The current edition of Allergic Living Magazine has a great 3-page look at how a number of major airlines deal with allergies. Tells me what I already knew — you’re basically screwed if, like me, you’re allergic to fish and shellfish.
Nov 05 2009
Shark Liver Oil
The H1N1 vaccine contains shark liver oil/squalene, according to Allergic Living Magazine.
So there’s the dilemma. I’m allergic to all fish and shellfish. But I have asthma and people with asthma are at a higher risk for H1N1. So, should I have the vax, or not?!
Nov 23 2008
Twinject
I just filled my first Twinject prescription. I’ve usually had epipens before, but having to carry two around is a pain and gets quite heavy after awhile. The only down side, however, is the fact that the second dose does not go in the same way as the first. So, if someone else is administering it, it will probably be a more difficult to manage than two Epipens.
I’ve never been in a situation where I’ve had to use these devices, lucky me.
Oct 11 2008
Fishbone Sculpture
Hyperallergy girl… shudders.
Yeah, looks cool, but fishbone sculpture? Surely that can’t be good if you happen to be me.
Sep 29 2008
Lucy and the Blog
Apparently, Lucy Waverman’s people read my blog (check out the comment!). And apparently! she concurs. Except that, yes, shrimp is a shellfish. She got me there. I am part of the teeny weeny percentage who is hyperallergic to both fish and shellfish and having learned the hard way that many average joes don’t bother to distinguish, I tend to just lump them all together with a simple, “If it lives in water, I can’t touch it.”. Clearly, I’m no professional food expert. 
Oh and just a quick follow-up on the whole Sambal Oelek issue. Most Sambal Oelek is made in countries where little notes like “Made in a facility that also process shrimp…” is not part of the law or habit, so, as Lucy says,… if you’re unsure leave it out.
I can attest to how important that is. Back in KL, I used to buy this Vegetarian Tom Yum soup paste (made in Thailand). The same co. also made a non-veg version. I knew because their similar bottles shared a shelf at my supermarket. One day, I bought a jar of the Veg version and, yeah, reacted. Since then, I’ve pretty much struck Thai food off my list, unless it comes from The Atlanta Hotel in Bangkok. Or the Khao Thai in Ottawa (though the latter isn’t pure-veg, which can also lead to problems but so far, so good!)
OK… enough stories & enough excitement about Lucy and the Blog… Click Here for the Ottawa Citizen’s 5 Great Places to Eat Vegetarian Food [in Ottawa]. Yeah, I know, I bet you didn’t think that there would be five.
Sep 28 2008
I see it here; I see it there; I see it everywhere
This is actually a post about the latest food additive craze. Are you thinking that I’m writing about a chemical? A cancer-causing fake sugary substance? A colour dye? No, no, and no.
I’m on about DHA. It’s in the yoghurt, the omega-3 eggs, the milk, and the margarine… and you can get it in your vitamins, too.
The scary thing about this is that DHA can be made from fish oil and many many of the above products fail to state whether the source of their DHA is fish or vegetarian. And that’s the scary part right there for people like me who are hyperallergenic to fish.
And if this isn’t enough, Canadian foodie, food writer, and occassional champion of the peanut allergy (because her hubby is allergic), Lucy Waverman, has graced us yesterday with some lovely allergy friendly recipes in her weekly coloumn the Globe and Mail. And while I absolutely can’t wait to try that vegan & lactose-free chocolate cake out (esp on my lactose intolerant 11 year-old), I am askance at her statement that, “If you are allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, dairy or seafood, you can feast on these. “ because the Peanut-free Pad Thai has both *fish sauce* and *sambal oelek* (which can have dried shrimp in it depending on who made it) and so thank you very much for your efforts Lucy but that is clearly NOT seafood-free!!!!!!!
Fish and shellfish allergies are usually listed as being among the top ten hyperfood allergies in the world and yet we get so little respect compared to the other items on the top 10. Everything I send to school *has to be* peanut and nut free, but no one stops to take a second glance for DHA, fish sauce, or sambal oelek in their kids’ lunches or on a shorthaul Air Canada flight, for that matter.
At least I have an epipen or two and my parents brought me up to *ask*, “Excuse me, but what is in that?” before trying anything… cold comfort, I know.
P.S. Coincidentally, My e-allergic friend Allergic Girl has just written about this NYT Article on Fish Oil in your orange juice and while they don’t specify, I assume it is about DHA?
