Does anybody else suffer from "strange" allergies? Like to food chemicals or color..

[Starfish]

and the like....

I am very sick right now, from color poisoning,which is a type of "hidden" allergy...meaning that the symptoms come on hours or days after ingestion, which makes ID of the cause a major fucking bitch...It took me 10 years to figure it out, no thanks to my Doctors. I accidently bought the wrong hair dye and it had 'Red #30 lake' in it and I am fucking pukin and my stomach is burning, and I have migranes from hell, and a urinary infection...all symptoms of the type of allergy I have. I have been sick for a week and a half, going on two, and have never recovered from a major poisoning, like this, in less than three weeks.

I am wondering how many of you have similar allergies... and what are your symptoms like? How did you find out you had a hidden allergy?

Are you a person who has weird, fucked up bouts of illness, but you can't figure out why? What are your symptoms like?

I am very convienced that lots of people suffer needlessly from allergies, and don't even know that's why...I did and still am, appearantly....
Dear Blackbich, I saw on the "mad as hell thread" that you have a problem and your docs haven't figured it out yet...
I am very interested in hearing your history...

 

[Sparky Kronkite]

Nope, not me.....

But, but, but.....

When I was a kid, an older kid in HS.....

A family moved up the street from me, Canadian's if I remember - and they were alergic to everything.

Everything "man made."

Their house had "no un-natural, man made" shit in it. Unfinished wood, no paint, bare dry-wall. They had to dress in untreated wool or cotton. All kinds of weird shit.

I went to HS with their kids and they wore masks over their faces. Nobody made fun of them and they didn't thing of shooting everybody.

The Washington Post and numerous local TV news outfits did stories on them.

I don't know what ever happened to them.

But yes, this is a true story. I just, being a punk teen-ager revolutionary puke-boy, didn't have enough interest to remember all the details. Or care. Too bad. I wish I got to know them. Stupid young me.

 

[April]

Not an allergy, but I am very sensitive to fragrances and the "vapors", for lack of a better word that certain items give off. Like petroleum based chemicals in some mascara will make my eyes water and hurt. Some perfumes make my eyes and nose lining burn. Hubby is fond of using a lot of room fragrancers, and powder rug deodorizers. I've actually had to leave the apartment because I was in so much distress. Luckily, the symptoms don't last long. Except for when you combine cigarette smoke with photo chemicals. OMG, that is fucking awful! Had to leave work that day.

Sorry to go on like that.

 

[genderbender]

Allergies

I've had a few more allergic reactions as I've gotten older. I've also come to recognize what I always thought was a cold I got every spring was more likely reaction to spring flowers and grasses. But my real experience with allergies came during my relationship with the woman who was my wife for most of the 1990's. Her food allergies got so severe at one time that the only food she didn't react to was cucumbers. She visited western medical doctors, homeopaths, accupuncturists, Chinese herbalists. The herbalist gave her significant relief from skin rashes, but the underlying problem was diagnosed only a couple of years ago. She has a severely compromised immune system that seems to have resulted from a chronic bone infection in her sinues and jaw. The infection weakened her immune system. Until she found a western medical doctor who'd suffered similar problems and spent years trying to understand his own fatigue, no one had been able to help her. She isn't suffering seriously from allergies at the moment, but the treatment regime she pursued with the help of this doctor couldn't solve the underlying infection in her sinuses and she lives a very limited life. Its incredibly frustrating trying to navigate through the medical system when you don't have something easily diagnosed. And doctors can so easily dimiss your concerns. My friend went through the experience over and over again where doctors suggested the problem was depression, not physical. What a crock! Good luck with you own journey of healing.

 

[Starfish]

Re: Allergies

Its incredibly frustrating trying to navigate through the medical system when you don't have something easily diagnosed. And doctors can so easily dimiss your concerns. My friend went through the experience over and over again where doctors suggested the problem was depression, not physical. What a crock! Good luck with you own journey of healing.

Don't I know it. I had to diagnos myself, through an elimination diet, but for ten years my doctor looked for big stuff, and then shrugged my case off, like I didn't matter.

Thanks for the very interseting stories, guys.
Oh and April, don't be sorry, I can relate to being irritated by stuff like that.

I am trying to figure out what the condition, those people suffer from, Sparky, cause I have heard of individuals with that same problem.

It is such a hassel to have to deal with, in modern society, where everything is artificial.
I can't eat in resturants, namely because of my allergy, but being a vegetarian doesn't help either!

 

[teresafannin]

I don't have allergies, but am sensitive to a lot of bath & potpourri products. I feel for you, one of the kids I taught preschool was allergic was to everything. I can only imagine how frustrating it is. It is scary with so many different chemicals out there, I agree that many people probably have these kinds of allergies, but if the symptoms aren't immediate, how do you find out? With a bee sting or traditional food allergy, the symptoms are usually immediate. The little boy I taught couldn't digest food from the time he was an infant. They ran all kinds of tests & the last test was for allergies. This was 20 years ago & I don't remember all the details, but it was awful for him. I always hoped he might outgrow it & possibly have a normal life. I hope you get to feeling better, take care & good luck.

 

[Starfish]

Dear Terasafinnin,

I have to say that the longer you are exposed to an allergen that destroys or causes immune system depletion, chances are the worse you get with age. Mine started out as a kid. I couldn't have Hawaiian Punch or Kool aide, cause I'd get hives, so I just didn't drink those things. After 16 years of eating yellow cheese and colored cereal, the digestive symptoms began...

That little boy sounds like me. If I eat when I have been poisoned My food won't digest, it just rots in my stomach until I barf from the toxic gas.

I have nearly died 3 times from this, due to the onslaught of fever, and major dehydration,(couldn't even drink) toward the end of those bouts. It was like my stomach shut down, and refused to work.

I am just so relieved to know why this is happening. I hope to help others who suffer from 'strange' symptoms and have been shrugged off by western medicine. I feel so bad knowing that there has to be people suffering needlessly.
Thank you for your concern! hugs, G

 

[carini]

i'm alergic to grass and red apples

 

[cheekyminx]

GR Im allergic to Caffeine. My heart palputates, and then I start puking. Around 3 hours later I start to itch like crazy, but when the specialists look there is nothing there that they can see. Usually within a couple of hours, big blisters form on my skin.
Im also allergic to peanuts. They make my throat swell up.

 

[Ksss]

My son was allergic to "everything"...the allergy specialist told me that allergies are inherited from one or both of the parents. Some people don't even realize they have allergies until they are older. My son received two shots a week, plus used an inhaler to help him breathe and took a pill to help keep his system "running smoother". His room held no toys, no books, no rug, no curtains, his mattress was encased in a plastic cover, he used non allergenic pillows and blankets. He had to wear a mask over his face to go outside as he was allergic to trees, grasses, dirt, pollens, animal hair, feathers...and the list goes on and on. He also had severe food allergies...you learn to read labels really fast. He couldn't have anything which contained milk products (and yes sodium caseinate is a milk product, even though dietians will tell you it's not) anything which had pork, peas or wheat flour in it. He is deathly allergic to shellfish. He missed out on alot of things growing up due to these allergies, but he realized at a very young age, it was better to forego the bad things and have a life where he wasn't suffering all the time.