Itchin' for Some Shrimp

I love shrimp. In the immortal words of fellow-shrimp lover Benjamin Buford Blue, better known as Bubba from Forrest Gump: Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it. And it’s all good. Unless you’re allergic to shrimp.

Over the weekend, my husband took the family to a local seafood restaurant. I enjoyed shrimp scampi, garlic grilled shrimp, fried shrimp, a baked potato and a salad. Stuffed, I went to bed right after getting home. The next morning I woke up to find big, red, bumpy, itchy hives all over my face.

I’ve eaten shrimp before. Many, many times, although sporadically. I’ve never had a reaction to shellfish before, and I’m not entirely sure that the shrimp is to blame (I hope it’s not).

I have suffered from seasonal allergies (hay fever) for at least 16 years. Once the seasonal sneezing and itching became absolutely intolerable, I visited an allergist in search of relief, hoping I wouldn’t have to hibernate indoors every spring and fall. The doctor ran the whole gamut of allergy testing on me as standard procedure, which by the way is NOT fun. Those tests indicated that I was allergic to a very long list of things, many things I have enjoyed symptom-free all of my life. This list included, among other things, very standard items such as chicken, beef, cats. Of course I wasn’t consuming the latter, although I do wonder about some of the Chinese restaurants I’ve visited. The tests also indicated a reaction to shellfish. The doc said that as long as I wasn’t having reactions to those items, I could continue enjoying them as I always have, but at some point I might develop a reaction to some or all of them. I guess I reached that “some point” - at least in regards to the shellfish. Dangit.

This isn’t the first time that I have experienced an allergic reaction in the form of hives. I once developed hives after coming into contact with latex. And about two years ago, I had an outbreak very much like this one, but it was complicated with shortness of breath. Because of that, I found myself in the dreaded emergency room that evening. I don’t know why they call them emergency rooms because there is absolutely no sense of urgency in them whatsoever. They should be called “Wait-Here-for-at-Least-Three-Hours-and-We-Don’t-Care-How-Much-Pain-You-Are-In-Rooms.”

Now my case that evening was probably of the milder sort of “emergency,” but there was a guy in the waiting room who had literally cut his finger off. His now four-digit hand was wrapped in a towel, which was soaked with blood. He was writhing in obvious pain, complaining that he had already been there an hour. I told the receptionist that they better not dare call me in before this guy. About three hours later, I finally made my way into the examining room. We never did figure out what I had been exposed to that triggered the reaction. I was prescribed a week’s worth of steroids and Zyrtec.

My outbreak this weekend didn’t warrant that kind of treatment or the headache of the ER, so I just took my Allegra, hoping that would speed things along. If it hadn’t happened over the weekend, I definitely would’ve been in to see the doctor. But Monday morning I woke up to find most of it cleared up, with just traces of splotchiness and itching. My chin still feels like sandpaper, but at least I no longer look like I had been whipped in the face with a belt.

I’ve since done some research on the internet, and my reaction does seem to be in line with a shellfish allergy. However, I have also since learned that spoiled shrimp can release a histamine that can cause allergic reaction, including hives. Fair or not, we won’t be going to that restaurant again any time soon, but I also won’t be giving up my shrimp just yet either.