Ugh this is me. I used to love spicy food but something happened a few years ago where it switched to just destroying me.
All it takes is a little bit and I’m sent into an uncomfortable, mouth-searing sweating fit for essentially the rest of the day. I’ve got bottles of alcohol-based mouthwash like Listerine stocked up since it’s one of the few things that helps in those times when I accidentally get a hit of the ol’ spicy stuff. Once I do that and wash off my lips with face cleaner I’m alright, otherwise I’m struggling to keep hydrated because I’ll sweat for hours and hours.
Finally went to see an allergist that found a ton of underlying allergies and thinks that having all those go untreated is what increased my sensitivity overall. I’m currently getting the allergy immunotherapy shots and hoping that results in some regained resistance to capsaicin. It’s super embarassing to be out and start sweating like a maniac when I get a bite of an appetizer I didn’t know had pepper extract or one of those steaming plates of hot spicy stuff that sends a pepper cloud in my face and just leaves me drenched the rest of the night.
And you see, I’ve become the opposite. I used to dislike really spicy food, now I can’t get enough of it. The hotter the better. Normal food doesn’t scratch that itch anymore, I need pain.
I’m sorry about your allergy to it. My wife can’t handle spicy foods at all. Raw jalapenos give her an allergic reaction, so she can’t even have pico de gallo. She also has lots of allergies.
Are you in the US? What was the allergy testing like? How much did it cost?
I’ve had just the worst GI issues this last year or two and tried tweaking my diet and got no results. I asked my doctor and she said might just be gluten/dairy intolerance. I cut those out and still consistently had issues. I gave up and ate a pizza and the next day dropped the biggest log of my life no issues.
I wanna get tested but not sure where to even start.
Your insurance might cover it. It’s usually just listed under a specialist visit. Anyone can get allergy tested and it only takes like an hour. Look up local allergists.
For me I currently have state healthcare in the U.S. Under my plan, I can only see a specialist when referred to one by my primary health care physician. I made an appointment with them, gave them my story and asked to be referred to an allergist. They issued the referral (takes about two weeks to show up in system) and I called into the allergy office a couple times until they confirmed they received my referral and could then schedule an appointment that my insurance would cover.
My allergist went over questions first (e.g. what brought you in today, do you seem to have more symptoms during different seasons, do you have constant runny or stuffy nose, itchy eyes, etc.). The second part is the prick test. I lied on my stomach and the nurse marked different spots on my back and numbered each spot. Then they have a bunch of little needles, each one with a small amount of a different potential allergen. They then prick one in each spot and measure the size of the bump that happens to determine how allergic I was to each allergen, if at all. This test also took place in two parts: the first time was for food allergens (dairy, crustaceans, mollusks, etc.) and the second time was for seasonal/household allergens (pollen, ragweed, mugwort, dog hair, etc.).
It’s definitely worth getting tested since a lot of the symptoms and discomfort can be treated, as well as the benefit of having the knowledge of what to generally avoid if possible so that substitutions can be made. The shots are for the seasonal/household type allergens, but since there is some crossover (for example, celery is a food allergy, but the reason it can produce a reaction is because the body can mistake it for mugwort, which is a treatable seasonal allergy), and in my case is thought to help my body be more at ease instead of constantly being agitated by the allergens, which could reduce overall discomfort and sensitivity when eating spicy foods eventually.
They’ll go over treatment options and if the shots are recommended based on your results and discussion. It’s also good to know if you have a food allergy or a food intolerance, since apparently they are different. Really I learned a lot and feel a lot better than I did a year ago. Check with your health insurance (and/or managed care plan within your insurance) and see what you need to do to ensure that a visit to the allergist is covered. If it requires a referral from your PCP, they will likely make sure to refer you to a specialist that is in-network, but do confirm with them or the specialist before you take the appointment.
Similar thing happened to me after having a case of food poisoning.
Since then, I can’t eat certain kinds of chilli. It took me a while to figure out because it didn’t show immediately after eating it, but hits me about 12-18 hours later where I get fever and my body tries to expel everything.
Ugh this is me. I used to love spicy food but something happened a few years ago where it switched to just destroying me.
