*Sneeze* Kill me. *Sneeze* Kill me. *Sneeze* Kill me. *Sneeze* Kill me.

October 5, 2006 5:28 PM

Food allergies that present like hay fever. Possible clue (or possible red herring): Salami. Discuss.

I think I might have an allergy to cheap salami. I also have hay fever. My hay fever has been really bad for a while. I started having a lot of salami for lunch due to convenience a while ago. A couple of times when I've been away from work unexpectedly, my hay fever has calmed down and I think during those times I also ate no salami.

When I put two and two together (and got 3.9), at the beginning of last week, I stopped eating salami, even throwing out any that was hanging around. My hay fever seemed to drop right off until today where I'm back to wanting to die. Though when I was driving home last nght the sky was brown, so that might be the problem this morning.

The cost of one of those allergy tests is not a problem. Finding the time to do it is. Basically, I have until the second half of December to try an work this out myself before I have time to book a test.

So, does anyone have any suggestions, stories or URLs?

posted by krisjohn to health & fitness (9 answers total)

I've got pretty bad allergies myself, and for a while I was going nuts because drinking red wines seemed to bring it on a lot. I thought I might have an allergy to sulphur dioxide or some sort of preservative. When I finally went to see an allergy specialist and have the test, he discovered that my main allergy is to dust mites (ie nothing specifically in the wine). So why the reaction? Apparently it can irritate and inflame my already sensitive nose and bring on a response. This article says "Red wine may cause a problem because of the sulfites and the histamine content." Maybe your cheap salami has preservatives and such that are giving you a similar reaction?
posted by web-goddess at 5:51 PM on October 5, 2006

First, IANAD, but if it really is an allergy be aware that they can get worse over time and continuing to eat the thing that makes you sick might be dangerous.

Okay, having said that, I'm another person in web-goddess's situation. This is the first time I've heard her theory and it explains my problem. When I too much of certain foods I get stuffy (no sneezing, though.) Tests say my allergies are to dust, mold and pet dander -- no food allergies for me.

So anyway, I keep away from those foods and no problems -- are you married to the salami-for-lunch thing? Is it really worth getting sick over? If you absolutely have to eat salami, try other brands in case it's a specific ingredient.
posted by Opposite George at 6:11 PM on October 5, 2006

Man, I just reread that last paragraph of mine and I wish I could take it back (talk about stating the obvious...) -- give me an 'F' for the day. Sorry about that.

If you're feeling experimental (or just don't feel like sticking to the routine that led to your discovery for the next 2 months) it might be worth trying to pinpoint the specific ingredient in the salami that triggers the sneezes, just so you know and can avoid it in other foods. Seriously, the stuff that makes me stuffy also makes me mentally foggy -- I don't know if if keeping off it helps me sleep better or if being foggy is just part of having chronic allergies -- and cutting through that fog is a great reward for having to watch my diet.

Or, like you said, it may be a red herring. But experimenting a little can tell you that too...
posted by Opposite George at 6:59 PM on October 5, 2006

Food allergies can definitely exacerbate hay fever. My doctor diagnosed me with many food sensitivities a couple of years ago. Until then, I had had terrible hay fever, pretty much all year round, ever since I was a kid. I could go through half a box of tissues on a good day. Ever since I cut down or out on a lot of foods that I am sensitive to, my hay fever barely bothers me, except for when the pollen is really really high.
posted by eggplantia5 at 7:15 PM on October 5, 2006

Thank you all for the gem that food can interact with hay fever, that's one option I hadn't thought of. I'll certainly cut down on "cow’s milk, wheat, gluten, eggs, peanuts, soy products, corn, shellfish" in web-goddess's linked article (though cow's milk AND soy is a bit rude). Fortunately, I'm already aware of Omega-3 and will restart my interest in it.

And I'll drag an air filter into work too.
posted by krisjohn at 7:38 PM on October 5, 2006

Another issue that hasn't been mentioned is that of mold; I recently heard a TV news warning about mold spores in aged meats like salamis, pepperonis and ham.
posted by Dreama at 4:48 AM on October 6, 2006

It's certainly possible that you're allergic to the perservatives in salami.
posted by agregoli at 9:20 AM on October 6, 2006

Hay fever is often (I'd even say usually, but I can't find the reference right now) directly associated with food allergies. Bundles of allergies come as a package.

For example, me, I've had hay fever since age 9 or thereabouts. And I've also always had a very mild blistering inside my lower lip from raw tomatoes and cucumber.

Using this info, my now-wife floored me by announcing that my hay fever was caused by beech pollen, and correctly guessing from nowhere that I also have a similar reaction to walnuts. I'd made it to 31 without ever having heard of this before.

The dustmite/dander area is generally recognised as being what's responsible for asthma in chlidren (well, over this side of the Atlantic, anyway) if not hayfever per se.

I suppose my main contribution here would be to not rule out what you're having the salami with. Salads are full of potential allergens, as are various kinds of bread.
posted by genghis at 6:34 PM on October 11, 2006

Oh, "Mrs Genghis", for the avoidance of doubt, dug her stunning revelation out of Google. Pulling it from memory would have been just that little bit too weird.
posted by genghis at 6:36 PM on October 11, 2006