WTF I'm allergic to calamari?

[Locut0s]

Last night me and the family went out for Greek. For anyone who knows Vancouver it was Stepho's Greek Taverna, known for their O.K. food, very cheap meals, and long lineups. The food is what I would call passably good Greek, certainly not bad but nothing special. The portions are huge for the cost.

Anyway I ordered the Calimari. Aside from being a bit too oily I liked the meal quite a bit.

2 Hours latter and I'm starting to itch. Several hours latter and it's obviously hives. Wake up this morning and it's all over my chest and arms. Go to the clinic just to be sure it's an allergy and he prescribes an antihistamine as I thought he would. Took the antihistamine and now I'm feeling better.

Strange I've had Calamari a dozen times in my life before and never got any reaction. The only thing I knew I was allergic to before this was cat dander. Which is fine by me as cats are evil It's possible that I'm allergic to something else like shellfish and this was cross contamination. There were a lot of shellfish being served to others. Which would be fine by me too as shellfish is evil too. But I like Calamari

 

[MiniDoom]

"nelson: haha".

 

[FoBoT]

it could be iodine, a lot of people that are allergic to iodine react to many types of seafood

can you eat other seafoods without trouble?

 

[KeithTalent]

That really sucks man, I love calamari. I can't believe you stood in line for Stepho's! :Q

KT

 

[Platypus]

Originally posted by: Locut0s
Last night me and the family went out for Greek. For anyone who knows Vancouver it was Stepho's Greek Taverna, known for their O.K. food, very cheap meals, and long lineups. The food is what I would call passably good Greek, certainly not bad but nothing special. The portions are huge for the cost.

Anyway I ordered the Calimari. Aside from being a bit too oily I liked the meal quite a bit.

2 Hours latter and I'm starting to itch. Several hours latter and it's obviously hives. Wake up this morning and it's all over my chest and arms. Go to the clinic just to be sure it's an allergy and he prescribes an antihistamine as I thought he would. Took the antihistamine and now I'm feeling better.

Strange I've had Calamari a dozen times in my life before and never got any reaction. The only thing I knew I was allergic to before this was cat dander. Which is fine by me as cats are evil It's possible that I'm allergic to something else like shellfish and this was cross contamination. There were a lot of shellfish being served to others. Which would be fine by me too as shellfish is evil too. But I like Calamari

It could be the oils or ingredients they used along with it too.

You can have an allergy test done which I would recommend. You don't want to find out the hard way when your throat swells shut.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Originally posted by: Platypus

Originally posted by: Locut0s
Last night me and the family went out for Greek. For anyone who knows Vancouver it was Stepho's Greek Taverna, known for their O.K. food, very cheap meals, and long lineups. The food is what I would call passably good Greek, certainly not bad but nothing special. The portions are huge for the cost.

Anyway I ordered the Calimari. Aside from being a bit too oily I liked the meal quite a bit.

2 Hours latter and I'm starting to itch. Several hours latter and it's obviously hives. Wake up this morning and it's all over my chest and arms. Go to the clinic just to be sure it's an allergy and he prescribes an antihistamine as I thought he would. Took the antihistamine and now I'm feeling better.

Strange I've had Calamari a dozen times in my life before and never got any reaction. The only thing I knew I was allergic to before this was cat dander. Which is fine by me as cats are evil It's possible that I'm allergic to something else like shellfish and this was cross contamination. There were a lot of shellfish being served to others. Which would be fine by me too as shellfish is evil too. But I like Calamari

It could be the oils or ingredients they used along with it too.

You can have an allergy test done which I would recommend. You don't want to find out the hard way when your throat swells shut.

This. About 10 years ago, I broke out a few hours after eating calamari, even though I had eaten it many times before. I was bummed at the prospect of having to avoid shellfish, but I got tested and they said I wasn't allergic. So it must have been something else or just a fluke. Since then I've never had a problem.

 

[Locut0s]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
That really sucks man, I love calamari. I can't believe you stood in line for Stepho's! :Q

KT

Because of the mediocre food or because of the long wait? Like I said we've had better Greek food that's for sure. But it's not really bad either. And for the price it's worth it The lineup wasn't that bad really. About a 45 min wait. Had it been a sunny Saturday in summer, wtf spontaneous alliteration, the wait would have been much longer.

 

[Queasy]

It's a trap!

 

[mb]

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca

Originally posted by: Platypus

Originally posted by: Locut0s

Strange I've had Calamari a dozen times in my life before and never got any reaction.

It could be the oils or ingredients they used along with it too.

You can have an allergy test done which I would recommend. You don't want to find out the hard way when your throat swells shut.

This. About 10 years ago, I broke out a few hours after eating calamari, even though I had eaten it many times before. I was bummed at the prospect of having to avoid shellfish, but I got tested and they said I wasn't allergic. So it must have been something else or just a fluke. Since then I've never had a problem.

Yeah if you've had it a dozen times before and didn't have a reaction, I don't think it's the calamari.

 

[spidey07]

You might want to get tested. Shellfish allergies can be pretty serious.

 

[richardycc]

chances are, those Calamari weren't that fresh/borderline going bad. Mot seafoods have histamine-producing bacteria, if they weren't kept properly or not fresh, these bacteria grow like crazy. That's why sometime you get an allergic reaction and sometimes you don't.

