New to the Forum

[RudderBird]

Hi all! Wanted to say hello and introduce myself.

My name is Meghan. I'm 27. I have a life-threatening allergy to sunflower seeds. I joined the forum in hopes to connect with others that share my allergy and hopefully by sharing my experiences I can help others.

The first time I ever ate sunflower seeds was when I was 8. Afterwards I had an upset stomach, but nothing major. Years later when I was 17, I had them again, this time in trail mix. Soon I had a scratchy throat and about an hour later I developed a violent reaction: hives, difficulty breathing, etc.

My allergy has worsened over the years to the point where I cannot be in the same room or even touch a door knob after someone has touched or consumed sunflower products. I actually suffer from a variety of other allergies as well. I am a huge animal lover and birds are the only pets that I am not allergic to. I have 5 parrots and they are the love of my life. However, a lot of commercially-made bird food contains sunflower seeds. So my husband and I take extra precautions when getting food. They eat a pelleted based diet, fresh fruits and veggies, and we prepare our own treats from products from the health food store in order to QC what comes into our home. My most recent scare was a near-anaphylactic experience after my husband accidentally bought a bag of bird treats that contained sunflower ingredients. I recovered, but have to be very cautious. I carry 2 Epi pens at all times because my reactions are so violent.

Look forward to connecting with you all!

[SilverLining]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

If you scroll down the main page, there is a section specifically about seed allergy.  There are some people here dealing with sunflower allergy, so you may find information and suggestions for products that do not contain sunflower seed or it's oil.

[twinturbo]

Hi Meghan, sorry to hear your increasing severity. You're in the right spot for people who have low thresholds and big reactions, a.k.a., the 'bad' part of the bell curve. Hopefully knowing there are others in the same boat provides some support in your daily life.

[GoingNuts]

Hi Meghan, sorry you need to be here, but glad you found us!

Sunflower is indeed challenging, because it's not considered one of the "Big 8" in the U.S. and often is labelled for very well (sorry - I just assumed you were in the U.S., but you could be anywhere!).  Definitely check out our seed forum.  I look forward to seeing you around. 

[Elizabeth Hoffmann]

I am sorry.  I think this may not be the correct group for my son's issues.  These are intolerance tests not life threatening allergies. They are foods that causes reactions that won't kill him.

[LinksEtc]

Are you sure that they are just food intolerances?

What kind of symptoms does he get?

What kind of doctor diagnosed him?

[SilverLining]

Linksetc., Elizabeth originally posted here. New here and asking for help in understanding my 7 yr old son's test results

I'm not sure why her last post ended up in a different thread.