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

Farrago

Resources & Information

Tables

Food Allergy Incident?