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]

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

[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.

[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]

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

[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.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thanks, that helps to know!

[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

[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.

[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.

[hafren.livejournal.com]

I took it that meant no free procedure on the NHS, just something you'd have to pay a lot of money for, hence in practical terms for many people, nothing.

[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?

[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!

[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...

[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?

[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.

[toft-froggy.livejournal.com]

I meant for money! We cure people for *free* over here. :p

[toft-froggy.livejournal.com]

That is very annoying. Poor you. Oh well, just avoid them until you get home, I suppose :( . I'm trying to work out what to do about my sudden apparent allergy to raw onions, which is really quite irritating. I never realized how many foods have random raw onions in them. Especially when you eat a lot of salads, as do I.

[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...

[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.

[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]

Yes, that's exactly the reaction, much sympathy. No, I don't fancy experimenting much either, although I have a suspicion that on both occasions the scallops were less than fresh. I'd was also eating with other people on both occasions, and they had scallops too.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

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

[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.

[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.