Hello,

This began early january. I woke up in the middle of the night scratching and itching like crazy, at teh time I was on a acne medication and thought I was having an allergic reaction, that or stress. Well now over the past few months shortly after I have eaten food I will suddenly get hives and puffy lips, bump on my forehead, itchy around my waistline that puffs up to hives. Examples of what I ate right before it would occur; one time i had a burrito and chips and salsa, and I cant remember all the details of everything I hate in teh past months when this has happened but its seems to be wheat or flour?. A few weeks after the burrito incident I ate pretty much a whole pizza and became violently ill, sick for 3 days, vomitting etc... could have been food poisoning but im not sure. Basically none of these foods has ever bothered me. My dad is lactose intolerant, I however can still eat quite a few things he cant. I do know for fact I cant even touch milk it gets so bad, and I cant have spicy food or most fruits with skin on them that I used to always enjoy. If I have an apple I get itchy gums and throat and bad bloated stomach and alot of pain.

Now the past 3 days I have had a reaction everyday. It seems that a warning sign is my head starts to itch ALOT, almost as if I could itch forever without fully relieveing it. The other night I had mediteranian food, never had a problem with it before, I had some meat, rice, pita and hummus. 5 minutes or so into it i got teh bump on my lip in the same spot I usually get it as well as a few more on my body. Food like that has NEVER bothered me. Then lastnight I had I had some cinnamon bread with a little peanut butter on it, about 10 minutes later I got the hive on my lip opposite side this time, the forehead bump, and many more around my shoulders. Also note I am aware of lots of peoples allergies to peanuts however I have always eaten peanuts and peanut butter almost daily. In fact the past few weeks I would average a whole bag of shelled salted peanuts a week with zero problems. Now today, I wake up and my right eye lids are swollen, yesterday when i woke up my left eye lids were swollen. It seems to be getting somewhat worse each time it happens as far as hives etc....

I do have seasonal allergies but these symptoms are completely different, with my seasonal i just get teh itchy eyes, maybe a little congested and thats it. At this point I dont know what to think, I am going to try and make an appointment with an allergist today but in the meantime I am afraid to eat anything. I am starving but I also fear my throat closing up or something as I tend to worry alot, and suffer panic attacks when physical things happen to me. Again, this just started this year and I am wondering if they developed very quickly suddenly, an example is in the past I got to a point where I couldnt eat grapes anymore, bad reaction, stomach etc.. but now I can eat them all the time. also should mention I usually get the very bloated stomach when this occurs, it was so bad lastnight it hurt like I was going to burst.

Any help is GREATLY appreciated, any suggestions on whats a safe bet to eat? im starving. :(

Yep, I feel your pain. I too am bloated all the time- the culprits I am pretty sure at this point (although still not 100%) are wheat, soy, yeast and a couple others. My food allergies just spontaneously appeared this fall, along with a whole bunch of other environmental allergies, and it is no fun. I think the allergist is definatly the first step, but in the mean time try to stay away from egg, wheat, corn, soy, yeast, nuts and dairy. I have read that they are the most common allergens, and can be found in tons of foods. If you're having reactions every time you eat, then some or all of these may be the culprit.

Start keeping a VERY detailed food journal for when you go into the allergist. Record what you eat, all ingredients, which is hard when you eat out or eat processed foods but try to refrain from restaurants/ things with a ton of ingredients that have names you don't recognize until you get your tests. If these simply can't be avoided, then just record what you can. Makes sure to note the type of reaction you have, and how long it takes to spring up afterwards.

As for anaylphalaxis, I can see why you are concerned, but I think you should be okay until you get into see the doctor. The most common foods which send people into shock are nuts, fish and shellfish, sometimes eggs and sometimes coconut. I think if you stay away from those, you should be fine. Fruits and veggies are probably pretty safe. But it might be a good idea to make sure there is someone around whenever you eat, just in case.

As for foods you can eat, I can't give you much help there. Some say meats like lamb, that is not your every day meats, are okay. I have found I can generally eat rice without any problem. Skin and cook your fruits and vegetables, you probably already knew that though and just try to keep your meals as simple as possible. The less ingredients you eat at one time, the less your odds are of reacting and the better you will be able to identify what is giving you the problem.

Best of luck
A

Well I got a friend who has this thing called celiac disease and whenever he eats anything with soy or wheat his stomach starts hurting and he gets red patches on his skin. Basically he had to change up his whole diet and proly will have to for the rest of his life. Maybe you should look into this and see if it resembles what you have?

Thank you both for your replies, very insightful. My mom did mention the celiac disease. I guess the most confusing part is that most of the time I seem to be able to eat these things with no problem. Even Yesterday and the day before I had waffles, no reaction. And it wasnt til much later at night when I had the mediteranian food, and then early evening the next day that I had the toast when I broke out.

Something quite interesting that I did find was this link:

I cant get the link to work so I will post it right below this:

Taken from article from Adclinic.com
"Which of the following indicates a food allergy?

1.Hives around the mouth while eating strawberries.
2.Bloating and diarrhea after consuming milk products.
3.Getting a runny nose while eating eggs.
4.Wheezing and breaking out in hives while eating pizza.

According to ADC allergist Thomas Smith, M.D., only number 4 indicates a true food allergy, while the others suggest different food sensitivities. "People can have adverse reactions to food without being allergic," he says. For example, people who get hives around their mouth eating strawberries have a localized reaction but not an allergy, while people who don't digest lactose well get milk-related symptoms but also aren't allergic. While eggs are among the most common food allergens, Dr. Smith notes that a runny nose alone usually doesn't indicate an allergy."


It talks about localized, this seems to be what I get as the bump on my lip and bump on my forehead, as well as the waistline all happen in the exact same spot and same manner when this does occur. It may turn out to be not as bad as I think but either way I am playin it safe til I get to the doc. Tonight for dinner I had half a roasted chicken and some french fries with no probs.

Have you looked into MSG(mono sodium Glutamate) or sulfite sensitivity? I don't know what it could be. Hopefully your allergist can help you.

http://www.msgmyth.com