All it takes is a little bit and I’m sent into an uncomfortable, mouth-searing sweating fit for essentially the rest of the day. I’ve got bottles of alcohol-based mouthwash like Listerine stocked up since it’s one of the few things that helps in those times when I accidentally get a hit of the ol’ spicy stuff. Once I do that and wash off my lips with face cleaner I’m alright, otherwise I’m struggling to keep hydrated because I’ll sweat for hours and hours.
Finally went to see an allergist that found a ton of underlying allergies and thinks that having all those go untreated is what increased my sensitivity overall. I’m currently getting the allergy immunotherapy shots and hoping that results in some regained resistance to capsaicin. It’s super embarassing to be out and start sweating like a maniac when I get a bite of an appetizer I didn’t know had pepper extract or one of those steaming plates of hot spicy stuff that sends a pepper cloud in my face and just leaves me drenched the rest of the night.
And you see, I’ve become the opposite. I used to dislike really spicy food, now I can’t get enough of it. The hotter the better. Normal food doesn’t scratch that itch anymore, I need pain.
I’m sorry about your allergy to it. My wife can’t handle spicy foods at all. Raw jalapenos give her an allergic reaction, so she can’t even have pico de gallo. She also has lots of allergies.
I cant wait to get a bite of that juicy shaq meat.
Are you in the US? What was the allergy testing like? How much did it cost?
I’ve had just the worst GI issues this last year or two and tried tweaking my diet and got no results. I asked my doctor and she said might just be gluten/dairy intolerance. I cut those out and still consistently had issues. I gave up and ate a pizza and the next day dropped the biggest log of my life no issues.
I wanna get tested but not sure where to even start.
Your insurance might cover it. It’s usually just listed under a specialist visit. Anyone can get allergy tested and it only takes like an hour. Look up local allergists.
For me I currently have state healthcare in the U.S. Under my plan, I can only see a specialist when referred to one by my primary health care physician. I made an appointment with them, gave them my story and asked to be referred to an allergist. They issued the referral (takes about two weeks to show up in system) and I called into the allergy office a couple times until they confirmed they received my referral and could then schedule an appointment that my insurance would cover.
My allergist went over questions first (e.g. what brought you in today, do you seem to have more symptoms during different seasons, do you have constant runny or stuffy nose, itchy eyes, etc.). The second part is the prick test. I lied on my stomach and the nurse marked different spots on my back and numbered each spot. Then they have a bunch of little needles, each one with a small amount of a different potential allergen. They then prick one in each spot and measure the size of the bump that happens to determine how allergic I was to each allergen, if at all. This test also took place in two parts: the first time was for food allergens (dairy, crustaceans, mollusks, etc.) and the second time was for seasonal/household allergens (pollen, ragweed, mugwort, dog hair, etc.).
It’s definitely worth getting tested since a lot of the symptoms and discomfort can be treated, as well as the benefit of having the knowledge of what to generally avoid if possible so that substitutions can be made. The shots are for the seasonal/household type allergens, but since there is some crossover (for example, celery is a food allergy, but the reason it can produce a reaction is because the body can mistake it for mugwort, which is a treatable seasonal allergy), and in my case is thought to help my body be more at ease instead of constantly being agitated by the allergens, which could reduce overall discomfort and sensitivity when eating spicy foods eventually.
They’ll go over treatment options and if the shots are recommended based on your results and discussion. It’s also good to know if you have a food allergy or a food intolerance, since apparently they are different. Really I learned a lot and feel a lot better than I did a year ago. Check with your health insurance (and/or managed care plan within your insurance) and see what you need to do to ensure that a visit to the allergist is covered. If it requires a referral from your PCP, they will likely make sure to refer you to a specialist that is in-network, but do confirm with them or the specialist before you take the appointment.
Most excellent, thank you so much for the write up. I have to see my doc in 2 months and I’ll get a referral then!
Your comment was so informative, thanks!
Similar thing happened to me after having a case of food poisoning. Since then, I can’t eat certain kinds of chilli. It took me a while to figure out because it didn’t show immediately after eating it, but hits me about 12-18 hours later where I get fever and my body tries to expel everything.