Allergic Reactions To Rhubarb

A rhubarb-allergy can trigger severe allergic reactions in people. Rhubarb-rash can develop just by touch.

You just never know when an allergy can flare up out of the blue.

I know people who became allergic to bananas and tomatoes all of a sudden in midlife. I know someone who became allergic to cats at the age of 21, otherwise, being around cats never bothered them at all.

One day about 5 years ago, my lips and face started to swell around 7 in the morning while I was drinking my coffee. We still haven't determined the cause of that, and thankfully it has never happened again to that degree.

Strange Yet Amazing How Our Bodies Work And React

Rhubarb is one of those plants that can trigger a reaction by touch and/or by eating it.

It's also difficult to know for sure if the rhubarb is the true culprit. If you don't eat it often, that could be a trigger, or just an exposure to other foods that are plant-based along with the rhubarb could start it too.

Once someone has had a bad reaction, they tend to carry this rhubarb-allergy effect for life. With children however, some can grow out of it or become much less sensitized to rhubarb-allergy-symptoms.

If you have touched a rhubarb plant and are indeed sensitive to a rhubarb-rash, itching can begin soon after contact. This depends on how fast though rhubarb allergens travel through the bloodstream to membranes.

You could experience itching in your mouth, throat or tongue very quickly. Your eyes and skin can be itchy too.

You may experience a stuffed up nose and congestion within a few hours of consuming rhubarb, which will bring on rhubarb-allergy-symptoms in the forms of sneezing and coughing. These respiratory symptoms usually subside within a few hours after the body has rid itself of the rhubarb allergens in the system.

Beware Of Anaphylactic
Allergic Reactions To Rhubarb

If you have a severe reaction to rhubarb plants, your body can be affected quickly and not in a good way.

Blood pressure can drop fast causing a loss of consciousness, and shock. Be sure to call the Emergency immediately if experiencing swelling, difficulty in breathing, feeling disoriented and faint, and have a high pulse rate.

Respiratory arrest or cardiac arrest can be the end result of the symptoms of anaphylactic shock and need to be dealt with swiftly.

Symptoms of digestive problems from eating rhubarb are experienced too, especially if one isn't used to eating rhubarb often.

It can begin with cramps and pains in the stomach. These usually subside after digestion is complete.

If you suspect you have an allergy to rhubarb of some kind, by all means avoid it. Being overly sensitive to rhubarb would not be a pleasant experience as is having an allergy to anything and having to endure the effects.

Leave Rhubarb-Allergy, Return To Rhubarb Garden

Return To Savor The Rhubarb Home Page

Share this page:


  1. Click on the HTML link code below.


Enter your E-mail Address
Enter your First Name (optional)

Don't worry — your e-mail address is totally secure.
I promise to use it only to send you Rhubarb Lovers.

Sharing Your Thoughts

Best Recipe

Rhubarb Stories

The Rhubarb Sisters

Rhubarb The Dog

Rhubarb Know-How

rhubarb in basket

rhubarb and gin cocktail

Rhubarb Gin Cocktail
Made it myself! Try one.

Protected by Copyscape Online Plagiarism Tool