allergy or just sensitive?

[KnottedYet]

How about gluten?

Couscous is wheat.

Just licking an envelope (whose glue is made from wheat gluten) will give me the same reaction you describe.

How are you with bread and pastries?
(There's gluten in beer, too, of course. And gluten is often used to thicken salad dressings.)

Gluten sensitivity (inability to digest gluten) and lactose sensitivity (inability to digest lactose) often go together. My doc said that the gut repairs the lactose problem when allowed time to heal without gluten, but I've not found that to be true.