You always have to check the ingredients of something if you’ve never had it.
I know what foods I can and can’t eat but, when there’s a food that I've never had before and I'm not sure what it was made of, checking the ingredients is a must. For all I know, this seemingly harmless bag of pretzels could have an allergen in it…who knows.
Not being able to eat cake at birthday parties.
When you’re a kid with dairy allergies at a birthday party with cake, it is so sad to have to turn it down and watch all the other kids eat delicious looking cake. Having to feel left out of the best part of birthday parties over something you can't even control really gets a little kid down.
Getting special treatment.
It's not always bad at parties, though. If I knew the person well enough, my parent would call their parents and explain the allergy. Then, when everyone else is eating cake, I would have Oreos or water ice waiting for just me to eat. It helped so I wouldn't feel too left out.
Going to restaurants is a huge pain.
Sometimes you have to special order food. Want a burger but can’t eat cheese? Uh, yes, I’ll have a plain hamburger…make sure there’s no cheese on that please. Servers and cooks get noticeably annoyed.
Having to send back food.
This is the worst, honestly. It’s not just embarrassing for me and my friends that I have to cause a little scene, but it makes the servers and cooks a little mad. At first, they think that you're just picky and can’t have a little slice of cheese touching my precious burger. Just explain, they'll understand.
Constantly being asked about your allergies.
People are curious, I get it, but let it go. Yes, I can’t eat certain foods but being asked a million different questions about it will make it so much more embarrassing.
People worrying about you eating something you’re allergic to.
I know that if I eat something I'm not supposed to eat (by accident), something bad will happen. I have the allergy, so I do know what to do. People need to stop asking if I can eat something or if I'm sure there are no allergens in it. I've had this for 20 years; I’m pretty good at this.
Those people that think they know more about your allergy than you do.
Like I said, I’ve had this for 20 years now. I’m pretty much an expert when it comes to what I can and can’t eat and what will happen to me. But no, go ahead and please explain to me the dangers of my food allergy when you’ve known about it for 5 minutes.
Allergy tests.
They are the worst. Let me explain. They put the liquid form of your allergy on this tool that they press on your forearm and it pricks you, just a little bit. The things you’re allergic to form a hive where the liquid was and itches like crazy. But here’s the best part, you can’t itch it because then it will spread and the doctor won’t get a good reading of the test and you have to do it all over again.
The rashes and stomachaches.
When you eat something that you’re mildly allergic to, you get hives and rashes on your mouth and body. And the stomachaches are terrible. It feels like you’re going to explode any minute.
Making sure your dishes are clean.
This is one of the most annoying things about living with people who don’t have allergies. They’ll eat something that I’m allergic (ex. Peanut butter) and it’ll be all over their plates and silverware. So they wash it and put it away. And I kid you not, 50% of the time there is dried peanut butter on the dishes. So I rewash them.
Not being able to eat something that someone made because you don’t know what’s in it.
This really sucks. Like, if someone makes cookies and you can’t eat milk but you have no idea if they used milk with the recipe. Or even worse, they’re “pretty sure” they didn’t use anything I’m allergic to but I still don’t eat it because there could be an allergen in there. And then, they’re hurt that I don’t try their delicious food.
Being bugged to have an epipen.
I get that people just want me to be safe and have it just in case. But like I’ve said, I’ve been living with this for 20 years and I know what I can and can’t eat. If I don’t know what’s in something, I don’t eat it. I stick to the foods I know are safe for me to eat. I’ve gone 20 years without an epipen, I can go 20 more.
