Am I really allergic to fish? Or just a smell problem? (allergy, pain)

[ho hey!]

Not sure if this is the forum but I hope it is.

I want to know if I am allergic to fish? Been wondering for months. I did some quick research and it says you'll get allergic reactions like redness, rash, itching, nausea, etc. The question is, I am still unsure if it is just a mind/body trick that I just have to keep eating to get use to it or is this real? My friend believes that I may be allergic to fish because you get all sorts of different reactions without realizing it. The problem is I used to eat fish when I was a kid, like I can literally eat fish without getting sick. And now, I can't eat fish at all. I avoid the smell, touching it and eating it overall.

- I ate fish this last spring and got dizzy from it. My tummy feels nausea, and I just felt really weird after eating it. I ate it again (after 2 months), just to make sure that my body isn't playing a trick on me, and the same thing happened to me.
- I helped my sister made fish larb (something like chicken larb) since she wanted me to take the meat out of the fish. Blah, felt dizzy afterward.
- I went to a Sushi restaurant (I can eat only shrimp tempura roll and the smell still makes me sick-kind of) in California and avoid eating fish, but I got a reallly bad migraine afterward. It was really bad that I went to sleep. My head and shoulders were pretty warm, warmer than usual. Shoulder felt tense. It was gone the next day.
- Mom went to Vancouver and brought some crab home. I can usually eat crab, but the smell of the crab were like fish (quite obvious that they came from the river so they'll bound to smell the same). I stopped eating before I might start to feel weird.

I don't have medication but I take advil, ibuprofen, stuff like that to make it go away. My mom would make chicken just so that I have something to eat when she's only making fish for lunch/dinner. It's not extremely bad if I eat fish without realizing it unlike some people, it's reallly bad. I was wondering if it is just the smell that I'm having a problem with when in fact I may not be allergic to fish at all? How is it possible that I feel this way after not eating fish for years?

[Flamingo13]

Well, there's a difference between fish and shellfish - some ARE allergic to one and not the other. Advil, et al, won't do anything allergy-wise, they are pain meds.

[BigDGeek]

It sounds to me like your reaction might be psychosomatic but there's no way for me to know for sure.

The only people who can really tell you if you are allergic are allergists and even then it is not an exact science. Skin tests are not a great way to tell if someone is allergic to something; a food challenge (where you eat the suspected allergen and are observed for signs of a reaction) is better.

Also as the other poster said, Advil does nothing for allergies. Benadryl is better if you feel an allergic reaction beginning.

Personally I am allergic to shellfish; if I eat a bite of shrimp, lobster, crab, etc. I will end up in the hospital. However simply smelling it is not enough to set me off; I can eat in restaurants that serve it without any problems as long as my dish is not contaminated. I do not think minor contamination would send me to the hospital but I would rather not take the risk.

If you can eat fish without breaking into hives and without your throat closing up you probably aren't allergic to it or if you are, it isn't a severe allergy. But don't take my word for it. If you are really that concerned, talk to your doctor.