Hi Alcie
I cannot eat any processed or take out food or food in a restaurant. I was sitting with my sister and nephew two years ago at Christmas time at Swiss Chalet and having chicken breast, fries and gravy with a salad and my face was flushed and swollen, the throat constricting and did not feel myself at all. That weird feeling of distress and doom and gastro going on and since then I seriously started to go to the doctor and allergist. I stopped eating out, period.
It came to a point where I thought I was 'allergic' to all food because whatever I ate, I would get the symptoms of sulfite. I actually self analyzed myself and the allergist here in Canada, although there is no test for sulfites confirmed it after hearing all my symptoms. She was quite helpful and told me to try to get fresh veggies from the market etc but in Canada, the organics are gone in fall and winter and its very hard for me right now.
I don't know how to live with this allergy, it is unlike other allergies. In USA, there is no sulfites in fruit, but when that same fruit is sent by truck to Canada from USA or other countries, they are sulfited or sit in a sulfite bath and then put in a refrigerated truck to head for Canada. EVEN ORGANIC FRUITS AND VEGGIES. Organic is pesticide free but not necessarily sulfite free thats what I have learnt.
Organic produce from Canada in summertime is okay for me but I still cannot have Swiss Chard and I found out it is loaded with natural sulfites, ofcourse, its full of iron, FeS04. But so is spinach but I was okay eating the local organic spinach and eggplant, zuccini and cucumbers, sweet peppers and turnips and sweet potato, oh dear, I miss those so much! In winter here, day to day is hard for me to repeat the same food, and to be honest I am really scared to trying to eat anything else until I have answers.
This forum is the greatest, I learnt so much and you are wonderful and have so much knowledge, I know with friends like you, I will be okay and I want to thank you for that.
My allergist suggested I go to Cleveland hospital either in Ohio or Florida where they have a special clinic for Sulfites and I can get help from there.
I have spoken to my boss on 16th dec to ask him for a medical leave for about a month so that I can fly down to the clinic and get some answers and maybe some education on this as none of the doctors here in Canada including the hospital emergency doctors know anything about sulfite allergy and that it is also in epipens.
I also get chest pains and whenever ended up at the hosp. they did all the heart tests with always the same results, nothing wrong with the heart!! Then how is it it feels like I am going to die.
I was reading that tachycardia is also due to the sulfite reaction, I am thinking it may be that and not anything to do with heart attack or so.
Sometimes when I am driving home in the bumper to bumper cars where I am stuck for a long time till I reach home, the exhaust fumes from the car ahead of me (sulfur dioxide fumes) affect me and my left arm will go heavy and numb and I feel like I am going to pass out and the feeling of doom and anxiety and then chills around my chest sometimes. I am scared to take benadryl in case it is my heart and not a reaction but it has happened to me three times now over the 5 months and I am putting all this together to be sulfite allergy. This also happens at gas stations if I spend too much time waiting to fill gas.
When I have this reaction, I will be just sitting in one place and not wanting to move, its like I am in a trance and the different reactions take place.
There is so much more, my life is upside down as I work 8 and a half hours but wake up at 6am and come home at 6pm thats 12 hours and after that have to cook my food and attend to my yorkie and take her for walks on nice days. I am exhausted and if I get a reaction from something that did not agree with me, I still have to go to work the next day, regardless.
I also have a rotator cuff injury from my work some years ago and am dealing with a bad right shoulder (partially disabled) so things are hard enough for me to do so much work at work and then come home and do more work and then do all the cleaning of the mess.
sorry, I am just venting here, but this all adds up and I am just wanting some answers and solutions so that I can have a healthy life like everyone else.
thanks for listening to me and trying to help me. Do you think that if I call the Cleveland clinic and speak to a specialist to see if they can help me and take it from there or should I just pursue with endless tests which they are doing here but always same answer, 'nothing' is found and they don't know.
Alison never answered and I never got to know what other foods I can safely eat.