[NOTE: This information and the suggestions given are not intended to be a diagnosis or cure for any problem. If you have a serious problem along this line or continual difficulties of this type, please consult your healthcare provider.]
My brother and sister-in-law and I have had some problems with reactions to fresh vegetable recently. Carrots and celery have been a big trigger for the most part. All three of us have experienced itching in the mouth, and I’ve had a sensation of having damaged my throat or that it was swelling. The itching seems to be clearly an allergic reaction, but the other doesn’t seem clear as to whether it’s caused by something in/on the vegetables or if it’s a problem with the roughness of the texture. (My brother and I both have skin, mouth, and digestive responses from rough textures.)
Today I had a reaction to organic celery (which, due to USDA rules, may not have been truly organic). I noticed a sensation of itching in my mouth before my throat started to feel like there was a piece stuck in it. I don’t know if there actually was or not, but it felt like that.
I expect that other people may have had this problem as well if there are three out of six of us on this property who have had problems, so I thought I’d pass on a small tip that might help someone.
Twice now when I’ve had this “swelling throat” sensation where it feels very irritated, I have used this method: I crushed a half a Benadryl between two spoons, mixed it into some water and then sipped it very slowly, letting my throat get a good exposure to each swallow. This has helped me both time. When I did it for the reaction to the carrots some time back it helped a lot. Today I did it for the celery issue and it helped some. I could do a second half a Benadryl and probably get more relief, but I don’t really want to spend the afternoon sleeping. :-/ Because of that, I also sprayed my throat with Chloraspetic and sucked an Altoids ginger mint since ginger is an anti-inflammatory. The thing about the Benadryl is that it can help the throat and it will also help by going into your system the usual way (if it’s an allergic problem). Also, I expect it works faster since it’s dissolved in liquid.
Foods have been having strange affects on people these days, and this has been a recent problem to us, so I thought I’d pass this on.
As far as the carrots go, my sister-in-law found that if she buys the whole carrots and peels them herself they have less trouble, so it’s probably something that is put on the “baby carrots” to keep them fresh that bothered them. My issue came from an organic whole carrot that I peeled myself, so that didn’t make a difference for me. (We have no trouble with these vegetable cooked.) Even if it was just a texture issue, the Benadryl in water did help, so if you have that issue you might try it. It’s very unpleasant to feel like your throat is swelling or has been abraded.
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After thought – If you actually do have something stuck in your throat, and you’re not choking (no trouble breathing or even talking) – a bit of lettuce, celery string, tomato skin, etc. – and water won’t dislodge it, try eating a piece of bread or drinking hot water. A friend of my dad’s got a piece of lettuce stuck in his throat once and the only thing that dislodged it was bread. Cooked rice might also help.
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