Ask Amy: Allergies bring on rash of restrictions
Dear Amy: I currently am wrestling with several serious food allergies. Lab bloodwork has just revealed an autoimmune disorder. I am scheduled to see a rheumatologist in two months.
My body is thrown into a vicious cycle for weeks after consuming foods that trigger allergies.
So, what should I do when I get together with friends or family for dinners and they try to make special food for me? I don't want to risk even trying this food because of past experiences with bad reactions.
Recently, a host assured me that all of the ingredients were safe for me, only to learn later that they’d buttered the pan with margarine, which set off my allergies.
They just don't understand how I have to pay for eating even a trace of that for the next three weeks, but they feel bad because I can't eat what they eat, and they love food so much that they want to share it with me.
What I prefer to do is bring my own food, but of course people are either very offended or feel so sorry for me that they will try to make something just for me.
I try to avoid dinner parties at all costs with certain people because of this.
What can I say to people who insist I try their food because they made it just for me and they made sure they didn't put anything in it that I can't have?
I'm tired of being sick and tired of offending people.
– Sick and Tired
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