The man ‘allergic to food and wine’: American, 36, broke out in rashes and fell every time he ate
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Some people hate vegetables so much that they think they are allergic to them.
But doctors have found the first man who is real.
The 36-year-old American man broke out with a red, itchy rash all over his body and felt seriously ill every time he ate pickled vegetables, tomato and eggplant.
His symptoms flared up within five hours of eating a meal, recurred every three to six weeks, and lasted up to two weeks at a time.
He suffered with the condition for 17 years before finally being diagnosed with a severe histamine allergy and given a custom meal plan.
Doctors say he is the first known patient to consistently have a severe reaction at various stages after eating certain foods.
It wasn’t just vegetables that gave him trouble, with pizza, seafood, cheese, wine and some meat all getting him going.
His symptoms would start with nausea, extreme fatigue, fever, loss of appetite and sometimes vomiting.
This phase usually lasts for two days, but from time to time he may have a pulsating headache that lasts up to a week.
Then he developed a red rash that covered his neck, chest, insides of arms and thighs. It usually fades within 24-36 hours.
36-year-old man’s chest, neck, insides of arms and thighs turn red after eating foods rich in histamines, including pickled vegetables, tomato and eggplant
The man’s 34-year-old brother suffers from the same rash. Eating a low-histamine diet cleared up their symptoms
In addition to the rash came stomach cramps, sore throat and diarrhea.
The third and longest phase caused a runny nose, another sore throat, cough and headache for up to two weeks.
Other symptoms that occurred everywhere were heartburn, muscle twitching, sneezing and sleepiness, and the smell of smoke after eating.
The unidentified patient, from America, had no other medical conditions or allergies.
Histamine is an immune chemical associated with allergy, but it also triggers the release of stomach acid and communicates with the brain.
It’s made in the body, but it’s also found in many common foods, with alcohol, yogurt, and fermented foods like sauerkraut being particularly histamine-rich.
An allergic reaction can be caused simply by eating foods containing histamines.
A typical meal that triggered an allergic attack in the man was fish soup with wine.
Cheese, pizza, seafood, fried liver, pickled vegetables, tomato and eggplant also fueled the response.
Antihistamines reduced his symptoms somewhat, but when doctors put him on a low-histamine diet, his symptoms completely disappeared.
They then gave him tablets containing increasing amounts of histamine dissolved in water. The higher amounts of histamine caused all of the previous symptoms.
The patient now eats a low-histamine diet to remain symptom-free. He has four siblings, three of whom have similar symptoms.
Doctors noted the rare reaction in a report published in March in the American Journal of Case Reports.
They said the underlying cause of the symptoms returning in a cycle is unknown.
Most people can eat foods rich in histamines without any problem, but about 1 percent of the world’s population is histamine intolerant.
According to the Sydney Children’s Hospital Network, about 3 percent of teens have an allergy to fruits or vegetables.
About 32 million Americans have food allergies, as do 2 million people in the UK.
The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention said food allergies in children doubled between 1997 and 2011.
Every three minutes someone has to go to the emergency room because of a food allergy.