Most People who cry "I have a food allergy" are hypochondriacs

Or so a doctor acquaintance of mine told me last week.%0D\ %0D\ Agree?

No.
Yes. Most but not all.
I''d like them to tell that to the millions of children dying of starvation in Africa and Asia.
Magic Eight Ball says yes.
Most people who say they''re allergic to cats ad smoke are liars.
Unless there''s a the possibility you''ll go into anaphylactic shock from eating a certain food, then it''s not an allergy. You may have a food "intolerance" or you''re just an attention-seeker.
She said that they mistake an intolerance for a certain food for an allergy. And she said it''s a very large percentage who do it.
OP
And if you go to an allergist to be tested and they say, "you''re allergic to these things," then the doctor is looking for attention too?
Your post makes no sense r3.
Agree with r6. Most people claim "sensitivity" not true allergy. There''s nothing wrong with people who choose to restrict their diets (no meat, no sugar, no caffeine, etc), it''s only when they get to the "I CANNOT HAVE THAT IN THE SAME ROOM WITH ME OR I WILL BECOME ILL!" point that I assume they have a vast need for attention.
r8, Most doesn''t mean all or did you fail reading comprehension? Fucking idiot.
If we were a nation of skinny people I''d say yes. But we are fatties who like to eat. So no, most people only give up a food if they are forced to.
Your doctor is a nit-picker, OP. It''s unfortunate, but as people eat a more varied diet, these "intolerances" become more prevalent. I read a few days ago that chickpea "intolerance" was never much of a problem until people began eating hummus. \ \ Po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe.\ \ Tell your doc his time would be better spent coming up with a solution to the problem.
It''s a relevant question since so many on here are defining allergy as dropping dead when you eat something.%0D\ %0D\ Why all the nasty?
You can give up one food and still get enough food to make you overweight. You make no sense R12.
Lots, but I''ve met a couple of people in my life who are so allergic to peanuts they could die if they ate them.
Anonymous
Most patients who go to a doctor with a laundry list of medications that they''re allergic to, or can''t take due to sensitivity or side effects, are more likely to have a strong non-organic (psychological) component to their physical symptoms.
You''re dense, R15.
r18 = Queen Dense
Where the hell did peanut allergies comes from? No one I ever know or even knew growing up had it, now kids are dropping dead from one peanut.
Some people have severe allergic reactions to shellfish, peanuts, eggs, etc.. Severe enough to send them to a hospital or even kill them. Others are "intolerant" of foods like dairy or gluten, which causes digestive upset. The common denominator is the person gets or feels sick eating them.
Wow.
Grow up, R19.
[quote]Where the hell did peanut allergies comes from? No one I ever know or even knew growing up had it, now kids are dropping dead from one peanut.\ \ The worst story was the teenage girl who died after kissing her boyfriend. He had eaten peanut butter earlier that day.\ \ People used to die without an apparent cause, but now we know some of the reasons.
And millions of people don''t know how to tell the difference between a cold and the flu, or between flu and food-borne illness. Does that make them hypochondriacs? I think your doctor friend is a jerk.
I say I''m allergic to mushrooms because I hate them. Cayenne pepper too. It works. I don''t get those items on my plate.%0D\ %0D\ I know, I know, lah-di-dah, people have real allergies, I make it harder for them, it''s not a joke...%0D\ %0D\ I''m an asshole.%0D\ %0D\ Saved ya the trouble.%0D\ %0D
R26 that doesn''t make you an asshole because you should be able to ask for food without something you don''t like on it, but most restaurants will only take notice if they think you could get sick from it and sue them.
I think some anorexics hide behind food allergies as an excuse for not eating but I think some people are definitly allergic.
Thanks R27. I love you for understanding.
R26
I don''t know if that''s true, OP, but I have one friend who says he started being lactose intolerant at the age of 45, and another one who claims is allergic to gluten. Both self-diagnosed. So, the first one talks all the time about the benefits of soy and almond milk, the second one drops her gluten allergy into every conversation about food. I would like to tell them to get tested to be sure, but I don''t care enough.
