How Did You -- or Someone You Know -- First Learn You Had A Certain Allergy or Sensitivity? (Share Your Stories!)

[seoulsearch]

Hey Everyone,

Some posts in the "Dragon Tears" thread (and here's to EXTRA "Lambie Kisses" for @Charlesiii ) had me thinking about how I discovered my own sensitivities to caffeine, alcohol, and other substances.

Back in high school, I was cramming for some kind of exam, and begged my mother to fix me a pot of coffee (which is odd, because my parents didn't drink coffee then. I can't remember if she went out and bought it just for me.) I don't remember how much I drank -- but I do remember that I didn't really sleep for something like the next 3 nights.

Experimentation made me realize that I'm also much more sensitive to caffeine than I think others are -- I can have a bowl of coffee-flavored ice cream and it will keep me awake. I also noticed that caffeine seems to super charge my appetite (I've often wondered if cutting out caffeine completely would help some people lose weight.)

Unfortunately, I've never been able to completely cut it out of my life (I still have about a half cup of coffee a day,) but I've definitely cut back.

As for alcohol, I learned early on that my reactions to it are apparently not normal. I get the "regular" symptoms to the extreme, like flushing all over my body almost immediately, and feeling like I'm going to toss my cookies. I kept hearing how drinking made other people feel "more social," "at ease," or helped them "forget their problems," but that's not how it made me feel at all. Half a glass would hit my stomach like a trampoline and bounce right back up.

Too much alcohol-flavored ice cream (rum raisin or Irish creme,) though I love it, has me feeling nauseous as well. (I pretty much only consume alcohol in foods, if any.)

I didn't understand it at the time, but many years later, I read that some Asians are missing an enzyme that processes alcohol -- I've never been tested, but I'm guessing that would be me. For simplicity, I just tell people I'm allergic (though I'm very, very rarely in any situations involving alcohol.)

And since I had such horrible reactions to what most people around me seemed to see as basic things, I never tried smoking or drugs, because I was pretty sure they would probably kill me right out of the gate!

I've come to see it as a blessing now, because even in my lowest times, I could never look to substances as a crutch. I'm also becoming more sensitive to scents, and have given up my beloved scented candles because the soot and fragrance now give me headaches.

I always find the wide variety of what people are sensitive to quite fascinating.

* How did you discover that you were allergic or sensitive to something? Did you have to go for medical care? Do you have to take something for it?

* What do you do now to prevent exposure? (Do you need a special diet, etc.?) Is it tough in public where you might get exposed? (Nut allergies, etc.)

* How have you seen allergies/sensitivities passed down in your family? Do your parents/relatives/children have the same ones, or different? What measures do you take to protect your family?

* What happened when you or a loved one was exposed to a "no-no" substance by mistake?

I have a friend who has so many sensitivities (the doctors can't explain,) that if we went out, we just told the waiter she was vegan (even though she wasn't) -- because it was easier than listing them all out.

How about you?

 

[CarriePie]

Reading that makes me thankful that I'm not allergic to coffee. My favorite drink is black coffee, absolutely nothing added to it. I started drinking coffee at a young age and honestly I didn't like it at first. I learned while I was still young that the reason I didn't like it is because every time I had tried it someone had put sugar and/or creamer into it. Once I tried it without anything added to it, I was in love with coffee. When I was in high school I'd keep a large thermos of black coffee in my locker.
I'd drink anyone here under the table when it comes to coffee

I'm not a big alcohol drinker. I don't like wine. Hard liquor is okay. I might have a drink of it once a year. But I do like a nice cold beer every once in a while. My closest loved one is allergic to hops. When I visit, they will sometimes have me put a wee little bit of my beer in a glass just so they can have a taste, but no more than that. I've probably only had 4 beers this year. Some years I have more, and then there's years when I won't have any at all. I seem to have more during election year though. I like to watch the debates and have a nice cold tankard of beer. Watching politics and having a beer seems to go together.

