Lobster anyone???

June 7, 2006 10:44 PM

How can I be sure I'm allergic to shellfish?

I've been avoiding shellfish since I had a bad episode with some shrimp at Benihana about 15 years ago. Since then I've told myself and others that I am allergic to shellfish.

I'm accidently had some shrimp over the years and can always tell immediately. My lips, tounge, throat all start to burn/tingle when I get an egg roll with some shrimp mixed in.

I've never had any ER visit incidents however.

Recently I've really been craving lobster and I want to find out if this allergy is for real or just in my head?

Is there a good way to figure this out other than just grabbing a shrimp and going for broke?

posted by pdf74 to health & fitness (17 comments total)

If you do have an alergy, eating a shrimp could possibly kill you. I had bad allergies to cats as a kid. The family doctor did a test where they pressed samples of various substences with a dull probe into my arm (didn't break the skin, but wasn't pleasant either). Some raised bumps, others didn't. They determined that I was allergic to dust an pollen too. I assume that there is a similar procedure for food allergies, or at least something that won't potentially kill you.

Seek professional advice!
posted by b1tr0t at 10:50 PM on June 7, 2006

See an allergist? You probably don't want to experiment carelessly and asphyxiate.
posted by Mr. Six at 10:51 PM on June 7, 2006

Your doctor can run some tests and tell you, but then you probably knew that already.
posted by bshort at 10:57 PM on June 7, 2006

Well, an easy way is to simply rub some of it well into your skin. It's easy to get a false negative this way, but you can't mistake it if it's positive. Has the added plus of not killing you as can happen more easily with ingested allergens.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 11:39 PM on June 7, 2006

b1tr0t is referring to a skin prick test. I had a couple as a kid and I'm pretty sure they DO break the skin, but only a very small "pin prick" area and not very deep at all. Just enough to expose your LIVING skin to the allergens. The test shouldn't even draw blood. YBloodLettingMV

THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS BROUGHT TO YOU AN INTERNET STRANGER AND NOT A DOCTOR.

The old fashioned way is of course to eat (or just expose your mouth/lips for the truly cautious) a VERY SMALL AMOUNT of whatever you want to test and wait 5 to 10 minutes. If nothing happens, eat a little more and wait again. Please don't do this if you think you might die.

Of course, with some allergies you may find that nothing happens when you eat it, but that some time later you feel bad. As an example: When eating dairy I no longer get the burning and tingling you describe above, but if I eat too MUCH (even over the course of a few days) I'll get itchy skin and a general feeling of malaise.

OT: Wow. How's this for coincidence: If you google "skin prick test" right now, the first hit is an Allergy Society of South Africa page. Not only am I South African, but one of the writers of that page is a Dr Potter. Anyone want to guess in whose office I got my skin prick tests done 20 years ago?
posted by pierrepressure at 12:10 AM on June 8, 2006

Um, I don't know if this is wrong, but aren't shellfish one of those allergies that gets worse every time, like peanuts? They used to not do tests for peanuts because they had no idea how far along it was and how much it would be accelerated by the exposure.

I might be wrong, but I really do not suggest testing this yourself.
posted by Brainy at 12:18 AM on June 8, 2006

pierrepressure - you may be correct about breaking the skin. I don't think there was any blood, but it was a while back.

Regarding eating a small amount of seafood, take a look at what wikipedia has to say about anaphylactic shock: Anaphylaxis occurs when a person is exposed to a trigger substance, called an allergen, to which they have become sensitized. Minute amounts of allergens may cause a life-threatening anaphylactic reaction. Anaphylaxis may occur after ingestion, inhalation, skin contact or injection of an allergen. The most severe type of anaphylaxis—anaphylactic shock—will usually lead to death in minutes if left untreated.


If you think you have a food allergy to shellfish. DO NOT TRY EATING ANY. IT COULD KILL YOU. Doctors can be expensive, but you can't buy an extra life.
posted by b1tr0t at 12:19 AM on June 8, 2006

Personally, I would see an allergist.

But, if you're going to follow pierrepressure's "just eat a very small amount", you should probably follow something even more stringent like the "Universal Edibility Test." You'll note that's for plants, not shellfish. And who knows, maybe I'm trying to kill you.

