a little strange, I have no problem with peanuts, strawberries, shellfish - all the typical allergies.

However, allergies be damned, I say! I just finished a BLT with overeasy egg & avocado. And later on for a snack I may have some canteloupe. Yes, the itching and constriction is annoying (and a little scary in the case of watermelon). But it's never been so bad as to require medical attention. So I'll continue to get a little satisfaction by eating the bastards.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi! i just came across your blog and noticed the post about allergies. i have allergies under the sun, including the sun. i kid you not. i get sun poisoning and i have to watch every single food i eat or detergent/cosmetics/fabrics/etc that i use. so i always carry with me an Epi-Pen, Nasal Spray, Allergy Eye Drops, Urbason (similar to Prednisone) and Allegra. reason why

i carry urbason with me is, because, we live in europe now (from the DC area) and we travel a whole lot. sometimes, there's a difficulty with the language translation - so my doc thinks it's best that i take those with me for precaution. i only take it in when it's only necessary.

be careful with that throat constricting that you're talking about. hence, be careful what you eat. not to scare you - that might lead to Anaphylaxis, which is life-threatening. here's the link for more info.
http://www.foodallergy.org/anaphylaxis/
index.html

i had to break the link into 2 lines. it's kinda long.

Vicki said...

Hi Rita -
I always watch my symptoms to see if they're getting worse, so far so good, but I know if they get worse, I'll have to give up certain things.
Thanks for the link!
Vicki