73 Folks With Weird Allergies Reveal How They Affect Their Everyday Lives

I developed a respiratory allergy to paper (no clue to what exactly in it, specialist said no real way to test it either).

Had to drop out of university because they couldn't accommodate me well enough, had to get rid of my extensive private library of fiction and non-fiction (including a ton of academic books, many of which ultimately ended up in the paper trash since no one was interested in them and I couldn't just keep them around), had to switch from using paper notebooks to taking notes on laminated pages with non-permanent markers, can't browse bookstores anymore.

Basically even entering someone else's house/apartment poses a risk since I never know how much paper/how many books they have around, and whether I'll get an asthma attack or not (and if yes, how quickly I get a reaction).

It's very horrible, and half the time I mention it somewhere, I'm looked at as if I were inventing it just to inconvenience others/play the victim/whatever else those people think.

I don’t know if it’s uncommon but I’m allergic to adhesives. I found out after I had a c section and reacted horribly to the medical tape they put over my incision. I can’t wear band-aids or have bandages with sticky residue… or tape, or even wax (like the type you’d use for hair removal).

It’s hilariously ironic to me because I have hemophilia.

Meat. Spoiler: I have it. It gives me really bad acne, and it can make my lips swell purple.

I've never been lucky. And I'm not talkin' about the lottery, I'm talkin' 'bout stuff like developing a soy allergy at thirty-five. Who gets a soy allergy at thirty-five? And why is soy in everything?

The unfortunate thing that a lot of people don't understand that it's possible to be allergic to almost anything. It's why people are unintentionally ended every year when people/restaurants don't heed a customer's requests.

I have dermographism which isn’t technically an allergy but the best way to describe it is as if it is. Basically my skin will break out in hives for no reason. Hair touches face, hives. Scratch something that itches, hives. It’s never known when it’ll really react, when I’m stressed it is more likely to happen though. I can kind of control it in the sense I can add to it. Like I can use my finger nail and “write” on my skin and it’ll give up so you can see the word or picture.

Feathers. Weird, right? I found out when I was ten and I got sick with a cold. I stayed home from school and wrapped up on the couch with a down comforter and pillows. After a week I wasn't getting better and after two weeks I was getting worse so my mom took me to the hospital. After sitting in the waiting room for three hours my coughing was just gone and I felt perfect. The doctor ordered an allergy test and told me to stop using the down pillows and blanket in the meantime. We weren't really shocked when the results showed a feather allergy.

I have really bad contact dermatitis. I can’t wear a lot of makeup, any lip makeup whatsoever (only Vaseline for me... and only the original), no nickels or stuff like that, sometimes I can’t even cross my bare legs for too long without getting a welt that takes forever to go away... apparently my own skin is too much.


But recently I have topped it all by trying a new toilet paper! At first I had no idea what was happening so I had to go show my doctor, and now we still are having issues making this reaction go away. Sometimes my skin can hang on and get all pissed off for months. Pray for me.

I have an eosophilic condition that makes me slowly become reactive to all foods. It doesn’t cause anaphylaxis but my digestive system swells up in about 10-20 minutes and it’s incredibly painful. Everyone thinks I fake it or am dramatizing it, but my husband sees how difficult it is on a daily basis. I can’t eat any grains, beans, nuts, treenuts, chocolate, tea, coffee, preservatives or processed foods, dairy and most fruits. I especially can’t eat trace corn or wheat. It’s scary because I have slowly lost most foods over the last eight years and just recently got diagnosed.

It’s not really that uncommon of an allergy but I’m allergic to shellfish. I got some Korean BBQ wings and didn’t know they used shrimp paste in the sauce. I didn’t pass away, but I near broke my toilet. Called the place to report food poisoning and mentioned I’m allergic to shell fish so could also be cross contamination. They were like “oh darn! Yeah there’s shrimp paste in the sauce!”. They started labeling the menu differently after that.

I’m allergic to cold. I noticed that when I’d walk outside when it’s below 50 my skin would break out in hives. There are other people with this allergy out there, but some are so bad they can’t have cold drinks! I just have to take Allegra before I go outside.

I knew a woman that was allergic to her own sweat. Every time she got hot or exercised she'd sweat and then break out in rashes.

I have a friend with an allergy to sudden changes in temperature/cold. He had to always be aware of the temperature, because something as simple from walking in the air conditioned house from outside in summer could set it off.

Allergic to your spouse. It's a true condition, often the female is allergic to the husband's protein. Worked for the world's leading allergist in this area before he passed last year. His sons carry on, from Cincinnati the Bernstein's

Been on road from Cincinnati area to Cedar Rapids Iowa. What usually happens is the couple are celibate until married, then find out the wedding​ night.

My wife is allergic to garlic. It's not all that common but not rare enough to be unheard of. We have to be very careful about what to buy at the store. It seems like 60% of what's on the store shelves has garlic in it in amounts she can't handle. So we usually home make most of our foods and stick to non-garlic sources. She can't go to certain restaurants either, because some have so much garlic that it's everywhere.

My wife has a Chocolate allergy, anything with too high of Cocoa % and she breaks out.

she's also alergic to Lavender.... do you know how many bath products I can't buy her because they put stupid Lavender in them.

Wheat AND rice. Potatoes and corn are my only carbs. It's a pain but my allergy isn't pass away level, so i just get to feel horrible for a while after eating them anyway.

I'm allergic to penicillin. Hopefully I'll never get a bad infection that can't be cured with other antibiotics, cos taking penicillin will most likely send me into cardiac arrest.

Bananas.
It happened gradually after I hit 30. Started with giving me a slightly itchy mouth, then started making my chest and throat tight. Even banana flavored things and small amounts in fruit juices.

Avocado. I only developed it at 23.

My favourite food used to be all you can eat sushi. Used to be.