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Yep, I was incorrect on at least one very important matter, and also several others maybe less so.
I knew better than what I wrote in in my first paragraph. Why I wrote it, I don't know. I _know_ that some people have food sensitivities/intolerances and some peopIe have "true" allergies to food (I'll explain what I mean by "_true_" allergies three or four paragraphs from now)).
Some people have both; my mother has both. She eats stuff that causes stomach aches, nausea, etc. (because she loves those foods so much that she is willing to accept the consequences of intolerance/sensitivity to those foods). She does _not_ carry an EpiPen for that condition--there is (no?) danger of her having anaphylactic shock from any of those things.
At the same time, she is also taking allergy "shots" (isn't the technical word for that "immunotherapy"?). She's _allergic_ to stuff like grass and trees (I know--it's not the plant, but the pollen from the plant, and it's not the pollen, actually, but an itsy-bitsy protein or something) She carries an EpiPen with her at all times. The liquid that is in the vials, from which she gets injections, as I understand it, is a concentrated form of what she's allergic to. The goal is to make her immune (that may not be the technical word) to those things that she is allergic to. Anaphylactic shock is an extreme rarity, but sometimes it happens. Thus, the reason that she carries the EpiPen.
By saying "true" allergies in my earlier post, I meant something that would cause one's immune system to kick in to deal with the foreign invader. _As I understand it_, foods that people are intolerant/sensitive to, but not allergic to, do not cause the immune system to be activated.
About my former allergist referring to reactions that people have as "food sensitivities/intolerance-s," I think that we must have been discussing certain reactions to _certain_ foods that, in fact, aren't food allergies.
Maybe a couple of people brought the following up, and the fault lies with me. When I wrote that I got my information from a former allergist of mine and some stuff lying around in the waiting room, my point was the very _opposite_ of saying that I knew a lot about what I had written, based upon those facts! It was to say that I'm _not_ well-read on the subject!
It was a mess of a post, and I apologize to everyone for it! And as two or three people mentioned, it is no light matter to make mistakes about the matter(s) that we were discussing. I agree, it is dangerous.
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