NY Times opinion: A Seismic Shift in How People Eat

[laundry_queen]

75. GI symptoms are definitely part of an anaphylactic reaction

I've watched my brother have near-death reactions now to his one severe food allergy - fish - when he was a child. First, he would clear his throat, then complain his mouth is itchy, then the tummy ache and vomiting would start, then the hives, the facial swelling, the gasping for breath comes soon after.

If he didn't actually consume fish but it was being cooked in the room, he would get a stomach ache and severe nausea.

GI symptoms can definitely be a reaction to an allergy. It can also be an only reaction to a severe allergy. My co-worker's children have severe allergies and they found out her youngest was allergic to bananas when she would vomit after eating them every time. The doctor, like you, thinking it may be an intolerance not an allergy because there were no other symptoms, added it to her allergy tests. Her tests came back with 'severe' anaphylaxis to bananas. So it happens.