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Food Allergy Incident?
Contributed by: Melinda
December 24, 2004
It was Christmas Eve and we were enjoying some wonderful mushroom
caps filled with venison sausage, and a few selections of cheeses
(which I decided to try, even though I know what they can do to
me). My mother was hosting and she had purchased some pre-seasoned
lamb and pork roasts for the main meal.
After the meal I began to feel very sick to my stomach and then to
have some gastrointestinal pain. I finally left the room and found
myself unable to leave the bathroom. A few people came to the door
to check on me, but I was too sick to rejoin them. Finally I told
my husband we would have to leave because of my problem.
When we got home, I went immediately upstairs to the bathroom and
proceeded to suffer vomiting and diahrrea for about another hour.
My mother had an extra lamb roast which she gave me a few days
later. The following weekend I fixed it for us for dinner. Within
30 minutes, I was experiencing all the same symptoms.
When it finally seemed to subside, my hands were shaking
uncontrollably and my heart was racing. I called my father who
suggested we go to the emergency room right away.
At the hospital, I was put through the agony of describing the
problem to two different people before being brought into a
treatment area. Up to this point I was still rushing to the
bathroom periodically, although it was difficult to imagine I had
a speck of anything left inside.
After three hours, anti-nausea injection, IV fluids and a vague diagnosis
of bacterial gastroenteritis, I was sent home where I immediately
consumed a large glass of cool water. Interstingly, everyone else
at the same foods I did, but no one else had any problems.
I believe that I was affected by an overreaction to the
preservatives in the pre-seasoned meat, and on the first occasion
in conjunction with those in the sausages. I think that because my
immune system had been depleted by the first incident, the second
occurrance was much more severe. I doubt I'll ever get a clinical
diagnosis that says that, but I'm pretty sure it is what happened.
I have had one similar occurance of the condition about a
year ago after eating some jambalaya which had ham hocks and
sausage in it. I am now even more careful about eating or purchasing prepared
foods. We pretty much eat only whole foods.
A Note on Preservatives
Over the past 10 years, I've started only buying food items if I understand what the list of ingredients is. If I don't know what something listed on a label is,
I typically put it back on the shelf. Due to an unpleasant incident a couple of years ago, I have discovered that preservatives in foods can cause very
serious reactions in certain people. Below are a couple of links to read about preservatives and food additives which is interesting.
Food Additives Chart
About Allergies
Recommended reading: Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. If you don't want to know about the entire food industry or fast foods, go to the library and read
Chapter 5 Why the Fries Taste Good. Otherwise buy the book...it's important reading for those who purchase and prepare food.
Dairy Allergy Information
Food allergy as defined by the conventional medical field
Food Allergy vs. Food Intollerance
Questions about this article?
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