 

[Locut0s]

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca

Originally posted by: Platypus

Originally posted by: Locut0s
Last night me and the family went out for Greek. For anyone who knows Vancouver it was Stepho's Greek Taverna, known for their O.K. food, very cheap meals, and long lineups. The food is what I would call passably good Greek, certainly not bad but nothing special. The portions are huge for the cost.

Anyway I ordered the Calimari. Aside from being a bit too oily I liked the meal quite a bit.

2 Hours latter and I'm starting to itch. Several hours latter and it's obviously hives. Wake up this morning and it's all over my chest and arms. Go to the clinic just to be sure it's an allergy and he prescribes an antihistamine as I thought he would. Took the antihistamine and now I'm feeling better.

Strange I've had Calamari a dozen times in my life before and never got any reaction. The only thing I knew I was allergic to before this was cat dander. Which is fine by me as cats are evil It's possible that I'm allergic to something else like shellfish and this was cross contamination. There were a lot of shellfish being served to others. Which would be fine by me too as shellfish is evil too. But I like Calamari

It could be the oils or ingredients they used along with it too.

You can have an allergy test done which I would recommend. You don't want to find out the hard way when your throat swells shut.

This. About 10 years ago, I broke out a few hours after eating calamari, even though I had eaten it many times before. I was bummed at the prospect of having to avoid shellfish, but I got tested and they said I wasn't allergic. So it must have been something else or just a fluke. Since then I've never had a problem.

Yeah I'm hoping this is the same. I'm not going to bother with an allergy test unless it becomes a chronic thing. Besides I'll just test the theory the next time I have something similar. Next time I have any kind of serious seafood I'll bring along some antihistamine just to be safe.

 

[Locut0s]

Originally posted by: richardycc
chances are, those Calamari weren't that fresh/borderline going bad. Mot seafoods have histamine-producing bacteria, if they weren't kept properly or not fresh, these bacteria grow like crazy. That's why sometime you get an allergic reaction and sometimes you don't.

Huh interesting.

 

[lokiju]

You went to a Dr. before trying an antihistamine?

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Locut0s

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
That really sucks man, I love calamari. I can't believe you stood in line for Stepho's! :Q

KT

Because of the mediocre food or because of the long wait? Like I said we've had better Greek food that's for sure. But it's not really bad either. And for the price it's worth it The lineup wasn't that bad really. About a 45 min wait. Had it been a sunny Saturday in summer, wtf spontaneous alliteration, the wait would have been much longer.

The line-up, it just does not seem worth it. I've never actually eaten there, so I guess I should not really be commenting; most Greek food tastes the same to me anyway (I enjoy it, but I do not notice a big difference between the more expensive places and the dumps).

KT

 

[Locut0s]

Originally posted by: spidey07
You might want to get tested. Shellfish allergies can be pretty serious.

Yeah I know this. However I don't plan on eating any actual shellfish any time soon as I hate all varieties of mussels, clams, and crabs. I've had these in the past and never had a reaction. Also this reaction was skin only. Never had any trouble breathing or swelling. With cats I can't breath after being around them for only a few hours. I'm reduced to an amusing wheezing, itching, sneezing, crying conversation piece.

 

[polarmystery]

It could be worse, you could be like me and be allergic to shellfish and just this year moved to Baltimore. A crab/shellfish central location, and ... Baltimore.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: lokiju
You went to a Dr. before trying an antihistamine?

That is the proper way dude. Self medication is dangerous.

 

[Locut0s]

Originally posted by: polarmystery
It could be worse, you could be like me and be allergic to shellfish and just this year moved to Baltimore. A crab/shellfish central location, and ... Baltimore.

Well we aren't East Coast seafood but Vancouver isn't exactly Kansas when it comes to teh fishies.

 

[Locut0s]

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: lokiju
You went to a Dr. before trying an antihistamine?

That is the proper way dude. Self medication is dangerous.

Ironic considering I'm self medicating my depression lol.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: Locut0s

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: lokiju
You went to a Dr. before trying an antihistamine?

That is the proper way dude. Self medication is dangerous.

Ironic considering I'm self medicating my depression lol.

Alcohol is generally not considered medication :evil:

 

[Fritzo]

You're probably allergic to shrimp and scallops too.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: Locut0s
Strange I've had Calamari a dozen times in my life before and never got any reaction.

Most allergies come and go. True, there are some lifelong allergies. But the majority randomly appear and just as randomly go (2 years is a common length of time to be allergic to something). The fact that you weren't allergic before is meaningless.

Of course, as said above, you still aren't certain that it was the calamari. The cheap way to know for sure is to eat calimari again in a different restaurant (not necessarilly the safest way though).

 

[torpid]

Originally posted by: Locut0s

Originally posted by: spidey07
You might want to get tested. Shellfish allergies can be pretty serious.

Yeah I know this. However I don't plan on eating any actual shellfish any time soon as I hate all varieties of mussels, clams, and crabs. I've had these in the past and never had a reaction. Also this reaction was skin only. Never had any trouble breathing or swelling. With cats I can't breath after being around them for only a few hours. I'm reduced to an amusing wheezing, itching, sneezing, crying conversation piece.

You still should get tested because iodine is used in various medical procedures and you would probably want to know if any of those would kill you.

 

[sandorski]

Nasty shit anyways.