You, too, can be allergic to beef...

[lspencer534]

I've been allergic to beef since the early 1980's. I'd wake up with welts the size and height of pancakes on my body and itching so badly that I wanted to scratch to the bone. It got worse and worse, to the point I had 45 minutes to get to the ER before being unable to breathe because of swollen airways. I used to miss cheeseburgers and steak a lot, but I've gotten over it.

But you, too, can get in on the fun! Read this:

A bug can turn you into a vegetarian, or at least make you swear off red meat. Doctors across the nation are seeing a surge of sudden meat allergies in people bitten by a certain kind of tick.

This bizarre problem was only discovered a few years ago but is growing as the ticks spread from the Southwest and the East to more parts of the United States. In some cases, eating a burger or a steak has landed people in the hospital with severe allergic reactions.

The culprit is the Lone Star tick, named for Texas, a state famous for meaty barbecues. The tick is now found throughout the South and the eastern half of the United States

Bad bite: A tick can make you allergic to red meat (http://news.msn.com/us/bad-bite-a-tick-can-make-you-allergic-to-red-meat)

[Craig]

That would piss me off...

[VITE1]

More for me. :seasix::cert:

[wwomanC6]

Blood sucking ticks! :mad: That would suck!!!

[CertInsaneC5]

That would piss me off...

:iagree: I would probably starve to death as well. :Jeff '79:

[lspencer534]

:iagree: I would probably starve to death as well. :Jeff '79:

You learn to live without beef. It isn't easy, though. My favorite food in the World was an all-beef cheeseburger with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and mustard. Served with fries and a big Kosher pickle, of course. When the doctors were confirming my allergies the prick test (actually what it was called: 69 needle pricks on your back with food extracts in them) was not the end. You also had to do a field test, which consisted of eating none of a certain food for 4 days, then eating it every day for 3 days.

I saved cheeseburgers for last. The moment I tasted it the greenery was greener, the bluery was bluer, the yellowery was yellower. I felt like a junkie finally getting his fix. But beff was the culprit.

I've adjusted to turkey burgers, turkey bacon, and eating chicken and fish. Honestly I don't think I would eat beef now even if I could. It'd probably taste too strong.

[Norm]

You learn to live without beef. It isn't easy, though. My favorite food in the World was an all-beef cheeseburger with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and mustard. Served with fries and a big Kosher pickle, of course. When the doctors were confirming my allergies the prick test (actually what it was called: 69 needle pricks on your back with food extracts in them) was not the end. You also had to do a field test, which consisted of eating none of a certain food for 4 days, then eating it every day for 3 days.

I saved cheeseburgers for last. The moment I tasted it the greenery was greener, the bluery was bluer, the yellowery was yellower. I felt like a junkie finally getting his fix. But beff was the culprit.

I've adjusted to turkey burgers, turkey bacon, and eating chicken and fish. Honestly I don't think I would eat beef now even if I could. It'd probably taste too strong.

Doesn't make any difference if it's well done cooked, or almost burnt? What's the culprit in the meat that you're allergic to?

[lspencer534]

Doesn't make any difference if it's well done cooked, or almost burnt? What's the culprit in the meat that you're allergic to?

No, it makes no difference how meat is cooked. I still get an allergic reaction: Hives, itching, vomiting, diarrhea. Like the link says, meat contains a sugar called alpha-gal. My body treats that as a foreign substance and makes antibodies to fight it off. That sets the stage for an allergic reaction to occur.

[Bill]

No, it makes no difference how meat is cooked. I still get an allergic reaction: Hives, itching, vomiting, diarrhea. Like the link says, meat contains a sugar called alpha-gal. My body treats that as a foreign substance and makes antibodies to fight it off. That sets the stage for an allergic reaction to occur.

Can't you just take an antihistamine a few hours prior to indulging in a beef meal?

[lspencer534]

Can't you just take an antihistamine a few hours prior to indulging in a beef meal?

I can take Benadryl with mixed results. When I first tried that route many years ago, I had to take 100 mg for it to be effective. With that dosage, I fell alseep while eating. It just wasn't woth the side effects.

