strawberries

[redbird]

I fear that I may have developed an allergy to strawberries.

Cattitude came home from the farmers market with two quarts of strawberries, so we sat down to eat strawberries this evening. Adrian washed a plateful of the berries, and we all started eating.

They're very good strawberries, but I realized after eating a few that my lips were starting to itch. They were tasty enough that I had four or five more before saying anything. When I did, Adrian suggested I go wash my face. I rinsed my lips with plenty of cool water, took a benadryl, complained about the situation, and got Adrian to make me herb tea. I hope I haven't developed an allergy to a fruit I like, after eating them without problems for more than fifty years.

ETA, after responding to people's comments:

It may not be just strawberries. Raw kiwi makes my mouth itch, and I think I remember having a problem with the kiwi on a mixed fruit tart. Possibly-underripe figs also made my mouth itch once, but cooked figs (fig Newton cookies) are OK, and a fig that was ripe enough to fall off the tree at my feet was fine. I think I need to do some reading.

Comments

[thistleingrey]

For a while, my kid had reactions that lined up pretty well with oral allergy syndrome. Then they became less reactive, and some of it faded (they still won't touch a few of the foods that were "prickly"); none of what was testable by an allergist showed up on the latter's panel. I notice that kiwi and strawberries are in the same list at the link (birch pollen), if of interest.

[ethelmay]

I had a reaction like that once to cooked nettles. It's the only time I have shown any reaction to a foodstuff.