Jun 17 2008
Canadian Legislation for the Food Allergic.
Canadian Legislation for the Food Allergic
From Gwen Smith, Editor, Allergic Living magazine
For years, the food allergy community in Canada has lobbied and waited for legislation that would require all food package labels to clearly and thoroughly list the top 10 priority allergens among ingredients.
The good news is that new regulations that would bring far greater clarity to the wording on food labels are ready. The bad news: they’ve been ready for two years and have yet to become law.
In the hopes making the allergen label law a priority for the federal government, Allergic Living magazine has launched an online letter-writing campaign to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Read the letter and about the issue at www.allergicliving.com (Click the green box in the upper right corner.)
If you are a Canadian concerned about the health and safety of those living with food allergies and celiac disease, take a moment to e-mail the letter to the Prime Minister. The more letters he gets, the greater the chance the legislation will pass.
Please make your voice heard. Thank you for your support.
x-posted from Allergic Girl
Jun 15 2008
How Ging Sing Nearly Killed Me
We order out from Ging Sing a lot, because *some people* in our household prefer American Chinese food… and frankly this is Ottawa and you’re lucky to get anything else! AND, for American Chinese, it’s not half bad.
Well, tonight Ging Sing nearly killed me.
We got some veggie spring rolls… and we’ve done this before without trouble. This time, they gave us a dipping sauce which had fish sauce in it. And, I grabbed a spring roll, dipped in the sauce unsuspectingly, and took a bite.
I realised *immediately* that there was something very very wrong with it and spat it out.
At first we thought that the spring roll had fish in it. But when we called the restaurant, they said, “No! It is not in the spring roll; it is in the dipping sauce!” The Veggie Spring roll, however, apparently has pork in it, so don’t get them if you’re a vegetarian!
Like that makes a lot of difference whether it is in the roll or the sauce when you’ve got a hyperallergy to fish!
Due to evasive action, all I got was an itchy palette and tongue.
Lucky for me… and even Luckier for Ging Sing!
Mar 24 2008
Medic Alert for All Canadian Children in Need
I was pleased to see the Cdn gov’t announcement on more funding for the Canadian Medic Alert Program aimed to provide bracelets for all Canadian children who need them click here for press release.
I’ve been wearing a Medic Alert since I was 16. Medic Alert Bracelets are great because the individual with the problem, doesn’t necessarily have to tell everyone about it & gets peace of mind when out in public that should something happen, people *will* know how to help.
You can read more about them here.
Sep 09 2007
NG on Allergies… and on Allergies in Ottawa
Ok, so the article triggering this post is not that new (May 2006), but my mother lent it to me in that, “have you seen this article” kind of way and I ignored it for some months until this evening. When I realised that there is an article on allergies in it. Click here to read it.
The article was really interesting in a number of ways — particularly when I consider the many ways that we are able to treat the symptoms of allergies. I also had the giggles when the mother of an allergic from birth boy said that her doctor told her he’d never seen a kid with so many allergies. I counted. Her son and I are allergic to the same number of things, although not quite all of the same things.
The one thing they were unable to explain is how it is that my envrionmental allergies got better when I lived overseas & didn’t bother me much at all the first 5 years I was back home. But then I moved here to Ottawa & I’ve been officially miserable since the end of July. Lethargic. Labyrinthitis, headaches, earaches, itchy pallete, and even a bit of difficulty breathing (my asthma has been so good in the past decade that I don’t even have a puffer around anymore). So, yeah… what of it? You are Hyperallergy Girl, suck it up. And certainly, IRL, I rarely complain about the foods I cannot eat or be in the presence of, but when it comes to my environmental allergies (Golden rod, ragweed, dust, tree pollen), I am made miserable for weeks on end and will whine (mostly to my Mum) about how it’s totally unfair.
The locals tell me, through runny noses and reddened eyes, that Ottawa is really bad for allergies. I wonder if there is a researcher out there studying Ottawa as an allergy cluster? Because the number of sufferors is well above the average here! Three of us in my unit (of 
at work alone.
When I was at home over labour day, I stopped by the family health practice begging for some kind of allergy drug more effective than the over-the-counter stuff… and was told that there are none. Huh? How can that be? I’m on extra-strength over the counter meds and I’m dying here. There must be something else!
Honestly, I think I need to leave the country again. I can’t take much more of this.
Next Page »