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Oh the idiocy of it all...

docoflove1974

Entry posted by docoflove1974

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I decided that I'd go out for sushi tonight...and being that I live in Japantown, well, I knew it'd be good. Oh boy...I oopsed big time.

 

I'm allergic to shellfish. It's an interesting food allergy...comes in a variety of forms. Usually, the afflicted person is more affected by either crustaceans, mollusks or cephalopods; for me, crustaceans are evil. It also afflicts the poor soul in a variety of ways: the worst being apoplectic shock, others are covered in hives, and those like me are incredibly nauseous. And I'm really careful, especially when eating at a 'seafood' restaurant. I love sushi, but I know to be careful of some rolls. Ok, most rolls.

 

So I go in, and order my 2 favorites--toro/fatty tuna and unagi/freshwater eel--and want something new. I saw this roll called "Peach Bow"...unagi, salmon, and avocado in a beautiful roll, with tobiko (really small roe) on top. Ok...sounded good. Um, I must have missed an element...because there's imitation crab in there, too. And I didn't realize it until my last piece, which fell apart, revealing it's evil insides.

 

Oh crap...well, here comes the time bomb.

 

See, here's the thing about imitation crab: it's mostly white fish (often haddock), but can have flecks of real shellfish, especially crab, in it. It's also got 'shellfish juice' (probably shellfish stock) in there, in order to give flavor. So in any given piece of 'fake crab' I could have zero reaction...or a fair amount of one. And it happens with me about 30 minutes after I eat...joyous!!

 

So, by the time I walk home, it's almost been half an hour...and I'm already having bad indigestion with stomach pangs. This is common if I eat something that had shellfish in it, but no actual shellfish eaten. In the meantime, Bella can't get enough of my breath...she smells fish, perhaps smells crab, and wants to know where hers is. I told her no...but she's about as hardheaded as I am...so she didn't give up. I sat down in my computer chair, she got on my lap...and about that time I knew that I had better get to the bathroom PDQ. Well, false alarm...still, I'm still burping horribly and have a bad feeling in my stomach...oh man, it's gonna be a long night...and it's pretty much my undoing!!! Yeesh!

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Nephele

Yikes! Do you have an EpiPen? I've got one that I carry around with me all summer in case I should get a bee sting (bee venom puts me in anaphylactic shock). I know how scary it gets.

 

Are you going to be okay? I'm worrying about you, DoL.

 

-- Nephele

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docoflove1974

Oh, no need for an EpiPen...at my worst, I empty the contents of my stomach, feel miserable for a bit, and then I'm fine. Trust me, it's no huge deal...just something I'm careful with.

 

I'm better now...Alka Seltzer, sparkling mineral water, and kitty love, and I'm ok. I'll be 'normal' tomorrow. Just feeling dumb!

 

Capt. Blackadder kept me company tonight!

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Nephele
Oh, no need for an EpiPen...at my worst, I empty the contents of my stomach, feel miserable for a bit, and then I'm fine. Trust me, it's no huge deal...just something I'm careful with.

 

Yes, but a lot of times reactions get worse after each episode. Not sure if it works the same way with seafood allergies, but I know from experience it works that way with bee venom allergies. Are you going to check with your doctor today, just to be sure? Glad you were better last night. How are you feeling today?

 

-- Nephele

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docoflove1974

Nope, no need for doctors...I've been living with this since a child. It's really no huge deal...by about 11pm I was fine. Well, sort of...I didn't want to eat anything still, and the thought of making out a grocery shopping list was not so wonderful. But as for the morning...I'm raring to go, as normal! (Besides, I only go to the doctors when I have to...your body knows...)

 

My reactions as an adult are worse than as a child--as a child, I never used to get sick, and that didn't happen until my late teens. But they haven't gotten worse since...it's actually pretty straightforward. Crustaceans are evil, mollusks just make my stomach turn, and cephalopods aren't that bad...I just don't like them. Evidently it's pretty typical.

 

But thanks for your concern, Neph...very cool of you.

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Nephele
My reactions as an adult are worse than as a child--as a child, I never used to get sick, and that didn't happen until my late teens.

 

Then, hopefully, that's probably the worst that you'll ever get. When I was a child, I had no problem at all with bee stings. (Really, "yellow jackets" here in New York, which are a species of wasp, but everyone calls them "bees" because they look like bees.) It was only after reaching adulthood that they became deadly for me. I inherited this from my mom. I'm curious -- did you inherit your seafood allergy, as well?

 

-- Nephele

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docoflove1974

That's the odd part: no one else in my family has food allergies. Oh, my dad and I are allergic to seemingly every pollen there is, but I'm the only one with a food allergy. I had one doctor tell me that because of the lack of heredity, my allergy is considered 'mild'; this could change with my children. But we shall see!

 

I know all too well about yellowjackets; in CA we have bees and yellowjackets, and in the Central Valley there are also wasps. In Austin I had all three, plus hornets!

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