# Allergies in France



## Hezbez (Feb 7, 2009)

We're just back from France and my hubby really suffered from what I presume was some sort of pollen allergy/hay fever for nearly the whole time we were there.

He's a good bit better now we're home. Just wondering if its particulary bad in France just now. 

Has anyone else noticed this?


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Hi Hez.
Did you see any fields of 'rape' seed? Vast yellow fields. This can cause very bad reactions.

Ray.


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## locovan (Oct 17, 2007)

I may have found and answer for you in an article this might just explain your husbands problem :-

Quote

We have read some articles indicating Lupin flour (from lupini beans) is used throughout France in baked goods as well as crusts, pasta etc. and have read that it is mixed with wheat flour in the factories that distribute the flour. People who are allergic to peanuts are often allergic to lupin the same way. Will the staff at restaurants, cafes, and bakeries even know if this flour is in their product?

Answer
My best friend discovered that she was allergic to lupin flour on a trip to France a couple of years ago. She ate a store-bought apple tart and suffered quite a severe reaction. She still goes to France a lot (her parents have a house there) but now avoids baked goods like cakes from supermarkets. I don't think she's had any problems with stuff like bread and pasta. She does carry an epipen with her though now when in France (it's never been a problem in the UK). 

Oh, and she's not allergic to peanuts, by the way.


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Hezbez said:


> We're just back from France and my hubby really suffered from what I presume was some sort of pollen allergy/hay fever for nearly the whole time we were there.
> Has anyone else noticed this?


Yes ! Two years ago at Easter we went to Vienna and, for the whole of the eastern part of the trip I was sneezing, eyes watering and felt rough. When we got to Vienna everyone else was the same and the pharmacist diagnosed birch pollen allergy and prescribed Benadryl- which helped but did not cure it.

Since then whenever we've been away at Easter - inc this year to southern Italy, I've been much the same. Worse I now have to take one Benadryl a day all year round or I come up in massive hives and soft tissue swelling. This from having no allergies at all until Easter 2007- and I won't see 60 again.

G


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## locovan (Oct 17, 2007)

Grizzly your answer was better than mine  
In Germany, France, Poland and the Czech Republic, birch pollen conditions have been extreme, with people who normally have no allergic reactions to pollen, suffering from asthma attacks. After a long winter, the birch trees have burst into bloom and scattered their pollen into the air at more or less the same time.


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

locovan said:


> In Germany, France, Poland and the Czech Republic, birch pollen conditions have been extreme, t


Mavis, that explains a lot, thanks. Even my OH- whose not normally sensitive to anything like this, has sneezed badly this year when we were away. We thought he had a cold -but somehow it didn't feel quite like a cold. It went when we got home.

We have a nasty thing round here called the Thames Valley syndrome which is an always-bunged-up-but- still -with -a- runny- nose complaint and it was quite different to that. that normally goes as soon as we get beyond the M25 !

G


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