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

Allergic to Zinc.

Guess what the active ingredient is in sunscreen.

Not unusual, but I’m allergic to morphine and raspberries and nectarines. Three of the greatest things on earth.

Not me, but I worked at a museum storage facility and one of my coworkers found out she was allergic to giraffe when we were moving taxidermies.

I met a girl who was allergic to grass, which she discovered on a camping trip...

My dog is allergic to humans. Not kidding.

Had 2 patients who were allergic to latex. The first patient didn't see it as inconvenient on daily routine but she couldn't have intercourse with strangers because she couldn't use latex condoms.

 
The second patient was more complicated. She was going to get a colostomy but she was allergic to latex. Which is bad because a lot of materials used in the OR are latex (gloves, urinary probe, etc.). So, the whole OR had to be changed because of her.

I actually know a guy who used to be allergic to water. He'd get rashes on the inside of his mouth. And he'd have to clean himself with sponge baths and immediately dry it off. He grew out of it. He was one of four people in Ireland with it.

Pineapple, yes I've heard all the jokes. But yes.. pineapple.

Not sure if you’d call it “rare” per se... but I have what 2 allergy specialists an internal medicine doctor and 3 dermatologists have called the most severe reaction to Poison ivy they’ve ever seen. I can breathe it in and get severe breathing problems, exposure to skin causes near immediate leathery burns that cause permanent scarring, my reactions last up to a month or more, etc etc. I still love the outdoors, but it’s bad.

Im allergic to Aloe Vera. Found out as a kid with heat rash, later confirmed when I tried it again on a sunburn… it causes my skin to blister and burn :| commonly found in shampoo, conditioner, make up and just about any product that says “hydrating” or “cooling”. The worst was doing a make up course with a spa I worked at, I told them about my allergy and they completely brushed it off. Sure enough, they sprayed a mist on my face and I panicked a little because it felt warm. I asked to read the ingredients and it was second in line (aka, high content). My face immediately started to blister and radiate heat.

The docs still don’t know what it is.

I got an IV of solu-medrol, which humans just straight up aren’t supposed to be allergic to. So they think it’s something in the carrier fluid of the steroids or even the plastic from the IV bag

immediately after they gave it to me I started feeling hot and itchy on my chest so I yelled out to anyone outside my door that I thought I was having a reaction and within like 3 seconds of calling them i starting getting disoriented and confused. Thankfully they leapt into action immediately after I called out

It felt like I was in an episode of house cause while I was getting my IV of Benadryl, I heard them outside chatting “allergic to that? How? I’ve never heard of that before”

So I can’t get steroids because I’m allergic to something that’s not steroids

It must be some really random chemical because I’m also allergic to specific liquid fabric softener.

Newest allergy is contrast dye! Got an itchy red rash over my entire body. I’ve had contrast dye before with no issue, my body just decided to switch things up for funsies. It was almost funny cause before they administered it they asked if I had an allergy and I said no and 1 minute later my body was all red and splotchy

No food allergies, just two super rare ones. The probability of that must be wild

- thank you for the additional info on the methylprednisolone allergy!

The alpha-gal syndrome allergy to meat and dairy caused by a tick bite is pretty weird.

I had my daughter tested for environmental allergies because her seasonal allergies are so bad and we were shocked to learn that cockroaches are a common allergen and she is very allergic to them!

Coffee. I found out when I was packaging coffee at the food bank at a fairly young age and I got some in my gloves and broke out into hives.

Apparently most coffee allergies are found out in similar ways.

My enemy seems to be meatballs made by someone else.

I'm allergic to most legumes. Green peas, faba beans, chick peas, lentils, etc. you name it. Some time ago I ate prepackaged factory meatballs. Oddly, my mouth started to itch but I didn't connect it to the meatballs. Later it happened again and I started to wonder. And I was correct: "bean protein" and later I learned that I'm allergic to "pea fiber" too.

Also, faba beans seem to be in vogue where I live. I was in a hurry and grabbed "mashed potatoes and balls". Only at lunch I realised the "balls" weren't meatballs but beanballs. Co-worker at it.

I discovered I was allergic to Angora when I was asked to babysit my neighbor’s bunny.

I discovered my allergen, soy, hidden in canned tuna as a broth ingredient. It led to hives and difficulty breathing.

Found out I was allergic to agave when a bartender handed me my vodka drink with an agave-paper straw. immediate felt like i had come down with the flu and got insanely dizzy.

only other times that happened to me was when i had a sip of tequila (assumed I was far too drunk/lightweight to handle it) and a starbucks lemonade had it as an alternative sweetner (thought I was just getting a bug since it was winter and i was in public).

Potatoes. I actually know someone who is allergic. Can't even be in the same room/genrral area as any potato product (Such as fries) or she has a super bad reaction.

I'm the only Hispanic I know allergic to avocadoes.