by PrincessNike

Created on: April 21, 2010

LIVING WITH A STRAWBERRY ALLERGY

Strawberries are one of the healthiest foods, and one of the tastiest, too. Unfortunately, they are also one of the 30 most common food allergies. Strawberry allergies are so common and the reactions can be so severe that a strawberry allergy was actually used as a plot device in the 1997 movie "Addicted to Love." Watching Meg Ryan's character torture her ex-boyfriend with his strawberry allergy was a nightmare for me, because I am also allergic to strawberries.

So how do I personally cope with my strawberry allergy? Obviously I avoid strawberries, but this can be trickier than you imagine.

AVOID EATING STRAWBERRIES

As a tasty and healthy food, strawberries are very popular. And though strawberries used to be a seasonal food, they are now available year-round. Fresh strawberries are still plentiful in early summer, and to me they seem to be everywhere. My family would wait until I was out of town for girl-scout camp to have strawberry shortcake when I was a child. Now, my own children know that they get strawberries on the porch only, and have to wash up with the hose.

Why will I not even let strawberries in my house? Because my allergic reaction is so severe. The two most common types of strawberry allergies are oral allergic reaction and anaphylaxic allergy reaction. My grandmother had the oral allergic reaction. If she ate strawberries she would get a painful rash on her lips and inside her mouth, and sometimes she would get the sniffles and a low-grade fever. I have the anaphylaxic allergy to strawberries. The symptoms of my strawberry allergy include hives, rash, fever, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and trouble breathing.

Strawberries appear in many unexpected places. Since my own strawberry allergy is so serious, I cannot even eat anything that has traces of strawberry juice on it. That means I can never order a smoothie or milkshake in a place that has strawberry smoothies or milkshakes, because the blender may still have a tiny bit of strawberry in it. I cannot get anything mixed into my ice create at an ice cream parlor that has strawberries. I risk an allergic reaction ordering ice cream at a place that does not have one scooper per ice cream flavor if they have strawberry ice cream. I cannot order a fruit salad because many fruit salads have strawberries, and I will have an allergic reaction if I try to eat the other fruit in the salad. Buffets often have beautiful displays of fruit, but I cannot eat any of it

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