Oh scallops

[altariel]

Some of you may recall that while you were having a jolly time at Redemption, I was having a close encounter with a dodgy scallop in Dorset. Well, it turns out not to be scallops-particular but scallops-general. Or scallops-general-particular: I ate crab earlier this week and was completely fine, in fact it was very tasty. So it seems not to be shellfish per se, just... scallops. Although I've been eyeing prawns doubtfully in recent months.

Question, though: Is an allergy likely to be that specific (i.e. just scallops), or am I going to have to reconsider my whole strict mussels-and-lobster-thermidor regime?

Blast, though! I have always had the stomach of a concrete elephant! And: shellfish - yum!

Plus point: scallops a pleasing word to say and now I have an excuse to introduce it into conversation.

Comments

[toft-froggy.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. That's unfortunate. But didn't we have scallops that time I came over to yours a few months ago? Were you fine then? It might just be that you've been unlucky with your scallops. Isn't there some way a doctor can test for allergies, by giving you a rack of tests or something? There must be some sort of procedure. Although possibly not in America. I hope you feel better soon, anyway, if you're still feeling rough :( and bad luck.

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

There must be some sort of procedure. Although possibly not in America.

Yes, we are has no medsin heer. Doktir fix mi hedake by beat with stik and prair at cherch. All gud nao. :)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Yes, I was absolutely fine then - I've only had this reaction twice, once back in February, once now, but with scallops the only common factor. (And M. is convinced I've eaten them in between.) Bah, most frustrating! Tests a good idea, and I'll almost certainly wait till getting home to do it, there only seem to be tablets for high cholesterol over here.

(I am fine now, thank you - bit groinky yesterday but in the kind of positive way that allows you to skive off work yet )still be able to enjoy the leisure. All back to normal now.

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

Yes, an allergy can be that specific. (In fact, I met someone today who was allergic to only scallops.)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thanks, that helps to know!

[kendokamel.livejournal.com]

I suppose it's possible that you have a specific allergy. I have enough random weird allergies that it wouldn't surprise me a bit.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I've been incredibly lucky with allergies, hayfever developed in my early twenties, otherwise nothing till now.

[mikekellner.livejournal.com]

Yes, my food allergies are quite specific. And, I have found that individual items can vary in effect. As in one tomato/pepper/onion/banana can be no bother, but the next one can get a huge reaction.

And I have found that cooking makes a difference. I have problems with raw potatoes, but not cooked. In general, cooking items thoroughly seems to reduce their allergic potential for me.

mk

[altariel.livejournal.com]

On fruit and veg: Mr A. can react very strongly to the chemicals on things, depending how well they've been washed - and very easy to miss a bit and for something to get through.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

In the days before I was vegetarian, I was violently allergic to shrimps. I think this may have extended to prawns, and eventually regarded all seafood with suspicion. Thankfully, this ceased to be a problem once I had a moral reason to avoid it, too.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I felt a bit wonky going past the fish counter in the supermarket earlier. Thank god for the fresh fruit.

[trixieleitz]

The BoT had a couple of nasty gastro-intestinal scallop-associated bouts way back before I knew him, and hasn't eaten them since. But he's fine with all other seafood. I don't know if he was unlucky with respect to food hygiene on those occasions, or if there was an actual scallop-specific issue, but he's, understandably, not game to test it.

I had crab on Friday, for the first time in decades.

Scallops is a most excellently-emphatic word.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Poor BoT, much sympathy. Yes, we've been thinking over recent scallop-encounters and think these may not have been as fresh as they could have been.

Hope your crab was good, I love crab!

[hafren.livejournal.com]

Allergies can come on with advancing age. My mother developed several, and I have lately become allergic to strawberries and raspberries, both of which I loved, but they now give me anaphylactic reactions. Bloody unfair. Why couldn't I become allergic to the entire brassica family?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Poor you, it would be awful to become allergic to strawbs and rasps! I'd be gutted about becoming allergic to lovely cabbage, I have to say - yummy colcannon on a winter's night. And cauli cheese. And Xmas dinner sprouts! *licks lips*

I developed hayfever in my early twenties after moving south. All those childhood years spent breathing in the fumes of industrial Merseyside clearly didn't prepare me for an encounter with oilseed rape.

