I feel like I’ve been through the wringer again this week. Sigh …
Remember last week when I told you that we’d purchased two fresh pineapples at Costco and I was happy to be eating them because 1. they taste delicious, and 2. because, since I have Crohn’s, I thought the natural anti-inflammatory action and digestive enzymes in pineapples might actually help me?
Well … it seems I was wrong. My body has decided that it hates pineapples.
I cut up the first one the Sunday before last … then the next day I had horrible horrible abdominal pain all day. I can’t remember much of that day other than horrid pain and muttering under my breath “kill me now, kill me now”. Yes, that’s how bad I felt. On the Tuesday I felt a little better but I was dizzy and weak. By last Wednesday I was starting to feel a little bit more like myself and by Thursday of last week I actually felt pretty good.
I think I only ate pineapple on the Sunday – a while after it was freshly cut – and then didn’t eat anymore until maybe Wednesday night. Since I felt ok on Thursday I didn’t think it was the pineapple that had made me feel bad. I just thought I’d gone into a really bad Crohn’s flare … one that didn’t last that long ..
Last Thursday I cut up the second fresh pineapple and my husband and I ate some for desert later that evening after dinner.
Shortly after eating the fresh pineapple the edges of my lips started to burn as if I’d eaten some hot spicy food. I think my tongue tip felt a little tingly as well, but it was my lips and the edges of my mouth that bothered me the most. It was a very irritating almost like I had a bad sunburn on my lips.
Shortly after my lips started burning I did a search on the internet to see if pineapple could cause the symptoms that I was experiencing and I found out that some people get a tingling itchy tongue when they eat fresh pineapple. Apparently the core of the pineapple contains most of the Bromelain (digestive enzyme) and that if you eat some of the core you might have a tingling tongue or itchy mouth for about an hour. If you experience this storing fresh cut pineapple in the fridge for a day usually stops this reaction from happening.
Well my symptoms were a little different than described and they didn’t just last an hour. By 11 pm when my lips felt like they were on fire and I was starting to get itchy skin (yet no hives) I decided that maybe I was having more than just a reaction to the Bromelain in the pineapple and that I might either be extremely sensitive or even allergic to pineapple.
Last Friday, the day after eating fresh pineapple, my abdomen was again in severe pain. Bad enough that I found myself wishing I’d just die rather than go through such severe pain any longer. I don’t get that bad very often, but I’d say my pain was a 15 out of 10 that day. Bad! Oh and my lips were slightly swollen (stayed swollen until Sunday) and still burning although not as severely as in the first few hours after eating the pineapple.
By this past Saturday I was again feeling a little bit better but it wasn’t until Sunday that I felt more like myself.
I guess I won’t be eating pineapple anymore!
Oh and last night my husband was finishing up the last of the fresh pineapple and I pulled out two pieces with my fingers to put in my dogs food bowl. Without thinking I reflexively licked the tiny bit of pineapple juice off my fingers and almost right away one side of my lip was burning and a little bit swollen. I got hives later in the evening … so it seems more and more like an allergic reaction.
My husband is disappointed because 1. he really likes having fresh pineapple (I told him we could still buy some, he’d just have to cut it up and eat it all himself) and 2. he’d hoped the pineapple would help me out … not make me sick.
I’m trying so hard to get healthier and get out of these constant Crohn’s flares that I keep having. It’s like for every step forward I take I take two steps back when something goes wrong. I also want to quit smoking (yes I’m bad, I smoke) so I’m thinking of trying one of those e cigarettes but I think I’ll wait until my Crohn’s settles again before making another big change.
In the meantime .. I’ve also started taking drinkable Aloe Vera gel and probiotics as both of those can help people with Crohns. I didn’t start them until this past Sunday, once I was sure I was over my pineapple reaction and so far so good.
Have you ever had a problem eating pineapples – maybe a reaction to the Bromelain? Or do you have or have you heard of someone being allergic to pineapple?
Medical Assistant says
That’s a real shame that you can’t eat pineapple anymore. It’s one of my favorite foods. Allergies are never fun. They’re so unpredictable and bizarre. Hopefully you’ll be able to find another alternative to reducing the flare, and I’m sure you’ll have better luck than the pineapple incidents.
Taylor computer repair says
Thats is well odd!! I wonder if your the only one!
Sheila says
My daughter has reactions to pineapple also. Her lips puff out and stay that way for at least 10-12 hours. We have tried antihistamines but it does nothing to relieve the lip swelling…just time and patience.
Phil says
My girlfriend does also have reactions to pineapples. Her lips don’t puff out but her tongue gets furry. Sometimes she doesn’t have any reactions if the pineapple is fresh and high quality. It’s so strange. And we also don’t know what to do against this problem …
Frank says
I’ve never experienced that eating pineapples.
I have used aloe vera however and I think it’s awesome. Haven’t heard much about Crohn’s but I do know it’s great for stomach and digestion issues.
It’s also good for diabetics from what I’ve read.