[OldSarge]

Suck start a 12 gauge, I needs my beef........:rofl:

[lspencer534]

Since there's been more interest imn this thread that I expected, let me add some things about "general" food allergies, meaning people like me who are allergic to many foods, not just one or two. First, no reasearch at all is being done on it brcause, like the common cold, there are just too many possibilities to consider. Second, almost everyone grows out of food allergies; unfortunately, it almost always turns into asthma.

If you don't grow out of it, then your prospects are dim. You will become increasingly allergic to all foods, and you have to enter a hospital that has access to exotic foods, like lion, tiger, elephant, etc. You will one day become allergic to them, too, and you will die.

I'm slowing becoming non-allergic to foods that I once couldn't eat. At first I was allergic to all foods except fish and rice, just backwards for most folks since they're usually allergic to shellfish. Over the years I have been able to eat pepperoni, any vegetable, and pork in moderation. I still can't eat beef. Only last year I ate 2 beef tacos from Taco Bell, although I ordered cjicken tacos. I became violently ill, had diarrhea, vomited, and passed out, breaking my nose and hitting my head on the toilet. There was blood, puke, and shit everywhere.

[Frizzle]

I had a doctor friend of mine look at this and he said its complete BS.

[lspencer534]

I had a doctor friend of mine look at this and he said its complete BS.

Few patients seem aware of the risk, and even doctors are slow to recognize it. As one allergist who has seen 200 cases on New York's Long Island said, "Why would someone think they're allergic to meat when they've been eating it their whole life?"

[Bill]

Since there's been more interest imn this thread that I expected, let me add some things about "general" food allergies, meaning people like me who are allergic to many foods, not just one or two. First, no reasearch at all is being done on it brcause, like the common cold, there are just too many possibilities to consider. Second, almost everyone grows out of food allergies; unfortunately, it almost always turns into asthma.

If you don't grow out of it, then your prospects are dim. You will become increasingly allergic to all foods, and you have to enter a hospital that has access to exotic foods, like lion, tiger, elephant, etc. You will one day become allergic to them, too, and you will die.

I'm slowing becoming non-allergic to foods that I once couldn't eat. At first I was allergic to all foods except fish and rice, just backwards for most folks since they're usually allergic to shellfish. Over the years I have been able to eat pepperoni, any vegetable, and pork in moderation. I still can't eat beef. Only last year I ate 2 beef tacos from Taco Bell, although I ordered cjicken tacos. I became violently ill, had diarrhea, vomited, and passed out, breaking my nose and hitting my head on the toilet. There was blood, puke, and shit everywhere.

So, pretty much an average day at the Spence household, then? :D

[lspencer534]

So, pretty much an average day at the Spence household, then? :D

Now that you mention it...yep.... If it ain't the food, it's the gin...or the massages.

[Jobaka]

How did I know that once you wrote this:

Taco Bell...


This was sure to follow:

There was blood, puke, and shit everywhere.

[LATB]

an all-beef cheeseburger with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and mustard. Served with fries and a big Kosher pickle,

"I like mine with lettuce and tomato
Heinz 57 and french fried potatoes
Big kosher pickle and a cold draught beer
Well, good god Almighty which way do I steer...."

[Jobaka]

I had a doctor friend of mine look at this and he said its complete BS.

There's no shortage of information available about the condition. What would prompt a doctor to dismiss all that research?

Alpha-gal Research Links | A Resource on the Mammalian Meat Allergy from the University of Virginia (http://allergytomeat.wordpress.com/alpha-gal-research-links/)

[lspencer534]

There's no shortage of information available about the condition. What would prompt a doctor to dismiss all that research?

Alpha-gal Research Links | A Resource on the Mammalian Meat Allergy from the University of Virginia (http://allergytomeat.wordpress.com/alpha-gal-research-links/)

"Few patients seem aware of the risk, and even doctors are slow to recognize it. As one allergist who has seen 200 cases on New York's Long Island said, "Why would someone think they're allergic to meat when they've been eating it their whole life?" [From the link]

My secretary's father was a doctor (now deceased. She said that doctors are the most hard-headed people in the World...that they refuse to believe anything, researched out or not, that doesn't fall into their narrow vision of logical. It's even harderr to train them about new surgical procedures that have been proven to work since they have their own ideas about how it should be done.