Hi,
Does anyone have allergies to: wood ear mushrooms, black mushrooms, hoisin sauce ,duck (product of any kind, even fat used to fry french fries in Quebec), or salmon?
I occasionally have severe, almost unbearable stomach pain (true stomach pain, not intestinal, and not gas) which waxes and wanes over periods of hours (much like labor pain waves). It goes up and down, lowest point being discomfort, peaking at gnawing but acute pain. I never vomit or have diarrhea with it. It is incapacitating, and I can't even talk during the worst. It can begin from one to a couple of hours after I eat some types of chinese food, and always after salmon. I can eat most other fish (mainly white.e.g. cod,halibut, grouper, etc.), but salmon causes terrible pain. I used to eat salmon regularly, then suddenly couldn't. I can eat all other shellfish and mollusks with no pain. Has anybody ever heard of a newly developed allergy to some types of fish, again, not shellfish?
I think I am allergic to duck, since I've eaten it in pate or truffle mousse and gotten very sick afterwards. Though I avoid duck, I recently had a bout of horrific pain after eating a meal of steak and fries, the latter cooked in duck fat (unbeknownst to me till later). Is this something anyone else has ever heard of?
As for chinese food, I usually avoid it, since I've had pain after consuming it. Even so, if I do try it, I make sure it has no msg. I've recently tried a couple of mixed veggie, pork dishes with no pain. However, I've eaten mu shoo pork twice (different restaurants), and had pain so terrible that I once went to the er. I was the only one in my family who got sick from the shared dish, so the food wasn't spoiled. I asked for the ingredient list for this dish. Assuming they told me the complete list, I have eaten everything on it, cabbage, pork, onions, carrots, shiitake mush., hoisin sce.., wheat. Basically all but the wood ear mushrooms and black mushrooms she listed.
Ok, before anyone suggests soy, as in soy sauce, I'm Korean. Believe me, I've eaten it all my life and continue to do so w/o issues. During these episodes, I've tried every remedy, e.g.:
pepto., antacids, including zantac, pepcid, tums/rolaids, milk of mag., gax-x (simethicone), and even self-induced vomiting to empty stomach. Even tramadol (ultracet, prescribed for different illness) at its max dose, has not worked. I've just had to ride it out.
The reason I am asking, is that I'm trying to find out if a) any of these are known allergens to anyone else, and b)I'd like to cook a Thai dish which calls for oyster sauce, which I don't know if it contains any of the problematic elements above. I normally avoid all of the above list, if I'm able.
Sorry for such a long ramble, but thanks for any replies.
M