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 Posted By: Mama Mangia 
Aug 15  # 6 of 10
Kev - about being allergic to strawberries - I've been meaning to tell you - I am allergic to certain ones - I break out in terrible hives - but the ones that are home grown or come from certain areas - I can eat forever with no problem. Just wondering if it's all strawberries for you - or just certain ones imported from certain areas.
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 Posted By: chubbyalaskagriz 
Aug 15  # 7 of 10
Well, it's weird, mama... For a while I thought it was maybe the pesticides used on them that I hadn't washed-off well enuf. But then once I had a reaction from eating store-bought jarred strawberry preserves too. So now I'm all bum-fuddled about what it could be about them! I love them- ate them forever- then one day I just had to stop. Weird!
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 Posted By: Mama Mangia 
Aug 15  # 8 of 10
Yes it is weird - I ate them all my life - one day i had a package from another country and I looked like a monster and suffered dearly.

Went strawberry picking 2 months later - no problems when I ate them.

have you tried to make a small batch of homemade strawbery jam with local strawberries at all?

I would take that chance to find out - if I didn't chance the strawberries I picked I would be a very unhappy strawberry lover.

I think the ones that made me so sick were from Costa Rica.
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 Posted By: chubbyalaskagriz 
Aug 15  # 9 of 10
I have had the same type of food allergy reactions to strawberries & strawberry preserves about 6-7 times mama.

Also- exact same allergic reactions to some seafoods too, like halibut, scallops and skate-wing, about 10 times total over the last 10 years- (though not every time I eat them! So- I haven't stopped eating the seafoods...)

I never eat strawberries anymore 'cause it was happening EVERY time. But I still eat seafood, 'cause the outbreaks were few & far between, and seemed to happen real randomly- WEIRD!)

Here's what happens- almost INSTANTLY: I feel a tingle in my tongue & lips, then a weird ringing sensation in my ears, then a sudden swolleness & itching around my ears and my brow.

Soon the swolleness & itching of my ears and brow increases & reddens & REALLY becomes severely bothering- uncontrollable.

Then the palms of my hands and soles of my feet start to really itch.

Then my lips and tongue start to swell and feel tight like they're about to burst!

Within about 10 minutes all these places that are swollen and itch are covered in raised, red welts and they all ITCH LIKE MAD- driving me CRAZY! We're talking- itch so bad that I have rubbed skin RAW off my feet and hands by severely scratching with various scratching devices (like a FORK!) to get relief.

The most recent times, I could actually feel my throat & tongue swelling too- which is really SCARY.

Early on taking 2-3 benadryl tablets relieved these symptoms pretty quickly- within 30 minutes.

But the symptoms have slowly gotten more intense over time and harder to circumvent. 2-3 times I've actually had to go to the emergency room and was examined and given not only stronger oral benadryl- but also a benadryl drip in an IV.

The whole ordeal from start to finish lasts maybe 3-4 hours. After 3 hours 90% of my symptoms are gone, with some minor lingering red, splotchy itchiness that doesn't totally subisde for a good 24 hours.

It happens almost instantly- within 2-3 minutes of my very first bite. It's weird & freaky- and scary as hell! And like I said- what's SO strange about it is I've proll'y eaten a dump-truck load of strawberries in my lifetime- first time it happened was about 6-7 years ago- it was a total unexpected shocker!

Has anyone else experienced this before with any foods?
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 Posted By: Mama Mangia 
Aug 15  # 10 of 10
me with chinese foods - couldn't breathe - welts (hives) from head to toe for 2 weeks, swollen eyes as if I were severly beaten - lips that looked like a collagen experiment gone wrong, lop-sided face, itching, pain - yep