However, I can not stand IPA. Absolutely ghastly stuff. I had one on a plane flight one time and all through the flight I kept staring at the baggy that you hurl into. Next time I flew I requested a pilsner, but they were out and the lady started heading my way with an IPA. I must have had such a terrible look on my face, because she turned right around and headed back to get me a lager lol. I wouldn't say I'm allergic to IPA, but my tastebuds definitely are!

When I was a baby, I was allergic to chicken eggs. My great-grandfather raised quail. He'd give my mother quail eggs just for me. The quail eggs didn't affect me, but chicken eggs sure did (my mother told me about it, but I can't remember if she told me how I reacted).

And speaking of my childhood, my mother would put my playpen outside. We lived near the woods. My folks were big on the outdoors and I'm thankful for that!. One day, I was outside in my playpen and my mother had to run inside (maybe to use the bathroom) and whilst she was inside a swarm of bugs came along and bit me. I reacted so badly that my mother was afraid for my life. We lived out in the country. She quickly contacted my great-grandfather who went into the woods and found the plants that were needed to cure me. Whatever it was that he brought back from the woods, it made me well.

When I'm staying with my closest loved one, I make sure to make meals that don't have any ingredients that cause them reactions. No corn products and I have to use organic unrefined flour for all my baked goods. There are a few other things I must be careful about, but for the most part it's not difficult. I don't mind making the changes.

Oh, going back to the alcohol thing. Has anyone tried Kroger's brown butter bourbon truffle ice cream? Good night alive, that stuff is amazing. Someone needs to outlaw that stuff

 

[Lanolin]

I had to google IPA --it is Indian Pale Ale

 

[Lanolin]

Alcohol - Asian Flush is real. Bright Red Tomato face
Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Cannot handle too much - tears, nose running, tongue on fire

I think the antidote to these is yogurt or dairy? I seem to handle Baileys ok, am not lactose intolerant though

Coffee is too bitter for me, but I do drink tea, and coca-cola which has a little caffeine in it.
Sugar is probably the worst offender, I was put in hospital for being hypo on sugar. Thanks Ribena.

Otherwise that is probably the substances I avoid the most, or try to moderate (like sugar)

Only alcohol has made me vomit though. And a hangover is not nice.
I also don't like taking medicine as its terrible tasting, and I had to be convinced as a child that it was GOOD for me.

 

[Karlon]

Hey Everyone,

Some posts in the "Dragon Tears" thread (and here's to EXTRA "Lambie Kisses" for @Charlesiii ) had me thinking about how I discovered my own sensitivities to caffeine, alcohol, and other substances.

Back in high school, I was cramming for some kind of exam, and begged my mother to fix me a pot of coffee (which is odd, because my parents didn't drink coffee then. I can't remember if she went out and bought it just for me.) I don't remember how much I drank -- but I do remember that I didn't really sleep for something like the next 3 nights.

Experimentation made me realize that I'm also much more sensitive to caffeine than I think others are -- I can have a bowl of coffee-flavored ice cream and it will keep me awake. I also noticed that caffeine seems to super charge my appetite (I've often wondered if cutting out caffeine completely would help some people lose weight.)

Unfortunately, I've never been able to completely cut it out of my life (I still have about a half cup of coffee a day,) but I've definitely cut back.

As for alcohol, I learned early on that my reactions to it are apparently not normal. I get the "regular" symptoms to the extreme, like flushing all over my body almost immediately, and feeling like I'm going to toss my cookies. I kept hearing how drinking made other people feel "more social," "at ease," or helped them "forget their problems," but that's not how it made me feel at all. Half a glass would hit my stomach like a trampoline and bounce right back up.

Too much alcohol-flavored ice cream (rum raisin or Irish creme,) though I love it, has me feeling nauseous as well. (I pretty much only consume alcohol in foods, if any.)

I didn't understand it at the time, but many years later, I read that some Asians are missing an enzyme that processes alcohol -- I've never been tested, but I'm guessing that would be me. For simplicity, I just tell people I'm allergic (though I'm very, very rarely in any situations involving alcohol.)

And since I had such horrible reactions to what most people around me seemed to see as basic things, I never tried smoking or drugs, because I was pretty sure they would probably kill me right out of the gate!