There are a couple of cohorts among the "food allergy" crowd.\ \ A small percentage have life-threatening allergies to things like peanuts.\ \ A larger percentage have issues around gluten or dairy that can make the person severely uncomfortable if they ingest the problem substance.\ \ A still larger group seems to be folks who may have had a bad experience once or who have decided a minor intolerance is a "serious allergy." They would be fine eating a range of foods but seem to like feeling like a member of the allergy club. \ \ A final group are pure narcissists who just want attention.
You "don''t care enough" about your friends to advise them, r30? Then they''re not your friends.
I had several allergies as a child. I couldn''t eat certain things without breaking out in hives. My sibs had them too. Thankfully, we''ve outgrown them.
Raw tomatoes make me break out in hives around my mouth, so I don''t eat them. I would call that an allergy. But I also don''t make a big fucking fuss about it.
So, getting the runs every time I ate eggplant, intolerance or allergy?\ \ Sucks, because I love eggplant.
R24 the girl who kissed her bf and died was debunked years ago but still makes the rounds of the allergy phobic.\ \ She was asthmatic who had been at a party with lots of smokers.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-500486_162-1614851-500486.html
Canadian here R24 - the victim who was from Quebec was indeed severely asthmatic but also a pot smoker.
http://www.news-medical.net/news/2006/05/14/17942.aspx
And the worst are the "lactose-intolerant" ones who probably farted once after drinking a glass of milk.
I know someone who is severely allergic to lactose. Has been since birth. It makes her go into anaphylactic shock. She has to avoid ANYTHING with lactose in it, and you''d be surprised at just how many things have lactose in them. For example, a majority of prescription medications are made with lactose, it''s a stabilizer. She''s also deathly allergic to peanuts. Has been rushed to the emergency room many times because she came in contact with peanuts in some way. Because of the severity of her allergies, there is always the concern of cross-contamination, so there aren''t many restaurants she can eat at.\ \ And then there''s this, happened just a few weeks ago. This is not hypochondria.
http://www.suntimes.com/2966858-417/allergy-according-allergic-board-bond.html
Thanks R36. I never saw that.
[quote]You "don''t care enough" about your friends to advise them, [R30]? Then they''re not your friends.\ \ They are functioning adults. No, I''m not going to tell them that they should not self-diagnose. They both have heath insurance and can see a doctor if they feel like it.
30
r26, I love you. I do the exact same thing with mushrooms. I can''t stand them so I tell people that I have an allergic reaction when I eat them. I mean why do people hide mushrooms in spaghetti sauce? It''s unnatural.
I thought I was becoming lactose intolerant, but switched to organic milk and have no problems with milk now. I think the stuff produced by non-organic dairies must be a "milk product" that bears resemblance to real milk in appearance only.
Yeah and all of a sudden half the population is allergic to cats, dogs and perfumes. I''m sick of the whole bunch of them. I know there are people with food allergies but they are few and far between.
Mushrooms in spaghetti sauce are delicious...you big damn dummy. Grow the fuck up.
Please we have dairy farms all over the country...what do you think they are doing with those cows. Organic lover....just another name for sucker.
For most adults, allergies are, at most, nothing more than the physical manifestation of psychological problems.
I actually knew a woman who went to get a perm, had an asthma attack and died...she was close to 40. Asthma is way different then what most people and their silly ideas of allergies are.
