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Symptoms of Clam Allergy

Do you enjoy eating seafood? Have you tried munching on abalone, clam, mussels, oysters or squids? Did you feel anything weird afterwards… weird as in suddenly having an upset stomach or feeling itchy? If your answer to that is a yes, then maybe, you have an allergy towards shellfish, or clams more specifically.

There are different types of shellfish. Mollusks are one and this includes Abalone, snails, mussels, squid and clams. Another is crustacean which includes crabs, lobsters, shrimps and pawns. Allergies towards any seafood are caused by the immune system’s abnormal response against components present in the seafood. Shellfish are one of the top 8 common allergens.

Let us say that clams are your favorite. They are healthy and delicious to eat. The question is, are they safe for you? You should be sure that you have no any allergic reactions against clams before really indulging on food containing them. 

A person could be allergic to fresh clams but after being well cleaned and well cooked, some people are able to eat them without having allergy symptoms. If you are allergic to shellfish or clams more specifically, the best way to avoid having any symptoms is to avoid all types of shellfish. However if your doctor has identified the exact type which you are allergic to, then you are lucky you just have to avoid that.
Now, how can you tell if you have clam allergy? Here are the common symptoms that would show if you are having reaction against clams:

• Your face suddenly swells minutes after eating clams. Usually, the body parts that swell are face, lips, tongue and the area around the eyes.
• You feel tingling sensations around or on your mouth.
• Your skin develops rashes, hives (having red lesions in the skin that are usually raised and extremely itchy) or eczema (itchy and swelled skin, turning dry and flaky with developing blisters).
• You suddenly have an upset stomach, diarrhea, or you start to vomit and feel nauseated.
• You have abdominal pains.
• You find it difficult to breathe and may develop wheezing (breathing with sounds because of difficulty) or may suffer from asthma.
• Anaphylaxis, which includes almost all of the mentioned symptoms, rapid pulse, and a drop in blood pressure causing light headedness and eventually, loss of consciousness, suggests that you are having a severe allergic reaction.

If you suffer from any of these symptoms and you are quite sure that what you are feeling are due to what you ate, you can get yourself an anti-allergy medication to relieve you of the symptoms. If, however, you suffer from anaphylactic shock, you should immediately go to the nearest doctor.

There are cases wherein this type of allergy appears during childhood. Some, on the other hand, develops them during adulthood. Either way, it is very unlikely that allergy to clams or other seafood will disappear. You have to learn how to live with it.

To avoid these symptoms, you should avoid any food with clams. This would be easy to do inside your own household. When dining out, you should be extra careful. Always ask what ingredients are used in the variant. You can also ask what oil was used. You should also be careful of fried foods because sometimes, restaurant uses oil that was used with seafood in frying to add flavor. Again, you can ask the restaurant staff. These are simple, but important questions to ask in order to prevent you from suffering allergic reactions.

Living with allergies can sometimes be very irritating. You may feel “banned” from eating a lot of food just to avoid getting all itchy or having difficulty breathing. But you have to remember that you could narrow down the list of “not allowed” food for you by identifying the exact type of seafood for example. Furthermore, just by learning how to be more careful of what you eat, you will still enjoy dining out with your friends and family, and not let the allergy scare take over.