Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with allergic

Should I be taking vitamins to make up for my fruit allergies?

stleric — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:15:15 -0800

I'm allergic to most fruits. Should I be taking some sort of multivitamin? I am allergic to varying degrees to a variety of delicious and nutritious foodstuffs. I'm most allergic to bananas, kiwis, mangoes, and avocados (not to a hospitalization/EpiPen extent, but I usually would stop eating only a few bites into any of the above), and am somewhat more mildly allergic to apples, oranges, berries, grapes, as well as carrots and a few varieties of nuts. I can eat probably about half of an apple or orange before the throat swelling/tingling/itchiness really starts to get to me, but I usually just don't eat said fruits so that I can avoid the allergic reactions altogether.

I don't think that it's due to pesticides, since I usually wash fruits fairly thoroughly. It seems like cooked fruits either don't give me allergic reactions or diminish the reactions, but it's not always convenient for me to be cooking everything.

If eating raw fruit is usually out of the picture, is there some sort of vitamin or multi-vitamin that I should be taking to pick up the slack in getting the right vitamins and minerals in my diet? If so, is there anything in specific or any vitamins and minerals that I should be looking for to replace what I would have been getting from fruit (especially the bananas, mangoes, etc.)? Should I just be eating a lot of processed pre-cooked fruit products and crossing my fingers that I don't get a reaction?

Thanks, everyone!

Name this plant

tkolar — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:49:19 -0800

Name this (tropical?) plant. My niece touched the broken off stem of this plant and now has a small rash going. It looks like its fading, but it would be nice know what kind of plant it was so we can at least avoid it in the future.

Claritin for an eight-month-old?

Asparagirl — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:33:24 -0800

Putting a child under the age of two on Children's Claritin for his allergies...advice, or first-hand anecdotes? Our eight-month-old baby has multiple allergies and excema. He's tested positive on skin tests for both food (eggs, oranges, garlic) and environmental (mold, dustmites, weeds, grass, you name it) triggers. His main symptoms are transient excema patches on his cheeks, neck, the insides of his elbows, and the backs of his knees; horribly itchy skin on his hands and ankles; and occasionally a stuffy nose and red eyes. The itchy skin, in particular, often wakes him up in the middle of the night, sometimes multiple times -- and thus, wakes us too. We put long sleeves and socks on him and cover his hands so he can't scratch. It doesn't help much.

We run both a HEPA filter and a humidifier in his room, and I've eliminated his trigger foods from my diet since I'm breastfeeding (though not exclusively). His allergist prescribed him topical steroid cream for his occasional excema flare ups, which works well if you use it every day for a few days, but I would rather not use steroids on a kid long-term. We also give occasional small doses of dye-free children's Benadryl (at night only). That works on his allergies pretty well -- for a whopping four hours. We also use Aquaphor on his neck and other allergic patches, and that seems to work well.

His having allergies isn't so surprising, since pretty much everyone in my family has moderate-to-terrible allergies of some sort -- but we all take (or occasionally take) medicine to deal with it. So I'm really wary about putting such a young kid on anything, because it could easily become a long-term medicine.

But with his persistent allergies, his pediatrician now recommends putting him on half a teaspoon of Children's Claritin every day. While this is over the counter, there is very little information out there on Claritin's effects on young kids, especially under the age of two (nevermind that he's under the age of one!), and nothing about long-term effects. One dose of Claritin also lasts for 24 hours, unlike Benadryl's 4-6 hours, and I really don't want him to be zonked out all day. I've also found disturbing anecdotal reports on the web about kids on Zyrtec (not Claritin, but similar) developing sudden behavioral issues.

So, anyone know a kid who's been on Claritin so young? How did it work out? I really don't want to put such a young kid on a somewhat-untested-on-kids medicine, but I can't stand to see him suffer with his allergies either.

Casein Allergy Solutions?

Texasjake987 — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 08:01:20 -0800

My girlfriend has recently formed as casein allergy as a young adult. She is not "lactose intolerant". Are there any solutions to dealing with this outside of cutting dairy and other casein rich foods out of her diet? more inside... While apparently common mostly in younger children, this allergy has afflicted her recently in her early twenties. Typically the common solution applies to the former demographic and involves removing casein from the diet, and gradually allowing your body to form a tolerance to it. However, because she's already been exposed to it for twenty+ years, doctors have simply recommended to just not consume casein. This is pretty tough, as it is extremely present in dairy foods. Red wine also gives the same allergenic reactions as well, and I recently read somewhere that casein is used as a binding agent in red wine.
Her reaction to casein manifests itself in her lungs and chest, causing wheezing and coughing not unlike the symptoms of asthma.
She typically tries to avoid taking antibiotics/medicine/etc... if there are other natural alternatives available. It would be nice if certain types of teas, herbs, spices, supplements or vitamins would help to address the problem.