Well both is true.\ \ Something is going on with me and bivalves, clams, oysters, mussels, scallops. Two hours after eating them I''m puking my guts out. I never went to an allergist to get tested cause I pretty much know I can''t eat them. I haven''t had a rude encounter with them in 10 years because I''m careful. I''ll even eat at seafood resaurants where they''re served but I won''t eat anything that I think might cross contaminate me. In seafood restaurants I''m a vegetarian. It''s my job to manage it. No complaining here. Don''t miss them.\ \ Then there''s my friend who decided she''s lactose intolerant. FOOD NAZI!!!! Never shut up about it. Also never read up on it and behaved as if we were all trying to kill her with dairy products. Couldn''t have anyone else in the room or table eating dairy products. \ \ Pain in the ASS!!
the two times I was hospitalized for a shellfish allergy was treated pretty seriously. The first time I was a kid and given an EPI pen, which is to be used immediately at the sign of an allergic reaction. The second time, after I avoided shellfish all my life, some on cross-contaminated in a restraunt. That''s why you see alergy notices in every food source in NYC. I nearly died, but didn''t sue.
A shell fish allergy is a true allergy but a person with a lactose intollerance problem is something very different...something that you really don''t even need to inform people about.%0D\ %0D
So many foods today are genetically modified--I think that''s why people like never before are developing these extreme reactions to them...For example, peanut butter, bread (gluten). This didn''t happen 20, 30 years ago--now so many people are highly allergic and developing anaphylactic reactions?
I work as a waiter and had a guest tonight who could not eat Lima beans due to an" allergy". She mentioned twice not to even bring them to the table...pretty easy to do . I wondered if the folks at the next table 18 inches away ate lima beans if she would go into shock...\ \ seriously is anyone allergic to Lima beans
R43 and R46 interestingly enough American dairy - milk and cheese are banned in Canada as well as in the EU due to the unrestricted use of Bovine Growth Hormone.\ \ Milk in the US will have BGH unless stated otherwise on the packaging.\ \ gene splicing is also rampant in order to extend shelf life of vegetables.\ \ Recently some consumers who have seafood allergies have noticed tomatoes cause mild allergic reactions very similar to those they experience when eating seafood.\ \ This is because some tomatoes now have a fish gene splice in order to keep tomatoes under colder temperatures thus extending shelf life and solving transportation problems.
R54, not to mention those goats that produce spider silk in their milk.
http://www.physorg.com/news194539934.html
[quote]Two meta-analyses have been published on rBST''s effects on bovine health. Findings indicated an average increase in milk output ranging from 11%-16%, a nearly 25% increase in the risk of clinical mastitis, a 40% reduction in fertility and 55% increased risk of developing clinical signs of lameness.%0D\ %0D\ So they give cows hormones to make them produce more milk, but it stresses them to the point where they develop mastitis, which of course requires more antibiotics. And this produces good milk? Unlikely.%0D\ %0D
[quote]I thought I was becoming lactose intolerant, but switched to organic milk and have no problems with milk now. I think the stuff produced by non-organic dairies must be a "milk product" that bears resemblance to real milk in appearance only.%0D\ %0D\ I bet you wouldn''t pass a blind test on it. It''s all in your head.%0D\ %0D\ And, adding one gene from a fish is not going to make people allergic to fish have a reaction. Do you realize the number of genes in an animal? The splicing mechanism changes the expression and would most likely render it unreadable by whatever is reacting to it in your body. %0D\ %0D
Thanks, R36 and R37. That story was a bit shocking back when I read it.
R24
R57''s diagnosis has been made. Gavel down.
Noah Tall
Similar to the mushroom story, I tell a "lie of omission" regarding sundried tomatoes. I find them just vile - some things I won''t like but I can put up with, but I absolutely hate the taste. So I say "I can''t eat it," which leads people to assume I''m allergic but really I just find it nasty. The way some people can''t stand cilantro. But it definitely makes people leave it out of the dish that I asked for.
Why can''t some of you just say you don''t like something instead of making up stories about it? For attention?
"Or so a doctor acquaintance of mine told me last week."%0D\ %0D\ How is Dr. Conrad Murray, OP?
I disagree, OP. I never had allergies until a few years ago. I''ve become allergic to dog hair. %0D\ %0D\ An allergic reaction is real and sudden.
