I was recently diagnosed with this "new" rare food allergy which manifests as an "itchy panic attack." Discovered in 2007, it only occurs in the Southeast US aligned with the distribution of the lone star tick. This allergy manifests with hives, and my prescribed medication for the allergic response is an epi-pen!

Galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose, or Alpha-Gal for short, is a delayed allergy to mammal meat affecting a growing number of the population. This allergy is initially caused by the Lone Star tick bite. Since the reaction to eating mammal meat is delayed by several hours, the proper diagnosis is often missed or misdiagnosed. People who are afflicted with the Alpha-Gal allergy have to be constantly vigilant about the ingredients they consume, because an allergic reaction can be severe and life-threatening.

http://alpha-gal.org/

Amanda. I'm glad that you were able to receive a proper diagnosis to this potentially life threatening disease. And for giving us the heads up on this otherwise mostly unknown/rare malady and alerting up to its seriousness. I'll have to be especially careful, as I'm already allergic to so many things and have to take an antihistamine daily year round. I will definitely read the info in the link provided. I'm sure it will be useful, if not for myself, then for someone I love. Another good reason to keep deer out of my yard.

Oh I am so glad that there are other people who suffer from this. It's scary to think that it's all in my head. I was low key freaking out. And it took my GP almost 3 years to figure out what was really going on with me. It's scary. I have been really scared and annoyed in the past years. Can you imagine living with something so crazy for years and not understanding what's really going on. I have been through many doctors and many different labs until I found a competent enough allergist as well as a decent enough private lab that had all the tests and actually gave me a proper answer (if you have allergies you can check them here: https://www.intolerancelab.co....) I have been so glad to actually fund out I am allergic to just because even though it's restrictive on my diet it's also very liberating.