P.S. Please don't die trying something stupid. See the allergist. If you're allergic enough, she might even recommend you carry something like an EpiPen with you, just in case.
posted by IvyMike at 12:22 AM on June 8, 2006

Seafood/shellfish allergy can be very strange. My mom has the problem. She gets hives from eating shrimp, but only some times! After each incident of a reaction, she'll swear off for some years. Then she tries some and is fine. She'll be fine for awhile and then she's hit with the hives again (she loves shrimp, unfortunately).

It is possible that an allergist could figure out why the reaction only happens sometimes.
posted by Goofyy at 1:06 AM on June 8, 2006

I'm allergic to crab and lobster, but not shrimp. Go figure...

When I ate crab or lobster, I got violently ill about 45 minutes after ingesting. What I ingested was forcibly ejected... but that was the extent of the symptoms. Once the brief but dramatic episode was over, I felt fine. I last had crab about 29 years ago. I'm very careful to avoid foods with crab - no mean feat since I live in Maryland.

Caution: I had an MRI a few years ago. The gunk that they give you to make your insides visible contains iodine, a substance found in shellfish. The technicians failed to ask me about any shellfish allergy. I had a horrible reaction... hives, swollen face and extremities, difficulty breathing. The techs were really nervous, but I responded to whatever potion they gave me. I'm even more careful now about shellfish slipping unnoticed into anything I eat.
posted by Corky at 3:38 AM on June 8, 2006

DO NOT eat a 'very small amount'. Go to an allergist and get either a skin prick test or a CAP RAST test in which they take a small amount of blood and analyze it. They can tell you which specific proteins within shellfish you're allergic to.

I'm allergic to fish with gills, but not shellfish. One thing you need to look out for is cross-contamination, for example shellfish cooked in a fish broth or shellfish that has been cooked in the same pan where fish recently was. As Corky indicates, you'll need to ask questions when you order out.
posted by mattholomew at 5:19 AM on June 8, 2006

I was a teenager when I found out I was allergic to shrimp (stomach pain), I assumed I was allergic to all shellfish - I wasn't exposed to a lot of seafood at that point in my life anyway. A few years later I took a trip to Bermuda and ate something that turned out to have crab in it. I didn't get sick, but still I didn't experiment much with shellfish until a few years after that when I started spending some time in the Baltimore area. So I ate more crabs and was always fine and eventually tried mussels, lobster, etc. So it turns out I am only allergic to shrimp (so far). It also turns out that my grandmother was also allergic to just shrimp, but no one thought to mention that to me. So you might want to check your family history.

You probably want to go to an allergist, but just wanted to let you know there is hope!
posted by mikepop at 5:45 AM on June 8, 2006

I recently had a friend visit who had shellfish allergies. We made California Rolls that contained that fake crab which is actually a fish called pollack. We read the ingredients and crab was listed but he had no problem or reaction afterwards. I guess the just put a minute amount of crab in the mix so they can say they have some crab in it. Maybe you try rubbing this on you skin or taking it to your doctor to see if you can subsitute this "fake" crab meat for lobster to satisfy your craving.
posted by any major dude at 5:54 AM on June 8, 2006

Visit a doctor specialized in diagnosis of allergies. You DON'T WANT to do-it-yourself ; consider that some people is allergic to a bee sting and just ONE puncture is enough to kill them , if not threated immediately and I mean right after the puncture, immediately.

I was tested the same way the first poster in this thread did ; it's absolutely pain-less , there is no big-needle to see, only very very small ones and the reaction is monitored by an expert that will give you the proper medication should emergency arise.

It's FAR worse NOT TO KNOW what you may be allergic to. Consider allergy sometime is graduated, for instance I was told I am only mildly allergic to cat and indeed I own a cat and don't have any problem with him.
posted by elpapacito at 6:02 AM on June 8, 2006

any major dude, that fake crab (also known as "crab with a K") is surimi and it's made from fin fish, like pollack, as you say. I believe the crab flavor added to it is entirely synthetic.
posted by Rash at 9:59 AM on June 8, 2006

See an allergist.

It's also possible that you are allergic to shrimp but not lobster. Don't test that theory yourself - or, if you do, do it in an emergency room, so you can be treated right away if you go into anaphylactic shock.
posted by joannemerriam at 11:27 AM on June 8, 2006

A friend of mine's dad is allergic to shellfish. He was in a restaurant where a dish containing shellfish passed their table, and he inhaled the steam rising from it. This was enough to cause him to have trouble breathing.
posted by odinsdream at 12:22 PM on June 8, 2006