Helen Olive had her first allergy attack 11 years ago. She had gone to bed only to wake up hours later because her neck felt as if it were on fire.

"It was terrible," said Olive, who is 42 and lives in North Carolina. "The sensation was all over my body and then I developed hives."

A slender woman with wavy, reddish-brown hair and blue eyes, Olive might appear perfectly healthy. But waking up in the middle of the night with uncontrollable itching and nausea became a common theme in her life.

She was driving her motorcycle around town with her husband on a hot summer day in 2008 when they decided to stop for a meal at a local restaurant. "I had a black and blue salad with beef tips," Olive said. "Later I had the same reaction except the Benadryl would not work."

As her symptoms continued to increase, she made an appointment with the Carolina Asthma and Allergy Center. Her blood test showed that she was very allergic to meat. Olive's doctor informed her that a meat allergy was "not common."

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