I've been missing out for 21 years

When I was 10 years old, my mother gave me a piece of trout for dinner. I think I remember enjoying it until after I ate it, my lips started to swell and my throat started to itch. I was having an allergic reaction. This was somewhat surprising since I had eaten other fish (turbot and tuna) without any problems. My mother says she also remembers me complaining of an itchy throat after eating fish sticks as a very young child. However, she dismissed it and thought it may have been my imagination.

I went to an allergist who basically told me to avoid fish. He told me that I could have a really bad anaphylactic reaction and my throat could close up and I could stop breathing. I continued to eat tuna since it caused no problems and I quite enjoyed it. However, I felt that somehow, I was missing out on a bounty of tastes. At first I thought I would try other types of seafood such as prawns, molluscs, and calamari. My first attempt at prawns (not until I was 12 because I grew up in a kosher household) did not end well. I had a similar, yet much milder, reaction to the one from trout. This was actually in a seafood restaurant and I attributed it to being cooked with or near fish at the time. Further prawn and squid experiments went very well and I still eat them.

Interestingly, throughout my life, I accidentally ingested fish without having any reactions. I remember finishing a Caesar salad when someone told me the dressing had anchovies in it. And some Caesar salads had the actual fish in the salad. There were other times when I was handed some sort of fried hors d'oeuvres. I thought it was chicken so just popped it in my mouth. I ate one and thought "this tastes nothing like chicken." After biting into a second one, I realised it was fish and spat it out.

Finally, I decided it was time to check for sure. Three months ago, I booked an appointment with an allergist. They told me I couldn't get in for three months. I thought, this guy must be good if he's booked out for 3 months. I'll finally be able to know for sure if I'm allergic to fish or not. If I was allergic, which ones can I eat? I figured he'd be able to tell me exactly which species were the culprits.

The appointment was 8:30 this morning at. After filling out a bit of paperwork, he called me into my room (and correctly pronounced my last name which is a rarity). I told him all about my history and how I have mild asthma and eczema. He drew some lines in a grid-like fashion on my arm with a red dry-erase marker and opened up an impressive box of small vials. The box contained allergens of different varieties in liquid form. He placed a small drop of about a dozen different allergens on the grid on my arm. He then took a small razor and pressed it into the drop to scratch the skin. This didn't hurt at all, in fact, I could hardly feel it. We waited about 3-4 minutes while he described what allergies are and how the mast cells release the allergens into the body. He went through the stages of anaphylaxis from itching, rashes and welts all the way up to wheezing, dropping blood pressure and finally collapse and shock.

When the 4 minutes were up, we looked at my arm and I couldn't see much of anything. On closer inspection, I could see tiny red specks on some of the spots. He started marking them with the red pen. It turns out, I'm mildly allergic to soy beans, milk, peanuts and fish. Fish I understand, but I did not expect the soy beans, milk or peanuts. I eat soy sauce all the time. I also am a huge fan of milk and dairy products (I'm constantly being ridiculed by the different types of cheese I keep in the fridge). I also eat peanuts with no problems. He said that the gut has some pretty good methods to get rid of little nasties. He said, if I haven't had reactions to them in the past, then I can continue eating them.

As for the fish, he said, just experiment. He said start with canned fish and move my way up to cooked fish. Then, if I'm feeling good about it, I can eat raw fish in sushi and sushimi. So much for knowing exactly what species of fish I can eat. He did say that in terms of allergies, there are 3 types of fish: deep sea fish like tuna, shallow sea fish such as sardines, and shark which are a whole different kettle of fish (excuse the pun).

This appointment lasted less than 15 minutes. And I really didn't leave with much more knowledge than what I had going in there. Of course, I could have been experimenting for the past 21 years. And I would have saved myself $200. Yes, he actually charged me 200 bucks. I'll get most of that back from Medicare, but he gets $200 for drawing some lines on my arm. Doesn't seem fair. I should have been an allergist.

One of my first fish experiments is going to be fish and chips. I can't wait.