Allergic reaction to grapes

[OHIOSTEVE]

Ok , has anyone ever heard of anything like this before? let me preface this with the fact that to my knowledge I am not allergic to anything including poison ivy. oak or sumac... I picked a bucket full of grapes a few days back and destemmed em and washed em and crusshed em up all by hand. Next day my hands started feeling a little swelled. By that night my right hand ( both hands affected but the right was used more and so more exposure .....no jokes lol) was swelled and red and burning and itching BADLY. It has been this way for a couple of days.. today small bumps have appeared between a couple of my fingers. The swelling is slowly going down and the itching is almost gone, although they still burn if I clench them. My buddy says acid from the grapes, I have no idea.. Anyone? OH YEAH benadryl had zero affect.

 

[SteveHoward]

Allergies are very funny things. Like you, I'm not allergic to poison ivy, oak, sumac - none of that stuff. However; my wife and daughters are not so fortunate. One of my daughters - athletic as anything, even through college - is (in our jesting) allergic to life. I'm an old country boy and very adventurous about trying new foods - even wild stuff, but she is SO sensitive to things that she has to be very cautious as much as she wants to follow me.

Don't take this as medical advice, or necessarily even expert advice, but something we were given to do somewhere along my path of life to test for sensitivity especially for new stuff was:

1. take the part we wanted to consume (fruit, leaves, etc) and rub some of it on the soft skin on our wrist. Wait for 20 minutes to an hour to see if it affected us. (I've since learned from my daughter that an hour may not be long enough).
2. if the first part turns out okay, if it is something you want to eat, try putting a little bit on your lips and wait to see if you get a reaction.
3. If everything is okay to this point, you may put some in your mouth for a few minutes and see if you get a reaction, or if it is pleasant in your mouth.You have to give yourself time to react if you are going to (with 2 steps in front of this one before you put anything in your mouth).
4. If everything is okay on those first 3 tests, then you might try eating a little bit of it and see if it causes a reaction. You do want to go slow, though, even if you don't have a reaction on the first one.

Now a couple of things I've learned might be wrong with that process:

Mangoes will cause a reaction on my wife's lips, but this didn't develop until later in life, and she absolutely loves mangoes. As funny as this sounds, if she is careful, and doesn't get it on her lips, she can eat mangoes with no reaction.

And from my "allergic to life" daughter, we've learned that sometimes your body may take a week to ten days to sensitize before an allergic reaction becomes apparent. Be sure to pay attention when it happens, though, because the second time is almost always much worse than the first reaction.

We've also learned that acidic food causes reactions in a lot of people. I'd check it out closely and be very careful because if you really had an allergic reaction to something in the grapes, then the next time could be much worse for you. It's probably worth seeking medical advice or testing if you are concerned about it.

 

[gregbathurst]

I wonder where you got the grapes from. There are a few sprays used on grapes, there could have been some residue. grape juice contains a range of different chemicals, you might just be sensitive to something in the juice.
I have heard of allergic reactions to wine due to the bee venom from all the bees that hang around an open fermenter and drown in the wine.

 

[Rossnaree]

FYI, poison oak/ivy/sumac poison by means of very strong caustic agents, and are not a matter of being/not being "allergic." Some folks are more sensitive or less than others to the compounds, mainly because of their hygeine (washing well after contact, whether or not they even knew they had been in contact with the stuff) and less because of their own chemical makeup, which includes skin oils, perspiration, etc. which can actually limit or reduce the effects of the plants. Until I was in my 20's, I also thought I was "immune" to them; I could walk around in the stuff and never had a problem before then. Along came the time when it hit me, and it was so bad that I had to seek medical treatment and was hospitalized. I asked the Dr. why I had "suddenly become allergic" to poison ivy, and what I've written above is what she told me. Not an allergy, although many or most people will vehemently defend their stance that it is.

So, with that said (and not criticizing anyone about it in any way), you may well have had your first reaction to the stuff. Just a thought, it may or may not be appropriate to you. And as SteveHoward stated, it would be worth worth seeing a doctor about it. If you want fermenting advice, or advice on what grapes to use, etc., well we're a preety good place to ask. But for medical advice? um, yeah... doctors know better than us.

 

[Mermaid]

As far as I know, grapes are not on the "sympathetic" allergy fruit list (some folks who have plant allergies - ragweed, trees, etc. can have a reaction to various fruits that mimic a reaction to exposure to the plant they are allergic to). For example, I have a pretty obnoxious allergy to ragweed - I get an itchy mouth/throat and sometimes small hives on my face when I eat honeydew melon and cantalope, as well as kiwi fruit.

I don't suspect you're allergic to the grapes, but something that was on or around the grapes that you were crushing. You can develop allergies at any point in your life - it might be worth it to go see a doctor if you have good insurance. Allergy tests are a nuissance, but it's better to be safe than itchy.