Community Chat

[pggoody]

Do you have any food allergies that came on suddenly? I know someone that was a 3 or 4 cup coffee drinker for over 10 years.  Now one cup makes her extremely anxious. I am not sure if it's an allergy or  her body reacting to the caffeine . She tried drinking it after eating and same thing. I have told her to experiment with decaf.  I am not a coffee drinker so can't comment on the effects of coffee.  I am allergic to chocolate and have been all of my life.  

[Roni]

You can develop an allergy to anything at any point in your life.  I've developed a severe allergy to mangos...and I used to be able to eat them.  As an RN I've seen it over and over again when I worked in an ENT office - and we dealt with allergies.  Some things it seems you're just always allergic to, other you sensitize yourself to them...

[tends2dogs]

This isn't a food incident, but my husband was never allergic to penicillin in his life.  In fact, he took it for a long period of time post transplant.  This past spring he did a round of amoxicillin and had a severe allergic reaction that required steroids to clear up.

I always knew that an allergy to something could happen at any time in your life and this was an example of that happening.

[cotton4me]

One can develop allergies at any time in life.  I didn’t have any food allergies until later in life, at about 50 years old.  One of them is a wheat allergy that I never had before.  My symptoms - mouth bleeds, throat swells/burns, and my hair falls out.  I was worried about thinning hair but when I stopped eating wheat I started getting little hair sprouts all over my head.  Thank goodness for gluten free foods. 

[kdgn]

I have a SIL who used to be able to eat shrimp without any problems. One evening she had shrimp for dinner and started to get a reaction, hives I think. She ate shrimp again and that time she started to have severe reactions. Now she steers clear of shrimp; when we go out to eat at a sushi place she specifically asks about cross contamination. 

[Burnsite]

Hi, pggoody, 

    If coffee disagrees with her now, it could be b/c of stomach irritation or some other cause than allergy.  So she should discuss it with her doctor.  It could be a difference in her heart beat, too.  I'm not playing doctor, but my sister had to switch to decaf years ago because it was discovered that real coffee had begun to speed up her heart beat to a dangerous level. They aren't always age related--my sister was in her early thirties when she had to switch to decaf.

    I have a number of food allergies and from this I know that allergies often come on quite suddenly.  An allergic reaction involves swelling of the mouth or tongue, hives, a rash, etc.  It wouldn't just cause more nervousness. 

   My worst allergy came suddenly, and was caused by bananas, one of my (former) favorite foods.  Fortunately they are easy to avoid! 

[nun ya]

yes, I haven't had chicken, turkey. eggs etc for at least 20 yrs. I was fine with them in my teens, then started getting severe stomach pains everytime I ate. 

I now read labels, a lot of companies now use turkey and chicken to make pepperoni, sausage etc. Even Subway - all their lunchmeant is turkey based.

[Krimpette]

When I was growing up, my folks had a strawberry patch in their garden.  I ate strawberries for much of my younger life.  Went away one year and had strawberries and cream for dessert.  By the time we got back to the motel, my friends were watching me continually breaking out in welts.  I didn't eat strawberries for many years after that, but gradually worked myself into being able to eat them again, though they're not my favorite berry.  I often wondered if it was something in the soil they had been grown in.

[Suzeecat]

Has your friend recently started any new medications?  It's possible some medication could make her more sensitive to caffeine.

[AnikaBrodie]

Shellfish.  I had a severe allergic reaction to shrimp several years ago.  Symptoms:  hives on face and upper body, rash, temp elevation.  So, now I don't eat any type of shellfish.  I've always loved it and used to be able to eat it with no problems, but don't want to face a possibility of another allergic reaction.