Question:
I have had a Iodine/shellfish allergy for what I assume is a number of years
now. I haven't eaten any shellfish since having a severe anaphalyctic
(spelling?) reaction on my birthday a number of years ago. Up to that point I
had always had a mildly sore throat after consuming shellfish, but never
anything life threatening as became the case. My question is, is this likely
to be an allergy that I have/will outgrow? I still crave shrimp and crab and
would like to know if I might ever get to eat it again.
Answer:
that is a shellfish allergy, alone, and iodine has nothing to do
with it. Remember, all fish share the same environment and contain
roughly equal amounts of iodine, but you react only to the shellfish.
The association of seafood allergy and iodine allergy is one of the
oldest of medical myths, but you will not find such a relationship
mentioned in any medical text or taught in any medical school. That said, there are basically three kinds of shellfish, in terms of
allergy worries: crustaceans, as exemplified by crabs and lobsters and
shrimp; molluscs, such as oysters, abalone, squid; and finny fish. It is
common to be allergic to more than one member of one of these families,
but unusual to be allergic to representatives of several families. You
have found yourself to be allergic to two different crustaceans, but you
probably tolerate fish without difficulty.
It is unlikely that you will ever outgrow allergy to crustaceans once
you have had a severe reaction, and is is extremely dangerous to test
yourself by eating any of this food again. Among allergic reactions that
can kill, crustacean allergy ranks very high. There is no
desensitization treatment available.
This is usually a life time problem, mostly because of the high risk of
trying it again even if you are desenstized. A skilled practitioner able to
use octopamine phenolics may help you. The real advantage is that thie work
might save you if accidentally eating shellfish.
