Posted by: CMdeux
« on: August 25, 2012, 09:53:23 AM »Pretty careful. Particularly in the short term.
Your story is fairly similar to mine-- with the exception that shellfish was a VERY regular part of my diet. I think that I have probably been allergic (but with a very high threshold) for decades, because shrimp is one of those foods that I can "only eat a VERY small amount of" prior to my anaphylaxis encounters.
I remember as a child being in a house and helping to "pick" shrimp and having asthma trouble that was truly scary-- and just feeling nauseated and ill for the entire two days.
I would:
a) get and keep a pair of epipens-- as in, ON you all the time.
b) investigate alternatives to diphenhydramine. Sleepiness and other CNS effects are perfectly normal, btw-- though if you have an exaggerated response in that respect, it's probably just as well to find a non-sedating alternative that works for you, like cetirizine (zyrtec).
c) avoid as well as YOU can... but until you have evidence that being around shrimp is problematic, I wouldn't restrict others. Other than the obvious of maintaining a shellfish-free home.
d) be VERY careful of FISH. Most of it is cross-contaminated, too.
e) check out our anaphylaxis grading chart so that you know which symptoms call for anaphylaxis. This should be a pretty easy bit of information to digest, since you already sound well-informed on the subject. But there may be some surprises. My DD and I are both prone to reactions without hives, vomiting, or wheezing, and those are VERY tricky to interpret and treat, unfortunately.
My shellfish allergy is, truly, the biggest bummer in my family's pantheon of allergies. Given what else we're allergic to, collectively, that is really saying something, by the way. We live in a coastal area, and would otherwise have a lot more dining options and even catch and eat crab for ourselves and eat fish-fish-fish. But we can't.
For a long time after I anaphylaxed, I had trouble even being near others eating shrimp without feeling distinctly light-headed. I don't know that this wasn't partly psychosomatic, but I think that at least some of it may not have been.
Your story is fairly similar to mine-- with the exception that shellfish was a VERY regular part of my diet. I think that I have probably been allergic (but with a very high threshold) for decades, because shrimp is one of those foods that I can "only eat a VERY small amount of" prior to my anaphylaxis encounters.
I remember as a child being in a house and helping to "pick" shrimp and having asthma trouble that was truly scary-- and just feeling nauseated and ill for the entire two days.
I would:
a) get and keep a pair of epipens-- as in, ON you all the time.
b) investigate alternatives to diphenhydramine. Sleepiness and other CNS effects are perfectly normal, btw-- though if you have an exaggerated response in that respect, it's probably just as well to find a non-sedating alternative that works for you, like cetirizine (zyrtec).
c) avoid as well as YOU can... but until you have evidence that being around shrimp is problematic, I wouldn't restrict others. Other than the obvious of maintaining a shellfish-free home.
d) be VERY careful of FISH. Most of it is cross-contaminated, too.
e) check out our anaphylaxis grading chart so that you know which symptoms call for anaphylaxis. This should be a pretty easy bit of information to digest, since you already sound well-informed on the subject. But there may be some surprises. My DD and I are both prone to reactions without hives, vomiting, or wheezing, and those are VERY tricky to interpret and treat, unfortunately.
My shellfish allergy is, truly, the biggest bummer in my family's pantheon of allergies. Given what else we're allergic to, collectively, that is really saying something, by the way. We live in a coastal area, and would otherwise have a lot more dining options and even catch and eat crab for ourselves and eat fish-fish-fish. But we can't.
For a long time after I anaphylaxed, I had trouble even being near others eating shrimp without feeling distinctly light-headed. I don't know that this wasn't partly psychosomatic, but I think that at least some of it may not have been.