Can you develop allergies at 24???

[horseshoe]

A friend of mine has never ever had any allergies and there is no history of allergies in her family. however, she told me that lately she is getting worried about what she eats in case she has a reaction to it. I think there may be an underlying cause to her fear and I told her that she couldn't go through life worrying about what she eats. She then said that everytime she eats peanuts even with traces she gets an upset stomach and needs to poo straight away????!!!!???

Now is this normal???. She got me on this one as I have no allergies myself and dont know quite what to say. I would of thought it was unlikely for her to suddenly develop an allergy but maybe Im being naive

[Toothache]

Unfortunately you can develop an allergy at any age. I developed one to tomatoes at the age of 17 and I still have it now at the age of 27!

FWIW I think it sounds like an intolerance rather than an allergy.

[Toothache]

Sorry... post was cut short by my boss! How selfish????

An intolerance will give more subtle symptoms like you describe, or rashes, asthma, bloating to name but a few!

She can get a blood test from the GP to test her antibodies, but I waited 9mths for mine! Perhaps if she says it's peanuts they might hurry things along though.

[Wills]

I developed a severe allergy to Brazil nuts at 32. Found out by going into analphlatic shock! not nice.

[tatt]

yes you can horsehoe, its far more common that most people realise. If your friend goes on eating peanuts she may develop other problems - CAT me if you like.

[horseshoe]

Oh I feel awful now.......I thought she was just being overly worried and figured she must have read something that had scared her....

I did advise her to get some testing done to make sure.

We are all at risk of allergic reactions then??. I think this is probably what she has realised and it is stopping her from enjoying a decent meal.

[sparklymieow]

I started getting reactions at 22, I get hives all over my body and they really hurt. I still don't know what I am allergy to tho.

[Toothache]

Sparklymieow - Thats how my allergy to tomatoes surfaces! Sore lumps and bumps every where.... even in my ears! Also it makes my asthma worse.

[psychomum5]

Snap....me too on developing allergies in your 20's and 30's.

I was reletively allergy free in childhood and teens, except for mild asthma, then while pregnant with babe no.5, developed allergies galore..milk, wheat, nuts, and to medications. Culminated in me having anaphaxyc(sp?) reaction to anti-sickness medication, given after having to have a D&C from retained placenta following the birth. Now have reactions including hives to many different foods, most still unknown, so at least once a day I react to something. Interestingly, my youngest child is also very allergic, so I wonder whatthe conection is...did he give me the allergies, or did my body change during pregnancy and so give him the allergies?????? Bizarre is all I can say to that!!!

[sparklymieow]

psychomum5 thats strange!! As I never had any allergies till I had DD2, I had a huge reaction to the drip they set up to stop the premterm labour, and then I developed allergies soon after. And DD2 has lots of allergies too.
My hives spread all over my body, even the soles of my feet and that really really hurts and makes me cry and I have had to progress to stronger and stronger anti-hisamines and had to take sterios (sp??) last time too. I haven't had a reaction recently, last one was a few months ago, and I spottted the first feeling straight away (itchy hands and feet) and managed to stop it before it got worse

[psychomum5]

Sparkly......you hit a nerve there with me. I too went into pre-term labour with Jacob (babe no.5), and reacted to it very badly. DH said it was like a scene from ER when it happened, and when I came round, there were 10 different medical personelle around my bed, and DH was in the corner looking stunned. It was only the fact that baby's heartrate never reacted that saved him from being delivered there and then. In fact, I was 28wks then, and he went on to be born at 38wks!

I wonder whether we have both had this start because of the meds given then???????????

[psychomum5]

AND....I have had itchy hands and feet now for more than a week.......thought it was some strange virus, maybe it's something else I am reacting to tho

[bonym]

Yes - it seems to be quite common. I started suffering with hayfever at age 18 and since having dd (at 32) I intermittently suffer with eczema.

[Gwenick]

My GOD! Didn't reply on this thread as I didn't really know.........but just seen this story - how scary - and she was 34 when she started developing her allergy

[Chandra]

My mother is allergic to shrimps, she developed about ten years ago when one day was removing their skin and got a little prick. Since ten she gets a rash and a very big mouth if she eats something that may have them as an ingredient. She should have been about 40 something at that time.

[jampots]

i developed an allergy to penicillan and cephalosporans (sp?) about 15 years ago. I also have an allergic rash to something but no-one knows what. I start off with itchy hands/feet and then it seems to settle on my "fatty bits" ie. tops of arms, back, tummy, tops of legs. I have to take anti-histamines which does get rid of it .....til next time. Also i sometimes feel a little strange and usually need the loo pretty soon after the rash starts.

Im having food sensitivity testing in a couple of weeks which hopefully will flag up some problem areas for me to avoid

[Branster]

my brother developed an allergy to cats hair when he was about 27 actually. no history of any kind of allergies anywhere in our family and we also grew up with regular contact with domestic anumals. my mil developed some food allergy and soem skin sensitivity(can't remember what exactly) after having her second child. so it's possible.

[horseshoe]

I didn't realise any of this. Gosh better not think about it too much or I'll never eat or breathe again.

[NatureDoc]

If you see a good naturopath or nutritionist they can arrange tests to see whether it is an allergy or an intolerance and therefore treatable or not - often allergies are developed due to an overburdoned liver or "leaky gut" which happens due to lots of reasons but it is mainly triggered by taking antibiotics. www.gni-international.org is a good start or www.babydirectory.com have a good list of people in each area. Good luck

[SofiaAmes]

I developed an allergy to squid in my early 30's. Odd thing is that my father did exactly the same thing. Ate them happily until his early 30's and then developed an allergy. Luckily, because I was aware of my father's allergy, I stopped eating squid as soon as I noticed the allergy (well couldn't miss it really since I woke up covered in hives, with my eyes swollen shut!). But my father had itchiness and hives for almost a year before noticing the connection and he now can't eat any mollusks at all.

By the way, I get hives periodically, but it seems to be related to colds and stress and not an allergy thing. I used to get them with every cold as a child and then stopped getting them in my teenage years and just started 2 years ago after giving birth to my 2nd child...wonder if it's the change in hormones or just the increased stress levels..

My understanding is that "leaky gut" can be caused by alcohol, so you should definitely avoid drinking when eating something that you think you may be allergic to.

Anyway, your friend should definitely get herself tested.