I've come to see it as a blessing now, because even in my lowest times, I could never look to substances as a crutch. I'm also becoming more sensitive to scents, and have given up my beloved scented candles because the soot and fragrance now give me headaches.

I always find the wide variety of what people are sensitive to quite fascinating.

* How did you discover that you were allergic or sensitive to something? Did you have to go for medical care? Do you have to take something for it?

* What do you do now to prevent exposure? (Do you need a special diet, etc.?) Is it tough in public where you might get exposed? (Nut allergies, etc.)

* How have you seen allergies/sensitivities passed down in your family? Do your parents/relatives/children have the same ones, or different? What measures do you take to protect your family?

* What happened when you or a loved one was exposed to a "no-no" substance by mistake?

I have a friend who has so many sensitivities (the doctors can't explain,) that if we went out, we just told the waiter she was vegan (even though she wasn't) -- because it was easier than listing them all out.

How about you?

when i was around 19, i remember walking by a field with tall grass & various plants of low growth & i suddenly started to breakout in contact dermatitis. i never touched anything either, i think i got it by breathing the scents of the plants. that didn't last long, only had that issue for about 2 years. then i found out i was allergic to cats once when my friend & i went to another friends house to smoke pot i used a whole roll of paper towels from sneezing. my allergy to cats only went astray a couple of years ago. next, i was at a horse show around 1982 & i found out that i was allergic to horses. i still am.

 

[Lynx]

Reading that makes me thankful that I'm not allergic to coffee. My favorite drink is black coffee, absolutely nothing added to it. I started drinking coffee at a young age and honestly I didn't like it at first. I learned while I was still young that the reason I didn't like it is because every time I had tried it someone had put sugar and/or creamer into it. Once I tried it without anything added to it, I was in love with coffee. When I was in high school I'd keep a large thermos of black coffee in my locker.
I'd drink anyone here under the table when it comes to coffee

I'm not a big alcohol drinker. I don't like wine. Hard liquor is okay. I might have a drink of it once a year. But I do like a nice cold beer every once in a while. My closest loved one is allergic to hops. When I visit, they will sometimes have me put a wee little bit of my beer in a glass just so they can have a taste, but no more than that. I've probably only had 4 beers this year. Some years I have more, and then there's years when I won't have any at all. I seem to have more during election year though. I like to watch the debates and have a nice cold tankard of beer. Watching politics and having a beer seems to go together.

However, I can not stand IPA. Absolutely ghastly stuff. I had one on a plane flight one time and all through the flight I kept staring at the baggy that you hurl into. Next time I flew I requested a pilsner, but they were out and the lady started heading my way with an IPA. I must have had such a terrible look on my face, because she turned right around and headed back to get me a lager lol. I wouldn't say I'm allergic to IPA, but my tastebuds definitely are!

When I was a baby, I was allergic to chicken eggs. My great-grandfather raised quail. He'd give my mother quail eggs just for me. The quail eggs didn't affect me, but chicken eggs sure did (my mother told me about it, but I can't remember if she told me how I reacted).

And speaking of my childhood, my mother would put my playpen outside. We lived near the woods. My folks were big on the outdoors and I'm thankful for that!. One day, I was outside in my playpen and my mother had to run inside (maybe to use the bathroom) and whilst she was inside a swarm of bugs came along and bit me. I reacted so badly that my mother was afraid for my life. We lived out in the country. She quickly contacted my great-grandfather who went into the woods and found the plants that were needed to cure me. Whatever it was that he brought back from the woods, it made me well.

When I'm staying with my closest loved one, I make sure to make meals that don't have any ingredients that cause them reactions. No corn products and I have to use organic unrefined flour for all my baked goods. There are a few other things I must be careful about, but for the most part it's not difficult. I don't mind making the changes.

Oh, going back to the alcohol thing. Has anyone tried Kroger's brown butter bourbon truffle ice cream? Good night alive, that stuff is amazing. Someone needs to outlaw that stuff

With coffee I'd think it would be more like "I'd drink anyone here onto the ceiling" than under the table.