R63, how did you suddenly become allergic to dog hair? Has this been confirmed by a doctor? Have you had muliple attacks from different dogs? And, you can''t actually be allergic to dog hair but you can be allergic to dander.
R64/61/57, you seem a little too invested in this issue. Was someone with an allergy mean to you?
R65, the gene post was because I''m sick of people who don''t know what they are talking about going on and on about "frankenfoods".%0D\ %0D\ The question about why people can''t just say they don''t like something instead of pretending they are allergic to it was just me wondering why someone would go to absurd lengths just to not admit they don''t like some food.%0D\ %0D\ And, the dog hair one was because I doubt the person is telling the truth becasue late in life dog allergies are pretty much nonexistent if you''ve never been allergic before.%0D\ %0D\ So, in closing, I guess I just dislike the ignorant, the weak-willed, the hype-sters and liars.
I''m allergic to olives and olive oil. Didn''t used to be, the allergy developed in my late 30''s after I had a bad allergic reaction (ie, rushed to the ER, ability to breathe really iffy for about 6 hours) to something totally unrelated. If I ingest any sort of quantity of olive oil my throat closes up. \ \ What''s really odd is I''ve always hated olives. Olive oil was OK, like in a salad dressing or an antipasto platter, but after the allergy kicked in, I couldn''t even manage those (especially the antipasto platter - an encounter with one sent me to the ER again). It makes me wonder if somehow my body knew I was sensitive to olives and gave me a dislike of them to protect itself. \ \ Fortunately olives are easy to avoid, but I still carry an EPI-pen with me at all times.
R67 Never go to Italy. They use it on most everything.
I%E2%80%99m allergic to a few kinds of fish. Usually, my eyes start to burn, my lips swallow, I have difficulty breathing and I feel nauseas. In severe cases my blood level drops and I get disoriented. Luckily, I%E2%80%99ve never gone into full shock yet, though I%E2%80%99ve been to the hospital a few times when my inhaler wasn%E2%80%99t enough and I couldn%E2%80%99t breathe.%0D\ %0D\ This allergy is a real pain in the ass, since I don%E2%80%99t have to eat the fish myself to get an allergic reaction, it%E2%80%99s enough if it%E2%80%99s around me.%0D
I bet you have a difficult time getting along with others and don''t have/or will ever have a long-term relationship. Unfortunately therapy is ineffective in dealing with personality issues otherwise it would be indicated. Did your doctor *cough* inform you of this as well?
Robert Davison
Don''t be so shellfish!
I''m so over people claiming to be allergic to wheat or gluten. Seriously? How have you lived 40 years eating it if you''re so allergic? I have no time for that sort of asshole.
I would agree. Hyprochondriacs or attention seekers. Of all the people I know who claim a number of food allergies, all are single women who have not much to do with their time other than staring at their belly button and wondering what new food ingredient they could come up with as an allergen (sounds as a good subject after talking about organic salt). Then they read tons of crap about it (so many people make a business of offering "understanding" and cure for their condition!) and convince themselves that they really must have it. Most of them end up so convinced that they actually develop some kind of symptoms when they know they ingested the terrible allergen. When they don't know, absolutely nothing happens, of course, lol...
Attention seekers, cry babies and control freaks.
I have yet to meet someone who says their allergic to certain foods when their not. First contact with the food may not be a full blown reaction. Ie; I have a cousin who is allergic to poultry. When he was younger the allergy was unknown, as a 4 year old saying it made his throat sore his mom put it off as he was trying to get out eating it because he didn't like it.The reactions got worse with each contact of the food most of which was from hidden ingrediants. 20+ years later he has to use an epi pen and must be rushed to the e.r. I have also seen reactions like this from a child who drank after another child who had eaten peanut butter
I've found that many people who claim to be allergic to dogs and cats simply don't like them or have never been around them. My neighbor is a hypochondriac who suffers from "migraines". Of course these migraines don't keep her from going outside in the sun, yakking on her phone and smoking. I think she just doesn't want to work and her husband dotes on her and believes it.
