silvia I'm allergic to garlic too

I am also "allergic" to garlic. I have been my whole life. As a child I was always very sick. The doctors had no clue. I got sick almost every night for fifteen years. It even started to give me stomach ulcers. I was so tiered all the time. It turns out I'm not "allergic" to garlic I am intolerant. My stomach refuses to digest garlic, it treats it like a poison. I will through up for days and it isn't like it takes a lot, one serving of rice a’ronie can put me in the hospital. I cook all my own food and have been quite healthy now. I am so curious why my body acts this way. What causes this to happen? Purple grapes also make me sick, but they are easier to avoid. I wonder if they are connected.

I was beginning to think I was the only person who reacted to garlic with anaphylaxis. I hate cooking but have to cook every meal. We have 2 places we can eat out safely and we have to call ahead to let them know we are coming and as for going to friends for dinner, well forget it. It is restrictive and sometimes I feel like I could explode from the frustration of people not taking it seriously or even disbelieving it. Last week at my house of worship the caterer was making the lunch and all of a sudden my throat started to constrict and my eyes swelled shut. My head felt like a hand grenade had gone off inside and I ran out as fast as I could. I raced home...I should never have been driving, and gulped down the oral meds rather than use the epi-pen. It took 2 days to get rid of all the side and after effects. I can't imagine what it must have been like for my parents, but I am now 60 and intend to keep chugging along, so long as I can avoid garlic.

Now that every little manufactured quick and easy food sold in the supermarkets has garlic in it, life has become more complicated. No more opening a can of soup. In fact the huge amount littered throughout almost everything will eventually lead to what is happening with peanuts. Over exposire on a constant basis leads immune systems into revolt. I wouldn't be surprised if in 30 years garlic was treated the way peanuts and peanut products are now.

Allium, the group that garlic belongs to also encompasses onions, chives and leeks. One can be allergic to one and not the other and anaphylactic to one but tolerant of another. I eat none of them because of the fear factor!

Are there any others out there battling the same Allium intolerance? Life is always better when one isn't alone.