Well That Was a Bad Outcome Rather Quickly
By LooeyVille
@LooeyVille (45)
United States
July 17, 2025 3:55pm CST
Shortly after posting earlier about the supplements my orthopedist wants me to take, I opened up two of the bottles and took a single dose of those two meds.
One was Fish Oil. The other was the Glucosamine.
Within minutes I started feeling like I was having an allergic reaction. My face was tingling and my ears were feeling hot and my arms were feeling funny like I was going to get whelps or something.
My initial reaction was that it was food. I had eaten some turkey and colby cheese an hour ago. But I'm not allergic to those foods.
So on a whim I looked at the supplement bottles. Bingo!
The Glucosamine contains shellfish including lobster, crab, shrimp, and crayfish. I am allergic to shellfish.
So it was an immediate allergic reaction. I mean IMMEDIATE!
I took some Benadryl right away and put a cold cloth on my face. It's starting to subside now.
Tomorrow I will try to return those supplements. This episode has scared me.
Who would have thought to read the ingredients in a supplement and/or expect them to be shellfish?
9 people like this
10 responses
@Vikingswest1 (6929)
• United States
13h
Most often, it's clearly stated in a prominent place on the packaging or label, that the ingredients may contain shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, eggs, dairy, peanuts, soy or sesame. In fact the FDA requires these warnings.
Supplements are subject to the same requirements, however, they aren't required to post warnings. They must be included on the ingredients information as "containing" these allergens.
What a scare for you. I hope that you can return them. Just touching them can trigger an allergic reaction. I hope you feel better soon.
2 people like this
@LooeyVille (45)
• United States
18m
Apparently so. I just never even fathomed to need to read a supplement label. And I never eat shellfish so it wasn't on the top of my mind as an allergen.
1 person likes this
@porwest (103339)
• United States
5m
@LooeyVille Supplements use a lot of fillers. It pays to check.
1 person likes this
@LooeyVille (45)
• United States
2m
@porwest Well now I know. Damn. I have to read every receipt before leaving a store, now I have to read every ingredient before buying any food. It's starting to suck to be me. I told hubby last night I'm going to find ONE thing that I'm sure I can safely eat (let's pretend it's hot dogs) and that's the only thing I'm going to eat the rest of my life just to be safe.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (192932)
• United States
13h
That would be scary, and shellfish reactions can be dangerous.
1 person likes this
@LooeyVille (45)
• United States
13h
So far I'm breathing just fine but I'm still feeling funky. Gonna go check for red splotches
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (76781)
• United States
8h
I had a similar problem when they first prescribed calcium. It was oyster shell calcium. 
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (194915)
• United States
2h
I'm glad you were able to take a Benedryl.
1 person likes this
@Nakitakona (57934)
• Philippines
5h
When my doctor dispensed me with meds she always us me if I have allergy to some meds. But actually I don't have any allergy.
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (87025)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
14h
WOW what a scary thing to happen, Hope you can return them and get supplements you're not allergic too,
1 person likes this
@xFiacre (13927)
• Ireland
13h
@looeyville Did the orthopedist not check you were allergic before prescribing? I hope you recover as quickly as you reacted.
1 person likes this
