Sulfites are getting the best and worst of me! I am so overwhelmed!!!

[Paula Detyens]

My name is Paula and I am 57 years young from Richmond, Va. I am allergic to shellfish and sensitive to raw tomatoes. Found out in February that I am allergic to Sulfites as well. My reaction is not breathing related, nor is it intestinal. I break out in hives......big, puffy hives that can grow and spread to all sorts of sizes and shapes. The ones on my face bother me the most along with the ones on the insides of my thighs. My IgE started at 750 which is really high considering it should be 100-150. Two blood tests later, it is now at 400. Had two separate 8 hour testing sessions consisting of prick,stick and injection allergy testing and the only new thing that came up was pineapple. Naturally every drink I ever drink has pineapple juice in it. Have found that some foods give me immediate responses....wine ( ugh), avocado, either eggplant or the organic white cheddar cheese I melted on top of it after sautéing in Canola Oil. I am trying to stay organic but it's tough. I miss pasta and when I found an organic one, there was nothing I could put on top of it that did not contain sulfites? Are all cheeses on the no-no list? Will I ever be able to eat garlic again? Is organic spinach okay to eat? I read somewhere that it has natural sulfites and I eat a lot of that, or used to. I find myself reading different forums and becoming educated and overwhelmed at the same time. Evenings when I go to bed with no hives I am so happy only to wake up every morning with hives. The Allegra and Zantac in the morning and the Zyrtec in the evening do not last all day or night and take quite awhile to calm the hives down. Does anyone else have this problem? Are eggs okay to eat? I have organic eggs but am afraid to try them. I'm getting really tired of beef, hamburger patties with salt and organic pepper with fresh veggies . My favorite fishes have natural sulfites so they are out for now. Had grouper last night with fresh string beans and white rice with a sauce made of plain Greek yogurt and squeezed lemon juice and home grown herbs. I was in heaven, but I still woke up with hives. What am I doing wrong? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated! I am just lost.........

[Jen]

Hi Paula, I'm also sensitive to sulfites and I can speak a little form my own experience on some of these foods:  The only cheese I do fine with is mozzarella, anything else will get a reaction from me.  Eggs are pretty low in sulfites; I have to eat 5 eggs before I start to react; cooking them all the way through (so they're not runny) seems to help a bit.   I'm not sure about the spinach but I haven't personally had a problem with it.  About that Greek yogurt you ate... do you know if there was pectin in there by chance?  (Pectin can have traces of sulfite depending on how it's sourced.)

Here are a few super-easy sauce recipes I use all the time:

1.  Boil 4 tomatoes until the skins split, then throw them (skins and all) into the blender and puree them.  Add some salt and Italian type herbs to make a light marinara sauce for your pasta or lasagna.  Or add cumin, paprika, and organic chili powder to make a sauce for taco meat or enchiladas.

2.  Melt 2 Tbsp of butter in a saucepan, then add 2 Tbsp of organic flour (I like rice flour) and whisk it really good.  It should turn into a sort of bubbly play dough.  Add a small amount of COLD milk and continue to whisk briskly.  Keep adding small amounts of milk and whisking until you eventually end up with a thick white sauce.  Season with salt, pepper, paprika, and whatever else suits your fancy.  I like to pair this with sauteed mushrooms, beef, and noodles for a knock-off stroganoff.

[Ceri]

Hi I sympathize as I have a sulfite allergy too, which started two years ago.
I am not a doctor but my experience with this allergy is to eat only organic, only whole foods and very simply. I agree sulfites are also natural so it's experimental but it does get better. The specialist at the hospital gave me a list of foods I could eat and couldn't -could they get you that list?
I found it overwhelming at first but now it's getting easier.

[Tina154]

Hi, can somebody please help?

i seemed to have suddenly developed an allergy to everything that contains sulphites, after a certain time of day even tap water starts affecting me!

At the moment all i am drinking/eating is organic milk and porridge and some tap water (up till a certain time of day)
Does anyone have a list or any meal ideas, or even a cerial that i can have? as i have lost a stone in a week!

has anyone been tested for a vitamin b12 dificency?

Thank you
Tina

[Jessicaddowns]

Old post I know, but I am sensitive to sulfites after some bowel surgeries. Almost Everything has sulfites in it. I have a reaction to canola oil. It is made from rapeseesa which is high in natural sulfites. You may well consider all forms of corn derivitaves as full of sulfites. Bleached starches and flours and even gluten free (or maybe I should say from experience, especially gluten free!). I'm going to order molybdenum supplement to see if it helps me to get rid of this sensitivity as I'm sensitive to all products even under 10ppm contamination. There's only one I have found on amazon that doesn't contain sulfites, itself. It's liquid form and only contains water. Others contain acids that are likely derived from a sulfited source. So far for me and my experiences, cutting all sources can mean the difference between the following:
Eating anything I feel like - using the bathroom 20+ times per 24hrs and extreme rectal pain
getting almost all sulfites out of my diet - 10 bathroom trips in 24hrs and mild pain, still inconvenient and uncomfortable 
Virtually sulfite free - 6 bathroom trips per 24hrs. Maybe I could get it to be less???

Don't forget all the additives in medicines, including aspirin and nsaids and most others. The only thing I can use is goody's or alka seltzer... when in doubt google search the ingredient and add the word sulfite afterwards to see if the ingredient has sulfites in its processing.

I hope this helps you or anyone else searching sulfites and finding this forum thread. Thanks.