Grow Your Own Magazine

Struggled over the weekend with intense itching deep inside my fingers, then I got more itching after picking my strawbs.

Seems like I'm reacting to strawberries. I'm gutted. I adore them and they are the highlight of the early summer just right for Miss EB's birthday. So that's no more home made strawberry ice cream, jam, sauce, smoothies etc.

And there I was thinking of extending the season - no point now it seems.

A depressed and very despondent EB

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Bright Blessings
Earthbabe
If at first you don't succeed, open a bottle of wine.

What about using gloves... or do they now affect you if you eat them too?

Awww strawbs are quite common fruits to be allergic too!

Hope you find away around it.
Jan
x

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Jan A novice gardener - first year of growing

The itching is definitely worse when I've eaten them as at the weekend I ate but hadn't touched the leaves and things as I scraped them out of one bowl into another with yogurt and things.

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Bright Blessings
Earthbabe
If at first you don't succeed, open a bottle of wine.

Seems strange that its your hands/fingers that itch if you've not handled them??

Could it be anything else? New hand cream, soap... washing liquid (clutching at straws to help here cos I know I'd miss my strawberries too)

Jan
x

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Jan A novice gardener - first year of growing

Thanks witch-1. The itching feeling feels like it is right down inside the finger. I'm going to miss them loads. Don't know why it's the fingers. My "non-scientific" dowsing pendulum confirmed that there is a problem and it's usually very good with the wheat intolerance thing.

Unfortunately until I can afford the £250.00 for a York Labs intolerance test I'll have to go with that. Can't see my GP being too impressed with "will you test me for a strawberry allergy please".

Still despondent

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Bright Blessings
Earthbabe
If at first you don't succeed, open a bottle of wine.

they wont tst you anyway, apparently in case you have a reaction and sue! i was tested for all sorts as a kid and when i got a bad reaction i was in the right place and then knew what to avoid, i went abroad for the first time at 16 and had huge reaction to insect bites, hospitalised, got back to uk, they wont test me. how silly, cant they just wright a disclaimer?
sorry about your allergy, you could try different prossesing methods to see if you can identify the chemical and prosses to avoid it, its hard slog and nasty but it you love them that much...

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Yo an' Bob
Walk lightly on the earth
take only what you need
give all you can
and your produce will be bountifull

years ago I spent three weeks at my grandads. he had a huge garden with a massive strawberry patch. after two days stuffing myself with strawbs I came up in a rash, so was banned from eating strawbs cos gran heard that it was quite common to be allergic to them.

after another two weeks watching my sister stuffing herself with piles of strawbs including my share , my rash was not subsiding. turned out in the end that I was allergic to daz washing powder that gran used.

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Kernow rag nevra http://www.cornishnotenglish.com/

The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits
Albert Einstein

Just be ordinary and nothing special. Eat your food, move your bowels, pass water and when your'e tired go and lie down. The ignorant will laugh at me, but the wise will understand
Bruce Lee

what about taking anti-hystamines (piriton or benadryl) and then touching the strawberries again?
if it turns out you're allergic to strawberries, would you be allergic to all varieties?

From what I remember Earthbabe you work as a nurse? so should know about these things!

Shows how much I know! I didn't realise you could aquire an allergy I thought you were born with it?
My Sons Penicillin allergic but he was born with it!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

no some you are born with some you just aquire, some experts belive its due to an over induldgence, but the studies are pretty vauge, tho you are right snadgar, the itching is histemic but do you want to eat chemicals with other long term side effects, just for one fruit? fancy having your bowles emptied with a spoon when in your 70's just for strawbs?
and even then only controlling the allergy to a degree, aquired allergys tend to get worse not better, once your body has decided its a nasty everytime you have it the reaction is worse if you persisted you would end up anaphalactic like me, not good.
you could go private or try distilling to the 'nthe degree like with vacines and flower remidies, which would work but who has the time, the patience, the money or the chemisty degree?

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Yo an' Bob
Walk lightly on the earth
take only what you need
give all you can
and your produce will be bountifull

Sorry to hear that EB! My OH when he was 21 became allergic to shellfish/prawns and the like - even prawn crackers! He only occasionally eats prawn crackers these days (20+ years later!) (he's ok with those now). Bernie

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things

Sorry to trivialise it, but the over indulgence bit worries me!!!!

How could I survive without my red wine or broon ale, methinks?????????

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

I think sometimes there has to be a "tendency". I am wheat intolerant, my mother has developed an "allergy" to mussels - it makes her violently sick - but not other shellfish. My father was recently admitted to hospital in Spain with an anaphylactic type reaction to something after eating a chinese meal -we still don't know what.

I don't overindulge in strawbs but I am very emphatic that we only have them in season (ie the three weeks ours are ripe - hence the thought of extending the season)

We all manage fine with red wine Snadger and in my family there is definitely a tendency to overindulge in that

Allergies are not something I know a huge amount about but working for the NHS I have access to sufficient resources to get some info. Generally they will not test unless there is a real life-threatening need. The gold standard is the food challenge test which has to be done in hospital under very close observation and a crash trolley at the ready, along with all the other drugs. Anaphylactic reactions if managed quickly and appropriately can be done safely.

Yoanbob it may be that your area does not offer that service. Also if you know what causes the problem it can be avoided. It tends to be used where the causative item is unknown or possibly mutliple because then the person may well need nutrition input to ensure a balanced diet.

Although it is supposedly very common to be allergic to strawbs I don't know anyone else who is. I also don't know if this means there will be other things I need to be wary of. Haven't found that info on my googling.

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Bright Blessings
Earthbabe
If at first you don't succeed, open a bottle of wine.

Sorry to hear your news EB.

I don't eat strawberries any more. When I was in my early 20's on holiday in Spain I ate a huge (and I mean huge) bowl of them - they were delicious. I came out in itchy bumps which took a few days to go away. I have a similar reaction if I eat too many plums. I find it is easier to not eat any strawbs or plums rather than try to restrict myself to one (yup, self control not great with tastes I enjoy) - everyone says go on just have one, but I know I will get carried away and have another and another..... then bump, I look like I fell in a wasp nest! I make do with strawberry jam. Hoping for a good crop of strawbs so I can try strawb ice cream and see if that is okay.

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

Just a tangential thought here, but a lot of the reactions described here seem to have happened abroad.

Just remember that they may not be quite so bothered about what they spray stuff with. One of our committee members relays a story where he was visiting a spanish farm, and they were spraying olives. When he asked what they were using the guys didn't have a clue what it was!

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Veni, Vidi, Velcro.
I came, I saw, I stuck around.

Fair point there Doctor, but I get the same reaction with plums and strawbs grown here - did experiment once or twice to see if it had gotten better. Maybe time to try again

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

Anecdotal evidence from strawberry breeders suggests that people with strawberry allergies can eat a white strawberry variety without adverse reactions. >>>Click<<<

Geo..

Hmm, looks interesting Geo.

Shirl - it's interesting you can eat strawberry jam. I suppose the protein responsible is killed by the heat. I'll try my homemade from last year and see.
Haven't had any plums this year.

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Bright Blessings
Earthbabe
If at first you don't succeed, open a bottle of wine.