I think the short answer is yes I do still have some allergies, but it's more complicated than that.
Back in 2010, I was experiencing pretty consistent trouble breathing, chest tightness, and the continued sinus infections that I had been experiencing literally forever. Finally, my doctor pointed out a seasonal pattern that I somehow managed to miss for 10 years. I asked if it could be allergies and he said maybe, and when I asked what the next step was (I thought it would be verification of said allergies), he threw me some prescription-strength claritin and said, "if this works and your symptoms go away, it's allergies."
Two weeks later after my symptoms were alleviated through this method, I went back to him for a follow-up and said "I need a referral for an allergist."
"Why?"
"BECAUSE I HAVE ALLERGIES AND I WANT TO FIGURE OUT WHAT I AM ALLERGIC TO."
Hard to argue that logic, I guess, when your treatment worked, because I got one.
Yeah, the more I venture into this whole functional medicine world, the more I realize that I was completely and utterly ignored by all but one of my previous doctors (the other being my chiropractor), and I'm pretty mad about it. I would imagine that this will be a running theme for a while until I can reconcile it. Sorry, not sorry.
Fast forward a couple of weeks, and I finally have a diagnosis: Severe allergy to mold and a moderate allergy to hickory tree pollen (which grows walnuts, so those too). Also asthma. Even though my lung function was close to 100%, and also taking into account that I was fluting every day, so my lung capacity was pretty large at that time. I was sent home with an inhaler and Xyzal, which I promptly threw in the garbage after two doses because the side effects were the opposite of what I was told they would be. As advertised, the "do not operate heavy machinery and take these at night like two hours before you go to bed and you'll get a REALLY good night's sleep" were the warnings. I followed them and slept about two hours after each dose and then I was up all night.
No thanks. I'll stick to claritin.
ANYWHO. Fast forward about four years, about two weeks after I get my wisdom teeth taken out, and I start experiencing MAJOR, MAJOR digestive problems. Like, can't leave my house for a few days, missed the one and only class that I missed the entirety of grad school, called in sick the one day that I ever called in sick to my graduate assistantship - that kind of sick. After six hours in an emergency room on a Sunday, I was diagnosed with C. Diff from the antibiotics that I was prescribed for my wisdom teeth surgery.
I was prescribed more antibiotics to get rid of it, which wrecked my body for over a year. I asked my PCP at the time after five days of this hellish treatment, in all seriousness, if I could just live with C. Diff. That's how bad the treatment is. I won't get into too many details, but there was definitely one incident of crying in a grocery store because of the dietary limitations of the antibiotics, and joint trouble. OH THE JOINT TROUBLE. My hips were in so much pain that I could barely walk by the end of the treatment, and it magically disappeared (though it comes back every once in a while) two days after I finished the treatment. There was also an incident of accidentally using alcohol-based hand sanitizer and that was a VERY BAD IDEA.
ANYWHO. Six months after C. Diff treatment, I was still really on shaky ground in my digestive system, and I thought I might have a food allergy that had previously decided not to show itself until my body went haywire and it was all, "OH HAY A PARTY LET'S JOIN." I went back to my allergist and two more allergies cropped up - peanuts and rice. Both were fairly mild, but I was told to cut them out of my diet and incorporate them back in. Rice I could still do (but only white - I was advised to stay away from brown because the actual grain is still in there and that's what the allergy is to), but peanuts were a no-go.
Why am I telling you all of this? It's important, I swear.
Fast forward to my appointment with my fabulous new doctor. I was told that peanuts, particularly if they are GMO, become encased in aspergillus mold (which is the one that so many people are allergic to) as they grow. She told me that it's entirely possible that the peanut sample that was used on me to test for an allergy was GMO, and that this could be why it popped on the allergy test.
In other words, I probably wasn't allergic to peanuts.
She also told me that because my immune system has been in hyperdrive for basically my whole life, my allergies are probably not as severe as they came out on the allergy test. Like, generally. Also my asthma is probably not as bad. That's where this came in.
"Your immune system is seriously pissed off about something right now. We don't know what it is, but in the meantime until we can get it figured out, mix two scoops of this in a smoothie every morning to help bring down the inflammation in your body."
Just as an aside, this is the most disgusting shit I've ever tasted, even mixing it with fruit. Friends, if you ever have to start using this, don't get the orange chocolate. The just plain orange is MUCH better, which is what I use now. It's like a party in my mouth compared to the orange chocolate. A fruity, grainy party.
But if you look closely, you will notice that it's pea and rice protein. I questioned it, and my doctor said, "Yeah. You're probably not allergic to rice. Even if you are, it will do more good than harm. Just try it and see what happens, and if you have a reaction, we'll switch you to something else."
Two days later, I was walking down the hall of one of my work sites with a friend, who was having TERRIBLE allergies that day. We have historically experienced allergies with similar intensity, and she looked at me and was like "HOW ARE YOU NOT DYING RIGHT NOW? YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A SNIFFLE!"
I didn't even notice, but she was right! It's probably fairly obvious at this point as well, but I also didn't have a reaction to the smoothie mix. Like, not even once. I've been sneezy a couple of times before it has rained over the past two and a half weeks, but nothing like what I was experiencing. Not one migraine. Not one day where I couldn't put in my contacts because my allergies were so bad that I couldn't wear them.
In noticing this, I've been a little...adventurous.
I've had brown rice noodles! That was by accident (they were in a soup that I bought, but I didn't realize that the noodles were brown rice until I was about to eat it and then was all, "eh, I'll give it a try anyway"), but they were awesome! AND AND AND! A HUGE ONE:
WE WENT TO FIVE GUYS LAST NIGHT.
For those of you familiar with Five Guys, they've got GREAT burgers and fries.
All cooked in peanut oil.
This has probably been the hardest thing for me to give up since finding out I had a possible peanut allergy. There isn't another good burger place in the city that I live in, and I got pretty upset that I couldn't eat there anymore. Anywho, in following my diet (which allows for dairy and red meat still, though not for much longer), I got a burger with no bun and lots of veggies. Like, lots. IT WAS DELICIOUS.
No allergic reaction. Literally none whatsoever. I didn't wake up with a migraine this morning, I didn't feel sick after eating it, I didn't feel funny at all.
WHAT A REVELATION.
I do believe that I still need to be a little careful, and this is obviously short-lived until I go on the elimination diet (May 8...DUN DUN DUN), but holy shit.
So, I think that I still have a long way to go, but I'm finally getting a handle on my allergies.
YESSSSS.
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