[quote]And, you can't actually be allergic to dog hair but you can be allergic to dander. Yes, and I read that something in cat saliva is what triggers reactions in some people.
Can't stand this An allergy is life-threatening, not something that gives you gas or discomfort
All%20a%20pack%20of%20liars
"Most people who say they're allergic to cats and smoke are liars." Chill out, r5. As someone mentioned, it's the dander on the cats that some people are allergic to, and it's very real. And my allergist told me 25 years ago that "everyone is 'allergic' to cigarette smoke", meaning that shit is bad for everyone.
I went for allergy testing and quit half way through because I was showing positive allergic reactions to everything. I stay away from the things I can (strawberries, cantaloupe, shellfish) and manage the ones I can't (dogs, trees, grass, wheat).
And people who claim they have dust allergies are pussies.
Gluten is the trendy new allergy. Peanuts are so last season.
Your friend was probably a Ph.D., OP, and not in science.
Your "doctor friend" is an idiot. If he's really a doctor, he should have his license to practice taken away.
I would say for every person who claims to have gluten intolerance there are two or three more who are trying to convince themselves they don't. I'd like to be able to occasionally eat a doughnut (no, I'm not a fatty) without side effects.
My mother said she was allergic to chocolate, roses/flowers, and host of other stuff. She couldn't breathe when ingesting / smelling said things It certainly wasn't the COPD she had from years if smoking causing these symptoms.
People are generally confused by what are actual allergies as opposed to sensitivities or intolerances. Part of that is the fault of doctors who often don't know any more about it than their patients do. I know there's such a thing as gluten intolerance. I watched a friend go through years of misery before finally being diagnosed. I was told by a gastroenterologist that far more people have dairy sensitivities than is commonly realized. He said most adults should abstain from dairy, even though treating the results of dairy consumption made his practice quite lucrative.
It's all semantics. Allergy, sensitivity, intollerance. Whatever you want to call it. If a particular food makes me sneeze, wheeze, break out in hives or diarreah, I'm going to avoid it at all costs.
I've developed a sensitivity to dairy but I don't seem to have a problem with fat-free organic milk. Whole non-organic milk causes serious diarrhea for me. Cheese and ice cream don't seem to bother me at least not in the amounts I eat them in. I have a strange allergy to dark chocolate but nothing serious. It makes me sneeze 3 times in a row but I won't stop eating it.
An allergic reaction to shellfish is really an allergic reaction to IODINE. MANY things have iodine, so those of you having major problems with shellfish should be mindful of that.
R90, I don't like lobster because to me it reeks of iodine.
[quote]I've found that many people who claim to be allergic to dogs and cats simply don't like them or have never been around them. I'm allergic to both cats and dogs. I find most pet owners are very respectful of that. I find a few, like R76, are just assholes who think I'm making it up. Look, I wish I wasn't allergic. Dogs are fun to play with.
R92, I hear you. I have two cats, and some of my best friends and lovers have loved my cats, but were allergic. Some more allergic than others. They never made a big deal of it. I made sure that the place was well aired out, and that always helped.
The sure-fire method for curing food allergies is a ton more anal penetration
I have a young niece with Celiac disease or whatever, requiring a gluten-free diet. Her dad (my brother) made a big deal of announcing this to all of us when the girl was two years old. About six months after the diagnosis, and after hearing him complain ad nauseum about the expense and effort involved in feeding his daughter her specialized diet, I said something like "You know, there was no such thing as gluten when we were kids." He rolled his eyes and pretty much agreed. I love my niece, but wonder about this diagnosis out of nowhere of a condition that seems trendy. How many of us died from gluten in the 80s? Was it a hidden killer?
