Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Wait, I have food allergies?

Fast forward to my appointment with my fancy Beverly Hills allergist ($15 worth of valet parking!).

I tell him about my seasonal allergies, and that based on my google-doctoring I worry I may have a sulfite allergy or sensitivity (which would explain the dried fruit, matches, and occasional shrimp reactions). I confidently state that I really don't think I have any food allergies, but Dr. wants to do a full food panel anyway.

72 pricks and 10 minutes later, the doctor comes back, audibly gasps, and the nurse makes a joke about needing to wire my jaw shut. It seems I was wrong about not having any food reactions. Here's the sheet I left with, detailing my reactions:

From Eat Me Allergies

How daunting is that right column? Wheat! Soy! Sesame! Shrimp! Potatoes! Rice! Vanilla! Not to mention egg whites, white grapes (wine!) and my personal saddest: Crab. All this in addition to the sulfites suspects, which we can't test for: most notably wine and beer.

My immediate reaction: This is a joke right? I'm nearly 30, I've never considered myself a person with food allergies, I'm living my life just fine aside from a few seasonal allergies and you're telling me I'm allergic to wheat, eggs, soy, etc. and I just never knew it?!

Dr. Allergist says his recommendation will be to eliminate every highlighted food on this list for 30 days. Says most patients who do this come back at the end feeling amazing, and totally willing to live without this stuff forever (but that if I can't, we can try adding things back one at a time to see what I can tolerate).

I leave the doctor with an appointment to come back in a few weeks with some of my dog's saliva and hair for a full environmental allergies panel and some nutrition counseling.

Whoa.

Monday, March 28, 2011

My allergy background

I've always been an allergic person. Each turn of the seasons has always brought a nasal onslaught, and sometimes also skin rashes. I've always suspected I may be allergic to animals as well (but never really wanted the answer to that one!).

As a kid, dried fruit and recently lit matches would make my throat feel itchy and tight, so I've avoided those triggers since childhood. I've also had odd hive reactions to shrimp, as well as medicines like Advil and Aleve, on a few isolated occasions. That was my only inkling of any allergies other than the "normal" seasonal and maybe pet ones.

My husband and I recently moved back to California (land of eternal spring allergies), and I had developed a pretty constant skin rash, plus had another shrimp reaction, so I felt like it was time to see an expert. I booked an appointment with a well-reviewed allergist in Beverly Hills hoping to confirm my seasonal allergies and maybe get a prescription to help with the rash, and to make sure the shrimp reactions weren't an indication that I should be carrying an EpiPen.

I got a lot more than I bargained for... Stay tuned to share my journey...