Food allergies are nothing to joke about. It's scary to go through an attack as the person with an allergy, but it's just as terrifying to know some people don't take this medical issue seriously. People end up in the hospital, or worse, over others thinking the person with an allergy is faking it. And things can turn deadly if these skeptics don't take it seriously.
One woman learned this the hard way and shared a story of how her mother-in-law didn't take her allergy to shellfish seriously, and instead actively lied to her about food ingredients. Her MIL thought she was just faking her allergy because she was "picky" and didn't like her cooking. Her actions landed the woman in the hospital.
A new Reddit user (OP) took to the JUSTNOMIL channel to share an issue she had with her now ex-MIL.
A woman started her post by writing "My ex-fiancé’s mother was an interesting woman. She took every single thing as a personal attack against herself and her family, including my shellfish allergy."
OP noted that her now ex-family liked to make seafood dishes all the time, which isn't safe for her to eat because of her allergy. "I simply wouldn't come over for dinner on those occasions which would always result in a phone call in which she would weep because I 'was just being picky and [I] could easily eat around the shrimp if I truly wanted to spend time with the family,'" she wrote. "After explaining how allergies work, she still wouldn’t take it seriously."
OP says this was an issue for several years, but it took a turn for the worst after the family suffered a loss.
"This progressed over the years and eventually came to a head at a wake for her father," OP said. "She had made a dip as part of the after funeral spread and I asked her what was in it. 'It’s a surprise!' She said."
OP knows now that she should have seen this coming, "This should have been my first red flag, but I hadn’t eaten all day and I was starving. 'There's no shellfish of any sort in here?' I asked, and she responded, 'No, of course not.'
The woman ate some of the dip and knew something was up, and she asked her then-fiancé, "Does this taste fishy to you?" He let her know that it was a "smoked mussel dip," aka seafood, which OP is severely allergic to.
OP had to act fast because she ate the dip, which had an ingredient that could kill her.
"I quietly exited with my fiancé and went to the bathroom to throw up what I could while he called 911," she said. "I waited as long as I could before taking my epipen, but eventually had to give in right before the ambulance arrived."
"I spent the evening in the ER," OP said, and her MIL still didn't understand the dangers of what just happened. "My ever fabulous MIL had the gall to tell the family that I was being dramatic, and she knew it wasn't an allergy I just didn't like her cooking because I was picky."
From that moment, their relationship was never the same.
"I made her cover the cost of replacing my epipen (we're in Canada so the ER visit didn't cost me anything), and I never ate her food again," the OP wrote.
That boundary is understandable because she didn't want to end up at the ER again. "I went so far as to bring my own food when they would invite me over since I did want to spend time with the family, but I couldn't trust her cooking," she admitted.
"The relationship ended shortly after when my fiancé informed me that he too thought I was lying about my allergy because I didn't like his mother's cooking … despite accompanying me to the ER with my throat swollen shut."
The community replied to her story, commiserating with OP and sharing their allergy fears.
"I have a weird allergy. I'm allergic to beef," a person commented. "I have not gone into anaphylactic shock but I still get sick. My MIL made something with beef stock and said she didn't know I would get sick. she thinks it's not a big deal because I can still drink milk and eat cheese."
Another wrote, "Faking an allergy because you didn't like her cooking … as if anyone would spend $600+ on an EpiPen to avoid eating someone's cooking."
Someone else pointed out that when things like this happen, it really should be taken more seriously. "There should be provisions in the law where you can charge someone for such deliberate food poisoning/tampering or whatever they'd call it," the comment read. "And jeebus, that's a brainwashed, spineless little mommy's boy that he'd believe her despite the direct evidence of your allergy."
Another person had these wise words: "Thank goodness you were able to bail on that relationship without involving lawyers! I seriously don't understand the 'allergies are fake' mindset."
The person added, "It costs nothing to be careful and, you know, not attempt murder? But also even if you were 'just' being picky, why lie about ingredients? People are allowed to have preferences!"
This is incredibly serious, and no one should be worried about being fed something they're allergic to because someone doesn't believe their allergies are real.
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