I have Celiacs. It is not an allergy. It is an auto immune disorder and it runs in my family. For me, it was diagnosed through both a biopsy and a blood test. People with Celiacs sustain real and identifiable damage to their bodies due to gluten consumption. It is the only known auto immune disorder that's effects can be eliminated - by not eating the one thing that causes your body to damage itself. The only people who know about my condition are my family and my boyfriend. I don't make issue of it and when out to eat with friends, I can always find something on the menu I can eat. Sometimes, if I know where I'll be eating ahead of time, I'll check with the restaurant about their menu and what's safe to eat. It annoys me to no end when I hear someone go on so dramatically about their allergy to gluten. I've literally witnessed an acquaintance make a huge show about sending a bowl of soup back because, "I can SMELL the gluten in it!". This same individual would also refuse to step foot in a bakery because it "would kill" her. She was, of course, doing this for show and sympathy. Out shopping once, my boyfriend and I spotted her alone, eating a cupcake in a mall food court. Didn't seem to kill her instantly. She has no idea that I have Celiacs. As I stated, I don't make a big deal out of it. It doesn't rule my life. But it's people who behave like she does that make it tougher for those who really do have to be careful about the food they eat.
[quote]For me, it was diagnosed through both a biopsy and a blood test. For every one of these, there are 97 people who self-diagnosed by reading symptoms on the internet. Same with all allergies.
[quote]I was told by a gastroenterologist that far more people have dairy sensitivities than is commonly realized. He said most adults should abstain from dairy, even though treating the results of dairy consumption made his practice quite lucrative. Bingo. It's a money maker for medical professionals, and that's a big reason why the community won't deal with it honestly. Multiple office visits, diagnostics, etc. are too good for them to pass up. I do believe that a lot of chemicals are in food that weren't in it even a decade ago, let alone earlier. The list is so vast, and different kinds, too: preservatives, hormones, anti-biotics, ripening agents, genetic modifiers, etc. Most of these aren't studied over the long term across the population. Severe intolerance is possible. It's like any cultural phenomenon. People with psychological disorders and narcissism glom onto these conditions for their own ends. It doesn't mean they don't exist, just that the numbers are inflated.
That is untrue. I am so allergic to peanuts, if I go into a room where someone has eaten a peanut with the last year, I go into shock.
Dairy intolerance is so common because cow milk is for calves, not adult humans. I've become sensitive to dairy since I severely reduced the amount I was consuming, but it's not nearly severe enough to make me stop eating cheese. Good cheese is one of the greatest feats of humankind.
People like you, are such assholes! My 4 year old has alot of food allergies, Peanuts, treetnuts, seseame seeds and lima beans. Ive have her tested 4 times, because I too had never known anyone with food allergies;However, I will tell you I am now a believer, I have seen the reactions. You should get a life and an education!
Kita
Yay, another bastard from google search. Welcome! Have some nuts!
Kita. Dearest. Your defective spawn should not be allowed to breed and pass along YOUR defective genes. Understand, dear? If not, get the hell out!
[quote]Dairy intolerance is so common because cow milk is for calves, not adult humans. Such complete and utter bullshit! Human beings have been regularly drinking cow's milk for at least six millennia, and probably even thousands of years before that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk
Unless you will drop dead the best way to get over an "allergy" is to be exposed to small amounts then gradually increase the amounts.
All of you are just bastard people! My little Jayden just swells right up if he even LOOKS at an acorn tree!
r101
[quote]Such complete and utter bullshit! Actually, it's not bullshit. I am lactose intolerant. I can have some milk with no or little ill-effect. More than say, 4 oz sends me to the bathroom with runs, bloating and flatulence. Sometimes stomach cramps. I have been this way since birth. My mother was the same way. She was born in southern Italy and it is common there because they don't drink a lot of milk and never have. Same goes for African Americans and people from Asia. Most Europeans don't have the problem but the farther south you go, the more likely it is you'll be lactose intolerant. True.