mango allergy
March 12, 2005Mangoes were a great treat in the hot summers of my childhood. One day, to get the last of the sweet flesh, I grabbed the skin of one, and scraped it with my teeth. The next day, the lower part of my face was bright red, with large, incredibly itchy blisters covering my lips. These crusted over, so that I looked like part of my face had been battered and fried. Others have had a similar experience, and found a way to eat mangoes again. I’m not that brave. Cross-reactivity occurs in people who have had an earlier, nasty brush with poison ivy or a similar antibody-producing substance.
Years later, I found I had an allergy to latex , and that has opened up a whole new world of foods to avoid. So I would say no, thanks to that enticing fruit salad with honeydew melon, fresh pineapple, kiwi fruit, and bananas. Life is just not fair.
and how did you treat it? what worked?
the other day I ended up with 12 mangoes. i made the same mistake as you, only AFTER i started feeling some irritation, i continued shoving the delicious fruit into my mouth and also scraping the skin with my lips and teeth.
needless to say, today is a very painful and itchy day. i look like i’ve just had a bad botox job.
Comment by gap — August 15, 2008 @ 12:22 pm
It eventually healed on its own. However, I did get terrible cases of poison oak/ivy, and had to get cortisone shots in addition to taking cortisone pills.
Comment by spacebar — August 16, 2008 @ 1:31 pm