Talking Allergies

Hi, lifelong allergy sufferer here. I belonged to a couple of other allergy sufferers forums but they didn't have much traffic so I thought I'd take a look at Allergic Living. (I have to chuckle at the name of the forum since I hope I'm not allergic to "living.")

Here is my allergy story: http://theopinionator.com/selfsufficiency/battleallergies1.html

Hi KingM, and welcome!

Very funny website, although I am sorry that you suffer so much. I'm not much of a fellow sufferer - it's my kids and mostly from food - although I do have mild seasonal allergies and so do they.

Have you ever thought of getting a job at an airport? It might be one way for you to feel a bit better some of the time!

Anyway, welcome to our forum. Hope you like the traffic.

K.

P.S. The quote from Mrs. Foster made me laugh.

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Karen, proud Mom of
- DS1 (12 yrs): allergic to cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, potatoes, some legumes, some fish, pumpkin seeds; OAS
- DS2 (1o yrs): ana. to dairy, eggs, peanuts; asthma

LOL. No, I haven't, although I've considered moving to Mexico before. I own an inn, which is a pretty great lifestyle for me. What I want is my current life without allergies, but I know that's probably not going to happen.



I think it's funny now, but at the time I was devastated. Like most kindergartners, I worshipped my teacher. Of course, I remember that incident as well as anything in my childhood as a result.

Yeah, I guess it's one of those things that would NOT be funny at the time. Kind of a cruel thing to write about a child, actually.

I have to admit, though, my own kids are pretty verbose, and they have come close to driving me crazy (and actually pushed me over the edge a few times, come to think of it). The funny thing is, they take after me. My husband says that I talk a lot less than I used to, now that we have kids. I guess the experience has helped me see the other side (i.e. that of the "receiver").

K.

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Karen, proud Mom of
- DS1 (12 yrs): allergic to cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, potatoes, some legumes, some fish, pumpkin seeds; OAS
- DS2 (1o yrs): ana. to dairy, eggs, peanuts; asthma

Yes, I'm now the sufferer as well, although it's hard to know who to blame that on, me or my wife. I remember when our respective families first met and they exchanged looks as they heard very similar sounding stories from our childhoods. An aunt leaned over to me and said, "You're going to have some very interesting children."

Yes. Yes, we do.

My husband has to do nose tampons too. He gets the runny nose bad. My allergic reactions are usually in the form of hives, eczema, asthma, swelling, andlow blood pressure. I'm allergic to caqts, and dogs, as well as dust, molds, pollens, and lots and lots of foods, as well as chemicals. It's a good thing you are aware of the dangers of living in a "sterile world." Most of the time those anti-bacterial chemicals are worse for us then the bacteria! I only use all natural soaps, and cleaners that I mix together myself. Some people in my family think I'm a little obsessive compulsive but reducing all those chemical and fragrances has made a huge difference in my health.
Have you ever thought of getting allergy shots for your environmental allergies? You should talk to your doctor if you haven't already. It really helps for some people. I just started immunotherapy a couple weeks ago and I can already notice a big difference in my asthma and chronic hives. I feel way more energetic too! You can get shots for dogs too. It would make living with your pooch a lot easier. Good luck!

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2 year old son: allergic to milk--waiting to introduce other allergens

self: allergic to milk, eggs, soy and other legumes, corn, oats, wheat, turkey, tree nuts, yeast, fish

A doctor told me that shots were dangerous long-term and should only be used for life and death situations. I usually ere on the side of caution when it comes to medical treatment.

I've heard about the shots for the dog. Are they effective?

Hmmm, well I guess the professionals differ in opinion from time to time.

I know that many allergists feel that allergy shots (for things like pollens) can be quite effective for those suffering from environmental allergies.

I'm not sure about allergy shots to help with animal allergies - anyone know about that?

K.

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Karen, proud Mom of
- DS1 (12 yrs): allergic to cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, potatoes, some legumes, some fish, pumpkin seeds; OAS
- DS2 (1o yrs): ana. to dairy, eggs, peanuts; asthma

I guess they decide to do shots depending on how allergic you are and what you are allergic to. I'm too early in the treatment to really tell you if they will help me or not. I guess they can be dangerous because they are injecting you will diluted forms of the allergen which builds up "blocking antibodies." It doesn't cure allergies, but it makes it so you have to be exposed to a higher amount of the allergen in order to have a reaction. It's really ideal for someone like me who is allergic to most of the allergy medications they have out. Right now I take Benadryl only for allergies and I live a very sleepy life! I'll do anything at this point to get the swelling in my esophagus to go down so I can swollow normally. :/

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2 year old son: allergic to milk--waiting to introduce other allergens

self: allergic to milk, eggs, soy and other legumes, corn, oats, wheat, turkey, tree nuts, yeast, fish

I think they do do shots for cats and dogs too.

