Allergic reaction to fish oil?

[Sundance]

I had originally thought that I had reacted to some sugar-free bacon that I ate (something I eat rarely), but it looks like I'm really reacting to my fish oil capsules. Shortly after taking one, I become very congested and start coughing a lot and trying to clear my chest. It was an asthmatic type of reaction. It lasted about 30 minutes and then went away.

I don't take fish oil regularly. The last time I did was a couple years ago (3 weeks of 1 tsp/day of liquid Nordic Naturals). I developed massive daily nose bleeds which only cleared up after stopping the fish oil. High doses of fish oil can thin the blood, and apparently my body reacts very strongly that way.

Anyway, this week was the first time I took any fish oil in a while, and this was during my second week of my Whole30, and I reacted fairly strongly to it. I took the fish oil one more time two days later, and reacted again, although less strongly.

I contacted the company, and they said there was no soy in it (just fish oil, gelatin, glycerin, and water). But they did say it might have some shellfish contaminates. I almost never eat shellfish, so I don't know if I react to that. I also looked up glycerin on the internet, and found out that it is sometimes created from soy.

Anyway, I don't really know what I'm reacting to - fish oil, shellfish, unknown contaminate? I really wish I knew what I needed to avoid - other than this particular brand of fish oil product. I usually eat salmon a few times a week, and I don't seem to react to that. Guess I'll bring this up with my doctor when I see her next month. Anybody else run into similar reactions to what they are taking or eating?

[kayell]

Do you eat any fatty fish like salmon or tuna without problems? Oops, I see that you do eat salmon weekly. If so It probably isn't the fish then. You could just eat salmon, sardines, herring, tuna (occasionally), anchovies, smelt for your O3.

If the fish oil was old, it could be rancid. That stuff doesn't last well, even refrigerated. If this is the same bottle of oil from a couple of years ago, it certainly is spoiled.

It could be blood thinning last time and rancidity this time. Obviously, don't eat those capsules again. If that scenario doesn't sound right, seeing your doctor seems like a good idea, since you had trouble previously.

[Sundance]

No, the fish oil was very fresh, so I don't think rancidity is the problem.