What's the difference between being allergic to medication/food and not being able to tolerate it?

Question

What's the difference between being allergic to medication/food and not being able to tolerate it?

Answer 1

An allergy is a HISTAMINE response to a trigger or allergen. This reaction is acquired,and can happen very fast. Go here:

http://www.bio.davidson.edu/courses/Immu...

An intolerance is a lot different. It can be caused by a lack of a specific enzyme in the digestive system that can not break down a specific food (think lactose and lactase deficiency aka lactose intolerance). It can also be caused by an autoimmune response with your body producing antibodies to a specific food,chemical, etc. (Think celiac or gluten intolerance).

Some doctors are now separating intolerance and sensitivity  with intolerance being the above and sensitivity being a person not allergic, but also not having an autoimmune response, but still not able to consume a certain food (both natural and artificial). Unhappily, this causes a lot of grey areas, but the good news is that they are actively working on it, so hopefully there should be some resolution within our lifetimes...ha ha ha!! Anyway, go here for the full FYI:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_intole...

Answer 2

people tht are allergic could have there life at risk in some cases others could just hve much more serious reactions

Answer 3

allergic meaning it give you a rash makes you ill, not liking it is just not liking the taste

Answer 4

Someone else basically said it. An allergy could be life threatening. Your body rejects it through hives, throat swelling, rash, etc.

An intolerance, which is what I have to lactose, is not the same. An intolerant person lacks the digestive enzyme to break down the food taken. Reactions are commonly gas, bloating, vomiting if it's really bad, etc. Imagine eating food that didn't agree with your stomach for whatever reason. That's how an intolerant person feels each time they eat something that they are intolerant to. Some instances are much worse than others.

Admittedly, I've never heard of anyone with an intolerance to medications. Also, remember that all intolerances and allergies aren't the same. Meaning: it just depends on the person. Some people are highly allergic to peanuts and couldn't have any food made in a factory that also uses peanuts. They would immediately need to take the epi-pen shot and be rushed to the hospital. Another person with a peanut allergy could have these foods or just get a slight breathing problem. Same idea with intolerance: one person could have a little bit with their meals and feel ok, another would feel very ill eating the same amount.

Answer 5

if you are allergic then you will literally get sick like hives, brake out, swell up, derriere, throw up, and even die. If you just cant stand it its a mental thin so you still might feel sick or throw up but its only in your head. There hypnosis for things like that along with quiting smoking.

Answer 6

Medication is different, could kill you, antibiotic's. Swollen throat,hives

hard to breath, hits you quick. Fish is a good food to watch out for,

chocolate.

Med's they use charcoal, to suck up the poisons.

When I was younger medication, charcoal to drink, just like a Que

flush your system.

Food allergies their are drops.

I forgot you're testing for what your allergic too. 100 small pokes, if they

swell that's what your allergic too.

Answer 7

Being allergic to food/medication/environmental stimuli (eg pollen, dust, suspended particles..) is a physiological reaction which can show its effect on various organs such as the skin (rashes), nasal-pulmonary (breathing restrictions, bronchitis, asthma), heart (arrhythmia, ache, change in blood pressure..), blood composition (eg. lowered hemoglobin content in case of penicillin allergy), digestive system (nausea, gastritis/acidity, constipation/diarrhea..) etc.

Allergies can range from mild to severe & medicos usually ask a patient about his/her allergic reactions to sulfa drugs, penicillin, etc, before administering the medication since it can even lead to coma or death.

Not being able to tolerate food/medication is generally used to mean that the digestive system only is involved - you either don't like the taste/smell/flavor or you tend to throw up after consuming it. You may have a burning sensation in your throat/stomach, difficulty swallowing, bad after-taste in mouth, acidity, diarrhea, nausea, flatulence, bloating ....

this is usually a mild reaction. however, in case of diarrhea & vomiting one must be very careful about replenishing the body's salt & water balance.

Intolerance can also be/become a "mental" reaction to certain foods.. due to the association one makes with an unpleasant episode early on, without any real medical basis to it. eg. if you've endured a bad case of food poisoning, you may not want to eat that food again for quite some time even tho' the root cause may have been contaminated water.

hope this helped - sorry about the length ...