I know they do shots for dogs because I am getting them. They also do cats too, but I hate cats so I'm not even going to bother. I just am way too early inthe immuntherapy to really say if they are helping or not. I feel a little better, but that could just be psycho somatic.

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2 year old son: allergic to milk--waiting to introduce other allergens

self: allergic to milk, eggs, soy and other legumes, corn, oats, wheat, turkey, tree nuts, yeast, fish

Thanks Shai. After I asked my question I realized that you had already posted about your dog shots.

Keep us posted on how you're feeling. It must be difficult to figure out what make you feel better when there are so many factors, but I hope the shots help somewhat.

This talk of allergy shots takes me back to my childhood (which is quite awhile ago now... sigh...) when I was given allergy shots for "dust" allergy. I got them for about 10 years (!!!) and I don't personally think it made a difference, but from what I was told by some of the guys who make the serum that's used in the injections now, they were using a real "gunshot" approach way back then. So goodness only knows what I was being injected with, or even if it was fixing what I was allergic to....

K.

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Karen, proud Mom of
- DS1 (12 yrs): allergic to cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, potatoes, some legumes, some fish, pumpkin seeds; OAS
- DS2 (1o yrs): ana. to dairy, eggs, peanuts; asthma

Thanks. I hope they work for me too. I really don't mind going every week either. It's sort of like a vacation when you have a 2 year old at home.
Last week I was sort of sick from the mold count being so high so they had to scale it back a little in my shots. So that means my building process will be even longer. Great.
They did say shots don't work for everyone. There is no guarantees. Since I have celiacs too going gluten free has helped me more then anything.

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2 year old son: allergic to milk--waiting to introduce other allergens

self: allergic to milk, eggs, soy and other legumes, corn, oats, wheat, turkey, tree nuts, yeast, fish

KingM
Just read your blog about your allergies. Was this an Allergist that recommended against the allergy shots? I had several environmental allergies when I first saw the allergist for GI food allergies (referred by my GI Doc). I received allergy shots for my environmental allergies for about four years. Very effective. I went from having 4-5 antibiotic-requiring sinus infections per year to having only about one infection per year. In fact, I have now gone about 2 years without antibiotics at all. If I start to get "sniffly", I drink lots of water and take a couple of warm showers a day. (At least 10 cups of water per day, to keep my sinuses really hydrated.)
BTW, when I started the shots for oak, plaintain weed, dust mites and cat, I had a 4+ allergy to cats. (Owned 5 cats and 2 dogs at the time; Allergist recommended I keep them out of the bedroom. Now we're down to 2 cats, a dog, a tortoise and my child takes horseback riding lessons .) Only get itchy eyes if I don't wash my hands after petting the cats, or I leave my coat in the kitchen chair and they sleep on it.)
Don't waste your money on the Ionic Breeze. Cute idea, but where do the dust and pollens really go???? I invested in a medical grade air purifier for my bedroom. Works great! Absolutely gross when Dear Hubby changes the filter, so we know it's really working. I retreat to my room on really high pollen days, and wear a mask for dusting and vacuuming (and for brushing down the horse, of course). Would love to have a whole house system like the other guy on the Environmental allergies topic.
Get the allergy pillow covers, or better yet new pillows. (Why is it that people keep their pillows for 20 years? Yuck! And the mattress cover helps, too.)
Daisy

shai
Good luck with the shots. I know what you mean about doing just about anything to get out of the house, even a visit to the Allergist!
Good luck,
Daisy

It was not an allergist, just my regular practicioner. He suffered from allergies too and certainly sounded like an expert on the subject. However, his allergies were easily cleared up by Claritin, which he suggested, and most the time for me I may as well be taking sugar pills for all the good they do me.

I'm disappointed to hear that the Ionic Breeze doesn't work, as I was thinking about getting one. Where did you get the medical grade purifier and how much did it cost?