Proceeding Gingerly...

So really, this is just an FYI and to maybe get some input from those of you who live with food allergies. I am gaining evidence that I have a food allergy, not an overly earth-shattering one (I wouldn't be able to live without gluten or lactose!), but an allergy nonetheless. Here's my case:

EXHIBIT A: Jared's sister bought some gluten-free (ironic, eh?) cupcakes from the Crave bakery in Portland and we were dividing them up for taste testing. I don't remember which cupcake it was, but I won't forget that my throat immediately felt like it was under attack after eating it. The taste wasn't my favorite to begin with (although there were some really yummy ones), but then I quickly had this weird feeling in my throat that turned into itchy discomfort. I mentioned this to Jared's sister and she said "Maybe it was the ginger; the shop admitted that they go a little overboard with the ginger." Anyway, all food tasted weird for the next two days. I remembered that this hadn't been the first time this had happened and after thinking about it I realized the last time was when I had tried a Ginger Chicken recipe in the crockpot about a year ago (a lot of ginger was used in that recipe, also).

EXHIBIT B: Not long after this, Jared bought some new face wash for me to try. For some reason I decided to read the ingredients label and there was "ginger" right in the middle of the list. I figured I should be careful, so I used just a little bit at first. Day one, no issue. Day two, nothing. I figured two tries was fine, so on day three I used a normal amount and gave my face a good scrub. Immediately after getting out of the shower I noticed that my face looked slightly red and blotchy. The next hour brought itchiness and heat all over my face, not quite the "morning burst of freshness" that the face wash advertised.

EXHIBIT C: I bought some frozen seasoned french fries to keep in the freezer for a lazy dinner night. On the night that I cooked them, I ate a few fries and noticed that weird feeling coming back in my throat. I went to the kitchen to read the ingredients and found, not "ginger" but....

POTATOES, VEGETABLE OIL (SUNFLOWER, COTTONSEED, SOYBEAN, AND/OR CANOLA), RICE FLOUR, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, SALT, DEXTRIN, CORNSTARCH, ONION POWDER, SPICES, GARLIC POWDER, LEAVENING (SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, SODIUM BICARBONATE), XANTHAN GUM, EXTRACTIVES OF PAPRIKA (COLOR), NATURAL FLAVOR, DISODIUM DIHYDROGEN PYROPHOSPHATE.

"SPICES??!?!"

I mean, SERIOUSLY?! Isn't it bad enough to develop a food allergy as an adult, but then it has to be an allergy that doesn't even have to be specifically NAMED on the ingredients list?! This ended up being the most significant reaction and I ran to the store to get Benadryl.

Of course this discovery has to come in the year that we have switched to a high deductible insurance plan, so any exploratory testing done by an allergist won't be covered. So for those of you with allergies or who have undergone allergy testing - do you think it would help in my case? If I really watch myself and don't eat any more ginger (or "SPICE"...argh!!), do you think it will go away??

Sorry if this was lame and uninteresting. Even if it was, I will probably still keep you posted on my little allergy adventure! The joys of blogging! :)