So... are there any remedies for this allergy that anyone knows of that may help allow her to slowly leak more dairy, etc. into her diet?

Lactose intolerant folks have tablets they can take to allow them to eat dairy for a short window of time, or take other supplements....
is there anything similar for this case?

Help perfume me!

sarahkeebs — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 23:27:29 -0800

Help me find a perfume to meet my picky needs! I like sweet/spicy/musky perfumes, nothing to sharp or floral. I would love to be able to wear Opium, for example. But anything not oil-based makes me sneeze and/or breakout where it's made contact with my skin. Scents that I love, but can't wear:
- Opium (weeps) (I can wear it once in a while)
- Aqua di Gio (can't have it on five minutes)

Scents that I love and can wear:
- Body Shop White Musk
- GAP sueded musk (but discontinued)
- pure lavender essential oil
- pure orange/ylang ylang essential oil
- Eau Dynamisante by Clarins (I think)

It also needs to be something I can get my hands on in Toronto anytime OR in the Netherlands this December.

I'd stick to the Body Shop, but not only have the prices gone up exponentially (I don't mind paying top dollar, but it irritates me when prices have doubled since I started shopping somewhere) and I feel like their quality has gone down. What is it in perfume that I react to so badly, that isn't in middling-quality oil-based scents? And is there any way I could get Opium or any other "classic" perfume in a way that doesn't trigger my allergies?

What is it in these foods that I'm allergic to?

Item — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:56:12 -0800

What am I allergic to? I have reactions from the following: bean sprouts, kiwi, bananas, pecans, and lots and lots of raw vegetables such as carrots and raw snap pea pods, though I can eat them cooked with no problem. Bananas are by far the worst of anything I've encountered. They make my face swell in addition to the usual reaction I get from certain foods - itchy mouth, throat, and stomach. Yes, stomach. The inside of my stomach will feel itchy as all hell. Very unpleasant. All of the reactions (save for bananas) are on the mild side but really irritating and uncomfortable. I can usually tell within a few bites of something if I can't eat it.

I'm not allergic to all nuts - just pecans and walnuts as far as I can tell, and I seem to be able to eat those cooked.

As mentioned, I can eat carrots, peas, and various other foods cooked but get a reaction when eaten raw. For a long time I thought it was a type of potassium that did it, as banannas and kiwis disagree with me. I can, however, drink juice fortified with potassium, so I don't know that this is the case.

Any ideas as to what it is in these foods that bothers me?

The bag came with three servings. Why should I avoid the third?

crinklebat — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 07:16:58 -0800

What could be causing this weird reaction to frozen pasta? So, I hate to cook, and as such I eat a lot of premade food from Trader Joe's. Last night, for the second time, I had their red pesto farfalle. The last time I ate it (first time ever), a few hours later I got a headache in my right temple so severe it made me nauseated and weepy. I also had an elevated pulse all night (well, I had an elevated pulse before I went to sleep and had a dream where I was drinking caffeinated drink after caffeinated drink...you connect the dots) and felt weird and shaky the next day. I didn't associate it with the pasta.

However, last night I ate it and felt the beginnings of the same damn headache - same location, same general feeling. I took two tylenols and drank about half a liter of water and went to bed. This morning, I feel not as bad as I did last time, but still sort of bad and with the remnants of a headache.

My best guess is that this is a high sodium food (400 mg/serving) that just dehydrated the heck out of me, but I eat a lot of Trader Joe's products and many of them have more sodium. Here are the ingredients:

Parcooked pasta (water, durum wheat semolina, salt), tomato pulp, walnuts, pecorino romano cheese (pasteurized milk, salt, rennet), grana cheese (pasteurized milk, salt, rennet, lysozyme (enzyme from egg white)), basil, sunflower seed oil, garlic, tapioca starch, sugar, chili powder.

Doesn't look too sinister, right? I think I've had all these things before with the possible exception of grana cheese. Any thoughts?

I like walnuts, but they don't like me.

