We think that Daddy P is developing an allergy to Strawberry Jam as an adult. He’ll be fifty-three in October and has been happily munching away on strawberries and strawberry jam for years. Well, that was until a few weeks ago, when something rather strange happened.
Daddy P has what I would call a cast iron stomach, he can eat anything and never suffers the consequences. In fact, he’s very rarely ill in any way, so when I was woken up in the early hours a few weeks ago to the sound of him vomiting it was a much of a shock to me as it was to him. It transpired that he’d helped himself to a late night jam sandwich and not long afterwards he’d started to have severe stomach cramps and then full on vomit.
This went on for a few hours and left him totally drained, to the point he took the day off sick, which is unheard of. It took about twenty-four hours for him to feel human again. At which point the jar of jam in the fridge was blamed for his ailment. It made no sense as I’d only opened it that week to finish off a Victoria sponge cake and it had been sealed in the fridge ever since. But to ensure we didn’t have a repeat incident I threw the jam away.
We put it down as a weird thing but thought no more of it.
Then on Sunday, with it being Father’s Day, I thought we could do with a treat and bought us all a cream tea when we were out on an adventure. We all had some of the jam, chatted away and thought nothing of it until literally fifteen minutes later when Daddy P was bent over in a lot of pain. What on earth was wrong? He’d got severe stomach cramp, felt very hot and looked as white as a sheet. It’s the jam he said, I feel exactly the same as before,
At this point, I was left thinking, well my son and I are both fine so there’s nothing wrong with the jam, and how on earth am I going to get seventeen stones of my OH to a toilet, let alone back to the car. Luckily he’d got to a picnic bench before he felt too awful to move and didn’t have nausea as he’d had before. The toilets were some way away so I knew I had no chance of getting him there if he needed to be sick.
We just sat with him in the fresh air for well over half an hour until the pain subsided enough for him to get up. We slowly made our way back to the car and I think the thought of letting me drive his beloved car with him as a passenger, sorted him out enough to get us home. Once at home, he did eat dinner but then crashed out on the bed for four hours straight.
So clearly something isn’t right. He’s never had an issue with strawberries or jam before. It’s all very strange. I’ve made him an appointment to see a Doctor to discuss the issue, but as he needs a late evening appointment, he’s got to wait a full month to be seen. As I don’t really want to experiment to see whether it’s just jam or whether fresh strawberries, strawberry milkshake etc are also now an issue, he’ll be abstaining until then.
Have you had any experience of something similar?
Oh no. That is very odd. I hope you get to the bottom of what is making him ill. Poor Daddy P. x
It’s bizarre but he’s off strawberries until we get some answers from the doctors
It could be Pectin allergy as my daughter recently
Had an allergic reaction to strawberry jam. Pectin is one of the ingredients in jams and some desserts.
It’s so strange as we’ve tried him with jam again since and he’s been fine.
That really doesn’t sound good, i’ve had a similar issue with over consumption of a particular food – mine was Nutella. So much so after a recent allergy test it’s occurred I am now allergic to Hazelnuts. Your husband could have developed an allergy, but he could have upset his stomach lining with the acidity of Strawberry Jam, perhaps even a stomach ulcer?! Best thing to do right now is keep well away from Strawberry Jam and in a couple of weeks (before his doctors appointment) try it again and see what happens.
Oh no, that’s no fun either. It’s happened twice now so there’s no way he’ll try it again to be honest. We’ll see what the doctor says next month.
I can relate to this. I could eat fresh fruit and veg until about 7 years ago when I hit the menopause and now have intolerance to anything that comes from a pollen, and allergies to some others. Strawberries/raspberries/blackberries are the worst as the seeds are on the outside of them.
Mine also extends to a lot of tree nuts.
They tell you kids out grow these things, not adults growing into them but it is becoming more common.
I would avoid strawberries totally as it can go from what Daddy P has to causing mouth itching/swelling and difficulty breathing if you keep subjecting your body to it.
What a nightmare. Yes I’ve told him to avoid completely and see what the doctor says next month
So my daughter and I both have the same allergy. We can eat strawberries but if you give us strawberry jam, jelly, preserve or yogurt we will have severe reactions to the point we both carry an epi pen. My daughter is 5 now and first broke out in hives all over her body when her father gave her a strawberry gogurt knowing my allergy issue.
We also just discovered my 18mo old son cannot have Guava yogurt, paste and arent sure about the fruit. So im hear to tell you that sounds like he has developed a good allergy. Food allergies worsen with time and exposure.
The weird thing here is that a few months later he was fine and has been ever since. So I’ve really no idea what happened.