Weird Allergies

[NLPeaden]

Good evening, Gents.

A few oddities in my life that might help y'all. When I was young, I had no problems with peanuts. In kindergarten, I developed a delayed peanut allergy that caused asthma and breathing restriction. A PB&J was what I could easily make myself in pre-school and kindergarten until my reactions. In my early twenties it disappeared. I have been bitten by a tick that is common in NC and VA called the Lone Star Tick, and they feature a white spot on their shield (the hard part of their body behind the head.) I am now allergic to all mammal meats excluding primates. The allergy is also delayed by digestion, and can present it self after many hours. It only took one anaphylaxis drive to the hospital to recognize how serious it became. They also confiscated my pocket knife... I should be able to claim that as a tax exemption somewhere as it was surrendered to the state.

Anyhow... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha-gal_allergy.

The only reason I mention it is because the test is relatively new, cheap including a blood draw ($30-40), and the allergy isn't really known among doctors who aren't allergists.

Thank God for chicken, turkey, duck, dove, goose, and all seafood (minus whales and mammal dolphins).

Regards,

NLP

[J.Baker]

Now that would suck to have! Glad they figured out what ya have and it's treatable/controllable.

[limige]

Thats nuts. Congrats on finding a doc that knew about it

[Hotolds442]

Thats nuts. Congrats on finding a doc that knew about it

No kidding! Keep that guy on retainers, he's exceptionally sharp.

[Twinsen]

Knock on wood, I've only found one allergy in my life and it was to a medication. I'm not allergic to things most people are. I've rubbed poison ivy on my face to freak people out.

[fgw_in_fla]

They took your knife????
Have they no decency?...


And I can sympathize. Penicillin does it to me. The antibiotic of choice for many doctors & it almost killed me some years back.
Hang in there.

[jonbearman]

I am allergic to everything like cats, weeds, mold , etc and I found out my worst allergy is to ny safe act.LOL

[NLPeaden]

Yeah, unfortunately there's no treatment other than avoidance. I keep an epinephrine auto-injector in the case that I accidentally ingest mammal meat and have anaphylaxis again.

My GP sent me to the only allergist in town, who has two practices, one here and one in the Research Triangle. He did get his MD from Johns Hopkins University as I read on his wall.

I'm also allergic to a broad spectrum of common antibiotics (a lot of -cillins). I've considered having a medical tattoo. I'm not allergic to poison ivy, or pretty much any environmental factor, which seems odd. Main thing is that there are lifestyle changes. I now typically pack a cold lunch or supper when going to a party with friends. Though if they know ahead of time, they usually have something I can eat. The worst part of the allergy is that I can BBQ a whole hog really well (skin golden brown, crispy, and puffed pork cracklin's when I'm done), and have been doing so close to a decade. I can still BBQ hogs, but ... it's just depressing now.

Best hog I ever barbecued was for a store in a local town. When people were done with pulling pork and eating the chopped barbecue, only a small section of spine remained. Someone picked it up to take to their dog. It was a literally no-clean pig pickin'.

P.S. If you have never had an epinephrine shot before, it's like drinking 2 pots of coffee. I took four benedryl tablets 15 minutes before I went to the hospital, and when I got that epinephrine shot, I was giddy for four hours and then promptly fell asleep.

[EFBell]

My youngest has a peanut allergy. My wife thinks maybe it's because she ate a lot of peanut butter and jelly when she was carrying him. My oldest suddenly became allergic to shrimp and some other shellfish at like 22 or 23 after eating them for years. Who knows, it's strange how these things turn up.

[Robinhood]

Thanks for the education. I suffer from a variety of food allergies and keep a bottle of Benadryl with me or in the wifes purse all of the time.

[243LPR]

Funny,ever since I bought a Savage I think I'm allergic to Remingtons.

[devildogandboy]

i can sympathize with you on the allergies, most of my life allergic to pollens and certain grasses(bermuda) and lately, after 1 1/2 years of being constantly ill for no apparent reason i find out i have "celiac disease". can no longer eat any gluten containing food or i get sicker than a dog. being a person who loves beer and food this has really depressed me. most gluten free foods cost 3-4 times as much as regular food and they don't taste as good. oh well, gotta live with it.

Bruce

[Stockrex]

as your ages, your body's immunity changes, take type II diabetes for example,
look at the animal kingdom, think if a squirrel had nut allergy? how about a tuna with shrimp allergy? or a cow who can't tolerate gluten.
Eat veges fruits of different colors, same goes for nuts and berries.
try an alkaline diet for few months and see if that helps, you have to think outside the take 2 pills and call me in the morning approach.

[bvil]

Thankfully, my only allergy is to poison ivy. I am now either less allergic or wary enough to steer clear of it because it's been many years since I've had a reaction. My brother, on the other hand, was never allergic to it until he was 45.

I don't know that I could roast a hog and have the self control not to sample it. My heart breaks for you. Sorry, but I have to ask. How do you know you're not allergic to primate meat? I've never been to a chimp roast but something to think about.