is this really an allergy?
as a kid i was incredibly allergic to “dark colored sodas” as my family and i used to explain. what this really meant was any soda with a dark brown coloration would make me break out in hives across my back, chest, and arms. i was unable to have most drinks and sauces with a particular ingredient in it, caramel food coloring. when i was around 14-15 i must’ve tried to have a soda like dr.pepper or something again and this time i did not break out in hives. great! so for two years i enjoyed my dark colored sodas again. randomly, two years later, i had a coke while with a friend and proceeded to feel extremely unwell. i got sweaty, clammy, lightheaded, and had to go to the restroom where i got incredibly sick from both ends. this continued to happen so i cut caramel food coloring out of my diet again. i still have the occasional run in with the dye and the reaction is usually just as severe. my stomach and intestines will ache for an entire day after consuming any amount of the dye. recently someone told me that it can’t be an allergy because i don’t break out in hives from it. when i mentioned that i actually used to break out in hives from it they said it still can’t be an allergy since i no longer break out in hives. is that how it works? did i go from having a documented allergic reaction, complete with hives and rashes to no longer being allergic and just getting incredibly sick after having anything with the dye in it? i’m using coke as the example here but this has and continues to extend to things like cheap bbq sauce, teriyaki sauces, and any other darkly colored sauces or products where the dye is in large concentrations.