Dad recently developed an allergy to duck eggs. Been eating them all his life. Suddenly he's allergic. Still eats chicken eggs. I dunno how that works.

 

[Lynx]

As for my allergies, I'm allergic to dairy (not lactose intolerant, just allergic - I get the symptoms of a head cold.) I still eat it though. Just because I can't eat dairy doesn't mean I WON'T eat it.

I'm also allergic to shellfish, and I used to love eating shrimp. But alas that kind of allergic reaction cannot be so easily ignored.

I used to w*rk with a guy who got violently ill if he ate so much as a smidgen of even the weakest chocolate. I'll take my dairy and shellfish allergies and be happy.

 

[enril]

I'm sensitive (likely as a result of the aforementioned coffee incident) to many things, Oil or really fatty foods gives me a horrible stomach feeling, sweating, temperature fluctuations, etc, and sugar makes me feel really bad, stomachache and other things. I don't really eat it ever so it's not on my main list but raw spinach burns, and walnuts similarly.
Hot food, makes me have a feeling like heartburn, except it stays in the stomach, and sticks around for up to 12 hours.
same for too sweet or too seasoned foods. Although my doctor gave me something called pepsid that can prevent those burning symptoms from happening, if I take it in the morning, it's good for one day. Same as caffeine, I don't abuse that. He told me to take a pill a day for a couple weeks and that might fix it, but it didn't work. He said it probably is caused by the coffee incident short circuiting the stomachs acid management systems.

Caffeine (not from coffee) makes me go into tunnel vision mode, hyper focus, my mind speeds up, and I basically treat it like a drug, with respect, because I like that effect, and would like it to stay that way, so I have 200mg no more than a time or two a month. mostly to help study. It's really weird, and probably a side effect of the coffee incident, although that could be just psychic suggestion.
Maybe sometime I'll make a thread to talk about the interesting things that my body and mind can do.

Edit oh you want stories?
I learned about the spinach one from eating spinach one day, fresh from my garden plot, and the walnuts from a nut mix (erghhh that sucked).
The fat/sugar/spicy is more recent. Probably the coffee incident. I started having nasty burning and so I did some experimenting.

 

[Karlon]

"i'm allergic to my wife when she........"

 

[enril]

As for my allergies, I'm allergic to dairy (not lactose intolerant, just allergic - I get the symptoms of a head cold.) I still eat it though. Just because I can't eat dairy doesn't mean I WON'T eat it.

I'm also allergic to shellfish, and I used to love eating shrimp. But alas that kind of allergic reaction cannot be so easily ignored.

I used to w*rk with a guy who got violently ill if he ate so much as a smidgen of even the weakest chocolate. I'll take my dairy and shellfish allergies and be happy.

 

[seoulsearch]

"i'm allergic to my wife when she........"

I'm going to take a guess and say when she's been with the horses.

My eyes widened when you mentioned your allergy to horses because doesn't your wife run a horse farm?

It's awesome that she can do what she loves and hopefully it doesn't cause you any harm.

 

[NightTwister]

When I was three-years-old I contracted staph pneumonia. I was given penicillin and had an allergic reaction. The had to wait until it was out of my system before they could administer a different anti-biotic. I was clinically dead for a minute or so at the worst of it, but they were able to revive me.

I'm still thankful for my aunt's fervent prayers.

 

[Karlon]

I'm going to take a guess and say when she's been with the horses.

My eyes widened when you mentioned your allergy to horses because doesn't your wife run a horse farm?

It's awesome that she can do what she loves and hopefully it doesn't cause you any harm.

your guess is incorrect. actually, i was thinking in a comical sense. yes, she owns & operates a horse farm. i'm there maybe 3 times a year. no harm done by the farm.

 

[Karlon]

When I was three-years-old I contracted staph pneumonia. I was given penicillin and had an allergic reaction. The had to wait until it was out of my system before they could administer a different anti-biotic. I was clinically dead for a minute or so at the worst of it, but they were able to revive me.

I'm still thankful for my aunt's fervent prayers.

holyheavens!! wow!! the Lord blessed you with a miracle.