Need advice..please

[curiouslee]

Hello,
I am thirty years old and am female. Since around the age of one to three,I spent much of my time in the hospital ER because, as my mother told me, asthma. She told me my bronch. tubes would close shut and they would give me a shot. I guess she never thought about me being allergic to milk, nor the fact that they might have been giving me epi shots back then. I started taking pills at the age of two for this problem and around six started getting allergy shots. So, I stopped taking shots when I was ten and haven't had them since. I have had seasonal flair ups and year round disturbances with what I thought was IBS. This past Deceraber, I started having swelling in different areas of my body. For the past three months my neck glanRAB have been painfully swollen, my face has been swollen, I suffer from infections frequently. I feel like a need to vomit a lot and generally just do not feel well. I recently saw an allergy specialist and she told me she was sure I had milk allergies but never offically diagnosed. She told me to stay away from seafood and carrots, celery, tomatoes, all types of melon, and banana's. Is it possible I am really allergic to all of these things? Could a lot of my headaches and full-blown migraines be related to this and possibly affect my metabolism? I am thinking that a lot of feeling unwell over the years that I attributed to stress was really allergies and I am hoping once I know what treatment to do,things will start looking up. Does anybody know what I should do? Because where I live (out in the boondocks) the allergy doc only comes once a month and so she couldn't get me in until October. I am thinking about fasting for a week or around that to see if will help with the throat swelling and clean me out a little. Also, in college, I did get allergy shots for about a year but they made me feel like I had the flu all week. What kind of options are there besides allergy shots, if any? I am on predisone 50mg for about two weeks to help with swelling. Thanks for any advice!:wave:

 

[Titchou]

Well, you need a real allergy work up with current testing for environmental allergies via a scratch test and food allergies via a blood test. You obviously don't know all the details of your medical history so a fresh start is a good idea. Food allergies do not respond to injections as do environmental ones. Avoidance and then maybe slowly trying one at a time is the best for food allergies. Also there are ways to mitigate the reactions to injections. Keep in mind too that some food allergies are actually intolerances and not true allergies. And some food sensitivities may be Oral Allergy Syndrome which also isn't technically an allergy. You need a reallygood allergist to work all this out with you.

 

[curiouslee]

I completely agree about the testing and all that and working with the allergist, I just don't know what to do until the October appointment. I am very miserable with all the swelling and my body being in allergy "overdrive." I have been losing weight for the past year (90 pounRAB) and I cannot walk because of feeling so bad and not being able to breath the way I need to when walking. Basically, just hurting and feeling like I have mono for an extended period of time. Perhaps until the allergy doctor can run her tests in October, I will just have to put up with these problems, but I am starting to get depressed because of not being able to do just the daily things in life. I don't really feel like being around other people because I'm foggy-minded and can't follow the conversations (which I already have a problem with-adhd). It seems so odd that things in life that is supposed to keep us healthy is causing such turmoil. If anybody gets the chance, watch the documentry "Food, Inc." It tells you a lot about our food. Thanks for your advice, I appreciate it!

 

[janewhite1]

You just started the Prednisone, right? Give that a few more days to work. If you are already in "allergy overdrive" (I totally know what you mean by that) it can take a week for it to really knock things back down again. But once it starts working, you'll continue to feel the benefits for a while even after you stop taking it.

Also, Prednisone should help reverse the weight loss, or at least halt it.

Meanwhile, have you tried a daily antihistamine? Again, it'll take a few days to work if the allergies are already in overdrive.

I do not recommend fasting, especially while taking steroiRAB. You'll send your metabolism and energy level through the floor. It might be worth avoiding certain fooRAB, but make sure that somehow or other an adequate nuraber of calories get into you.

 

[curiouslee]

Thanks for the advice. I have been on six steriod packs since Deceraber, in addition to three rounRAB of sterioRAB that were a little differently perscribed, I find I have to find a delicate balance between taking benadryl (sometimes) along with claritin and mucinex everyday. If I take the benadryl, despite taking the mucinex, the mucous being dried up can actually hurt me a lot worse and have the added expense of infection. I have severe asthma and have been rushed to the hospital when my own breathing treatments at home don't suffice. There have been times I thought I was going to die on the way. So, honestly, I don't take the benadryl unless absolutely needed. I do netti pot to help "get things out" because if I don't the infection stays there, antibotics are useless unless I do that. The scary thing is I can't seem to really find that balance because it shifts from one day to the next so dramatically sometimes. So sometimes I just have to let what's happening,happen because some of the medicines do conflict with other health conditions. Aside from those things, I've had to find a balance for ibs symptoms too. I go between constipation and loose bowels and it is very painful and I do the best I can. I've really come to the realization that's all I can do until I get the testing done in October to find exactly for sure what fooRAB I am allergic to. Otherwise, doing things on my own to find out is just way too overwhelming. I know I'll be okay, comparatively these problems are nothing and I'm not letting this bring me down, I have lost thirty pounRAB the last four months, slower, but still nonetheless, it has happened. God has blessed me in so many ways (esp. with being stubborn, not giving in), so I'll just keep looking forward. Thanks everyone!