When I was a kid we used to have fresh shrimp for dinner at least once a week. I grew up in Redondo Beach, California and we would go to the Pier and get fresh seafood all the time. Living near the ocean the seafood is fresh and you can find it pretty easily and my parents loved seafood, so we had it all the time.
When I was old enough my mom would have me helping to peel the shrimp and that's when we discovered that I can't touch raw shrimp. If I do, I break out in red bumps and blisters all over my hands, but after the shrimp is cooked, I can eat it, touch it...hell I could bathe in it and not have a problem...except of course the cats might follow me home. O.o
So My mom asked my doctor about it and he said that it probably meant I was going to develop a shellfish allergy so I should stop eating, or touching any shellfish. Well, that didn't sit well with me or my parents...because frankly I love my shellfish. So I stopped peeling or handling raw shrimp but still ate it all the time with no problems. My allergy never got any worse.
A few years ago I decided to peel some raw shrimp with my bare hands, I figured one of two things would happen. I would either break out...or I wouldn't and then I would know if I still had the allergy.
Well I got about 4 shrimp in when my hands started itching, getting red and small blisters started covering the skin around my finger nails. So now I know, I still have a strange shellfish allergy.
I still eat cooked shrimp, but now I wear rubber gloves to peel them. I've never developed a worsening shellfish allergy and I seriously doubt I will. I even got tested for allergies and they did a shellfish allergy test..the weird thing is it came back negative for an allergic reaction. Now how in the heck can that happen?
The doctor said our bodies are strange sometimes. Some people are allergic to the fuzz on peaches but can eat the peach itself just fine. Others are allergic to the tomato vines but can eat tomatoes with no problems. And yet others have allergic reactions to raw foods but once they are cooked, they can eat them just fine.
So to anyone out there with an odd reaction to raw foods, maybe you can eat the cooked version of the same food? I can.