Elizabeth @ Table for Five says
That’s a bummer about the pineapple. Sounds like you’re definitely sensitive to something in it.
Stopped by to wish you a very Happy Mother’s Day!
Nathan says
It seems you’re sensitive to something in it.I don’t think this is odd.Many people have allergy to different things still they live healthy life.
Jenny says
Maybe you are allergic to some substance they use for protecting the plant against bugs or something…
MissSapphire says
sure they do! 😉
my mom’s allergic to strawberry, but she still find other fruit which taste even better 🙂 and a girlfriend of mine noticed the same reaction regarding to lips…
what about juices? it has the same effect?
Michele | Lilyputts Gift Baskets says
That is weird. Another person said that their child’s lips swell. One has to be cautious about this as it could effect the tongue. I have the same reaction to watermelon. Its strange as how things we may have eaten in the past react differently in the future.
blog creation says
i am too allergic to pineapples i get swollen up if i eat them its very sad i cannot have juice even i vomit soon 🙁
Lifewithnature says
Pineapple can trigger an allergic reaction. However, if you’re looking for other source of beneficial antioxydant and enzymes, why not try papaya. Papaya contains an enzyme, different from the one in pineapple, that show similar benefits as bromelain. Papaya also contains antioxidants, and is full of beta-carotene.
Hope this helps!
Matt says
I can only assume that the acidic taste of the pineapple has disagreed with your crohns. I hope you get so much better as I know how it can get you down when ill for a long time.
Drl Ahye says
I get the worse abdominal pains after eating pineapple. I’m online now looking for a solution for it. I vowed never to eat it again but yesterday I ate some pizza with pineapple as a topping thinking that I would be fine.
The pain is incredible. I had the same experience of wanting it to end no matter the cost. I rolled around on the ground and felt like I was dying. I had to be hospitalised for about a week last time. My intestines were swollen and the pain was sharp and constant. I think the antibiotics they gave me got rid of it. I hope somebody figure’s out a way to stop it, antihistamines didn’t work for me either.
Miss Platnum says
Sorry for your situation… My friend also is allergic to pineapple. The sad thing is that we used to buy a pineapple of her birthday and it started to be a tradition, until she started to have this allergy. But hey, important is the friendship, right?
Hope you will get used with your situation!
Tricia says
People can develop an allergy to pretty much anything – and you develop it after repeated exposure, because an allergic reaction is a memory response.
I thought I might be allergic to pineapple, because I get a really weird taste in my mouth after eating it fresh, and it affects the taste for food for hours afterwords! However, when I had allergy testing done (to confirm an allergy to avocados), I was negative on the pineapple. And then this weird taste effect didn’t happen when we were in Costa Rica about 3 years ago, so I thought it might be gone. But sadly, no – fresh pineapple bought from a US grocery store still does it. I guess it’s the bromelain – I’m glad to finally have an answer on that point! Although I still find it weird that it didn’t happen in Costa Rica (because that pineapple was super duper fresh!!).
Good luck dealing with your Crohn’s and your new allergy!
(P.S. I got here after searching for “weird taste after eating pineapple”, because I recently heard a news story about “pine mouth” from eating pine nuts. Wanted to know if there was something similar with pineapples. Appreciate the info about bromelain.)
Tricia says
Hi Tricia I still don’t know if I’m allergic to pineapple or not but my doctor advice me to stay away from it since it seemed to cause such severe abdominal pains. So yes I’ve been treating it like an allergy and avoiding it.
Odd about the strange taste in your mouth after eating pineapple! Oh and I’d never heard of pine mouth but I did look it up after reading your comment. Interesting. I don’t like pine nuts very much but my husband does. So we have a bag of them and I sprinkle some on his salad whenever we have a salad with our dinner. I don’t think he’s ever experienced pine mouth (I’m certain I would have heard about it!).
Lee says
I’ve never heard of pineapple allergy, but I think that we all have something that causes us to have an allergic reaction. I had lots of allergies when I was younger. By some miracle, I no longer seem to have anything of any consequence any longer.
Frances aka "Avocational Singer" says
My son has Crohn’s disease. He has been in remission from peritoneal Crohn’s for 2 1/2 years (we used Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy to heal his Crohn’s symptoms). We recently had a little revelation about pineapple.
Anyway, we thought he was having his first flareup this past Fall. He had abdominal pain and diarrhea. We took him to the doctor. Doctor found nothing wrong on physical examination. Then we took him for MRI. The MRI came out negative — no Crohn’s symptoms.
Then, the other night, while I was lying in bed, I remembered that when he was a little boy he used to complain that his stomach hurt after he ate pineapple. We always buy him a lot of fresh cut-up pineapple from Whole Foods, thinking that this was a healthy snack for him. He eats a lot of it every week.
I realized it might be the pineapple. We told him to stop eating pineapple and all his symptoms went away.
I found your blog post because I was searching for “pineapple allergy and Crohn’s disease.” I am wondering if there is some kind of connection and will keep searching for information.