Food Allergy: Shellfish Allergy

A shellfish allergy is very common. Crustaceans such as lobsters, crabs, prawns, shrimp, squid, cuttlefish, clams, and oysters are the culprits. Many develop eczema skin symptoms with adverse allergic reactions including face swelling and hives after eating seafood. Hence, an allergy to shellfish can be extremely severe.

Reactions can appear almost immediately within one hour and some take two to three days to show symptoms. The compounds, parvalbumins and tropomyosin, found in them triggers reactions.

It is found that sufferers of a shellfish allergy often react to other types of shellfish as well. Hence, if you know that you have a reaction to say shrimps, it is best to also avoid the rest like cuttlefish, clams and squids. I know it is hard to have to give up on so many well loved seafood items all at once. But the alternative would have been suffering from allergy attacks, that can be difficult to control.

I get eczema skin symptoms after eating shellfish. Sadly, I have to give up eating my favorite foods such as mee siam, laksa, chilli crab and tom yam soup after finding out more about my shellfish allergy. A picture of a lady posted in a Chinese clinic with rotting legs due to her refusal to give up on eating laska despite a shellfish allergy convinced me that an elimination diet of all seafood is best for me.