Soliloquy — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 15:53:02 -0800

Walnuts make my tongue hurt. Does this mean I'm allergic, or is it just their acidity? I've never noticed swelling, itching, or redness when I eat walnuts, but chewing them makes the inside of my mouth sting for about an hour. Small amounts (say, a few chopped-up walnut bits in a brownie) don't seem to bother me, but I've given up eating them straight. Trying to determine if I should avoid small amounts entirely or if I should eat them in small amounts for my health.

Why am I allergic to Tylenol?

birdlady — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 18:45:28 -0800

Why am I allergic to tylenol (all its forms: tylenol cold, tylenol allergy, regualr tylenol, etc.), but I am not allergic to other medicines including acetaminophen? I am ridiculously allergic to Tylenol. It makes my hands the the bottoms of my feet swell, itch and burn. I also get a hive-like rash on my arms, my tongue swells and itches and my lips swell and burn.

It took me a long time to discover the tylenol allergy because I always took tylenol for pain and never had any trouble. A few years ago, I started noticing the rash/swelling at what I thought was random times. I finally realized tylenol was causing it. It may or may not be relevant that at about this same time, I also became allergic to antibiotics I used to be able to take with no trouble).

I have no plans to take tylenol anymore, in fact every time I forget and take it, the reaction gets worse, so I am not looking for advice on minimizing the reaction. However, I am curious why I have this reaction to tylenol and no other otc pain medicine with the same active ingredient. Any ideas? Anyone else allergic to Tylenol?

Perhaps going naked might have been better...

lilithim — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 15:47:19 -0800

An new item of clothing broke me out in hives. A) Any ideas about how to get rid of these as fast as possible? B) Is this item of clothing forever dead to me now? C) It was pretty expensive, and from a large upscale corporation. What are my options with them? Yesterday, I happened to wear a denim skirt that I bought two months ago from a large, well-known company. In the time of about 5 minutes, I broke out in red nasty looking hives anywhere this skirt happened to touch my skin. Unfortunately, I was then stuck wearing the skirt all day, but I would say that the damage was more or less done at that point.
They don't itch, they don't hurt, they just look terrible. I've applied an antihistimine cream, so we'll see how well that works.
Any other ideas of meds to try? Preferably OTC, as it's the weekend.
To be honest, I have no idea whether or not the article of clothing was washed before first wear. If I wash it again, will this happen, or was the skirt treated with something?

I no longer have any receipts for this item, and while it was around $60-75, I don't have any ideas about what the customer service department at Large Well-Known-Professional Wear Company will say. If I was to call them. Should I even bother?

How to take care of cat chin acne?

de void — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 08:53:56 -0800

Recently adopted cat has had a dramatic out break of acne on her chin/mouth. I need an education on the best ways to: - Identify the cause? - Best method(s) to prevent outbreaks? - Best method(s) to treat outbreaks? 3 months ago we adopted a calico female cat, about 2 years old. Fairly small, could be mistaken for an adolescent cat. Came "fixed" from the animal shelter.

About month and a half ago I started noticing black flecks on a spot on her chin. At first I thought she might have fleas but closer examination (as could best be managed) showed she had blackheads on her skin underneath that area.

The affected area has gradually but steadily spread to her entire chin and is now encroaching on her upper lips underneath her whiskers.

Some initial research on the net revealed that plastic food/water dishes can be a cause of acne. We replaced the plastic dishes we had with stainless steel ones and wash them every other day. This was done about 2 weeks ago and seems to have had no effect.

The only other possible cause that springs to mind is that we have a carpeted cat tower with a top level that has low walls. She spends a lot of time sleeping in the top of the tower with her head/chin resting on the top of the wall, so I'm wondering if she might have an allergy to the carpet.

I've had several cats but this is the first time I've seen an acne outbreak spread so steadily and dramatically. Her previously white chin now looks a dirty grey and her hair is thinning in the affected area.

I'm taking her to the vet this afternoon. I'm dreading having to apply any cremes to her. She is very affectionate, loves attention and is not shy at all. However, the instant she realizes that you are "examining" her instead of petting, or if you restrain her even slightly, the claws and teeth come out in force.

Cat allergies

callmejay — Sun, 29 May 2005 07:32:06 -0800

I'm allergic to cats. Will I be unhappy if I move into a place in which a cat used to live? It is mostly hardwood floors, but two rooms have carpets. No furniture or draperies will remain.