[metamorphosa.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. Well, I missed the post about your previous reaction to scallops, but one thing to bear in mind is how they are cooked can have a bearing on your reaction to them. Usually people are allergic to the glycoprotein, which is not affected by cooking, so these people will always have a reaction to that particular food regardless. However, some people are allergic to a different protein, of which cooking (i.e. heat) can alter the antigenicity by denaturising it.

The chances are, the more you expose yourself to your allergen, the stronger your reactions will become,and the more likely the possibility of triggering a second reaction - usually to something within the same food family. (people who are allergic to cow's milk, for example, should not move onto goat's milk, because the proteins are too similar. They should try rice milk instead).

Another point to consider - is there a chance it was actually something in a sauce or other accompaniment that you reacted to? That could explain the inconsistency.

But either way - bummer!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this - very helpful. Further consideration of scallop-exposure in recent months leads us to suspect that the ones that made me ill were probably less than fresh, which may well be a contributory factor. In any case, I'm keeping off them in future.

Bummer indeed!

[white_hart]

I am allergic to scallops, and only scallops. I can (and do) happily eat prawns, mussels, clams, crab, sushi, but on the only two occasions when I have knowingly eaten scallops I have started throwing up approximately three hours afterwards and continued to do so for the next six hours. Which is unpleasant enough that I think I'll skip the obvious 'try eating scallops again and see what happens' allergy test...

[white_hart]

And I should also add that on both of those occasions I was sharing Chinese/Thai meals with my husband, who was absolutely fine, which means that I would have had to be incredibly unlucky for it to be food poisoning...

[the-wild-iris.livejournal.com]

Oh, what a shame! I hope you've recovered from the encounter now. As hafren said, why couldn't it be some non-gourmet foodstuff?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Much better now, after bunking off and watching telly for a day. At least it's not a chocolate allergy!

[archbishopm.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have that. Or is it mussels? In any case the reaction is, um, projectile violent, and I've had it since my teens. Assuming I still have it. I'll gladly asume.

Also had same reaction to "maternity vitamins" which annoyingly did not have a list of ingredients.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm not going to do any more experimenting on this one. Mussels I've been fine with in the past, beyond being general levels of suspicion about shellfish not being fresh. And snails have been OK, apart from the one that got served with a metal screw. Yum.

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

Ooh, sympathy.

And my understanding of allergies, limited though that is, is that yes, you can react to something as specific as scallops, and yes, they can be triggered later in life.

Hope you feel all the way better soon.

We shall add this to our list of things that our visitors don't eat. We long since came to the conclusion that if we had everyone we know round for food, the only meal we could safely serve up sp that everyone could eat it was eggs, chips and beans.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thanks - I was groinky throughout Friday, but I'm fine now. Doctor Who helped.

Eggs, chips and beans, though - yum! Everyone enjoys a fry-up!

[sugoll.livejournal.com]

Boo! Why isn't it that people are allergic to stuff they can't stand?

(but it is good to say. Scallops Scallops Scallops Scallops Scallops.)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

At least after two strong reactions I'm now shuddering at the thought of scallops, so it's not like being forced to give up ice-cream.

But it's definitely my new curse: "Oh.... scallops!"

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

Erk. I'm glad you're ok again now, but it sounds rotten at the time. It's not nice to have that uncertainty hanging over you, of what is and isn't safe... I hope you're able to get some tests done, once you're back.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thanks, gb. I've been able to shovel down Ben and Jerry's Fossil Fuel ice-cream today, so situation normal again!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thank you :-)

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, allergies can be that specific (in fact, that's the norm, not the exception). The good news is that if you steer clear of scallops, you shoul be fine. Some people develop an allergy to the iodine in seafood, and they generally can't eat any shellfish at all (or some fish, either), so things could definitely be worse.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thanks, ithilwen. Scallops are definitely off the menu now, though I'm glad I won't have to say goodbye to crab.

[edge-of-ruin.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear you're to be denied the joys of scallops ;-( I guess it's when the prawns start eying you back that you've really got to worry.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thank god I'm not that far gone yet.

[temeres.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid the vegetarian in me wishes that everyone was allergic to scallops, and indeed all shellfish.

Relieved to find out, though, that it was nothing life-threateningly serious behind the cut.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know I should know better. Oh well, that'll larn me.