FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Every time my wife or I feed the fish, we break out in sneezes and itchy throat, ears and eyes. We have to hold our breath (picture that )each time we feed them. Sometimes that doesn't even work. I mixed our current food out of TetraMin tropical flakes, freeze-dried blood worms and a red floating pellet food that I forget what brand it is. I also had terrible reactions to frozen blood worms, although it isn't nearly as bad as the dry food ,it's not that bad at all now that I became extra careful in handling them. Anyone else encounter this and if so what do you do? Any thoughts on what my wife and I could be reacting to?

It seems a lot of people have allergies to blood worms, so I would think that's what you're reacting to. Have a look at the ingredients of your dry food and see if there might be something else or more bloodworms in there.

><>

I am badly allergic to Bloodworms to the point where my eyes swell shut and the last time I even had trouble breathing. Frozen, FD, whatever, it always upsets me. I can tolerate small levels in flake etc, but in general they scare the willies out of me.

I tried rubber gloves, forceps, and spoons, but even not physically touching the stuff I still had a reaction.

I'd suggest that be the first thing you eliminate and see if it makes any difference, as IME, the more times you are exposed, the more severe the reaction becomes.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Wow. I had no idea.

o.o

What exactly results in an "allergy" and why are different indivduals allergic to certain materials? Is this a genetic issue?

Wow that is real bummer...i never thought someone could be allergic to the fish food..i feel for you

"What exactly results in an "allergy" and why are different indivduals allergic to certain materials? Is this a genetic issue?"

IIRC, an allergic reaction is what you have when a person's body reacts to a harmless substance as if it were a pathogen. The reaction tends to be inflammatory, for instance if you touch something you're allergic to you would develop hives on your skin, if inhaled, you would have the inflammatory reaction in the lungs (has been known to kill people), if ingested the allergen would be carried in the blood, so the reaction might show up anywhere. My dad has the reaction Calla described whenever he goes to Venezuela on business, but we still haven't been able to pin down the allergen specifically.

As far as I know, allergies are a combination of nature and nurture. There may be a genetic factor (they say allergies to stinging insects are this way), but mostly they have to do with what people are exposed to or not exposed to as small children. Most of this is still a sort of grey unknown area. Lots of research is being done to see what causes certain allergies in adults.

Symptoms of allergic reactions range from stuffy noses to hives to anaphylactic shock, which can lead to death (very severe reaction).

Allergy tests, which place extremely small amounts of allergens under the patient's skin to see which make him/her swell up, are available, but expensive.

EDIT: A person can be allergic to just about anything. I had allergic reaction once to a particular virus I was infected with (whatever cold was going around that season). Broke out in hives and my joints swole up. Some allergies are more common than others though.

Last edited by superlion at 08-Jan-2006 09:37

><>

I am very allergic to Bloodworms but i still feed them &amp; then i have to wash my hands really well afterwards. It affects my eyes &amp; they turn really red.



http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/s8xi5heh/my_photos
http://www.geocities.com/s8xi5heh/classic_blue.html
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buzaqq/
http://www.deathbydyeing.org/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

Hmm, I've never encountered this before. Cross fingers that I never will on a personal basis!

I'm somewhat surprised that Bloodworms trigger such a reaction, because they are the larvae of a non-biting midge - any of several Chironomus species. Mosquito larvae that metamorphose into biting mosquitoes (particularly the likes of Anopheles or Aedes species that are known vectors of serious human diseases such as malaria and yellow fever) I could understand, but Bloodworms? Hmm, puzzling, very puzzling.

I'll ask around some of my Entomology colleagues and see if they can come up with some answers.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

From what I've read the allergen is a particular protien found in the bloodworm.
Unsure of how true it is, but whatever it is has to be very uncommon as i'm not allergic to anything else

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Another bloodworm allergy here!!!

The freeze-dried ones were the absolute worst for me and actually triggered an asthma attack bad enough to send me to the hospital (which I had never done before BTW) They are really not that good for your fish either so you might as well chuck them out...

Frozen bloodworms were a pain as well and had to be handled with care. I am okay as long as I use my tweezers and make sure to wash my hands 2 or 3 times before touching my eyes.. Of course I forgot a couple of times in the beginning and had some fun swelling and irritation times I remember well!!

The things we do for our fish.. LOL!

It does not surprise me that people would be allergic to fish food. I have celiac disease - an allergy to wheat, rye, barley and sometimes to oats. Try finding food that do not contain these ingredients....
Sometimes allergies can turn up in people with no family history of such. They can skip generations, etc. Celiac disease effects people of mostly Scotch, Irish, and English heritage.
I am sorry to hear about your problem with fish food.

My container of freeze dried bloodworms carries a warning about this problem (Tetramin brand) I think it's interesting and IMO not worth it to feed freeze dried blood worms which is listed as a fish 'treat' and not actual food.

---

~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

Someone was close on what an allergy is (might have been right, not exactly sure what the post said now... ).

Your body develops "police" and the police go around your body looking for "bad guys." When you are allergic to something, your body thinks that whatever it is is a bad guy. So the police arrest the bad guy and take them back to the "station." The station then sends out a "swat team" to go and exterminate the "gang" of bad guys (similar proteins to what the police arrested). This swat team is your allergic reaction. If you touched it, it is a rash or similar reaction (protection your skin from the bad guy), if you inhailed it, i.e., pollen, then you cough and sneeze, etc (to get it out of your lungs). Your throught can also have a physical reaction, similar to your skin.