What are you allergic to?

I couldn't find anything recent on this--just random posts of people complaining about allergies.

What are you allergic to?

I still need to get my scratch test done, but the doctor's office won't schedule it until my husband's HR can confirm that I don't need a referral...ugh.

Insofar as I can tell, though:
Tree pollen (especially alder)
Grass pollen (and I live in the Grass Seed Capitol of the World, yay)
Mold and mildew
Bees
Juniper (can't touch it)
Tomatoes (can't touch them or tomato plants)

I'm also allergic to something at the zoo. I'm not sure what. I walked through this exhibit with prairie dogs and had a really bad reaction to it--couldn't breathe and later that night I broke out in hives.

I have to take allergy pills year-round. I take more or less depending on the season, but in general I stack Claritin and Zyrtec together, along with Flonase (generic fluticasone propionate), and Benadryl when needed. I also take montelukast (Singulair) on a daily basis. In the past, I've carried an Epi-Pen, but I don't anymore--just a lot of Benadryl just in case.

What are you allergic to? I'm just glad I don't have food allergies

 

I am scary allergic to:
Peanuts.
Latex.
-cillins.

Hives develop from some kelp.

Sensitive to perfumes, incense, smoke, pine pollen, mold, pet dander...

Suspected shell fish allergy, but I've never in my life been adventurous enough to test that one. I've kept a vegetarian diet for over a decade anyway.

I take Zyrtec. I have an Albuterol inhaler in my wallet, carry it everywhere. I also keep benadryl handy. No epi pen, but I have had to take a course of steroids and a steroid shot for severe allergies before.

The kids have no known allergies.

 

I'm not allergic to latex, but I am allergic to something in the adhesive from Band-Aid brand bandages. Last time I used one, I ended up with a giant hive on my chest from the experience. I either have to use cotton wrap, gauze and tape, or Nexcare brand bandages, depending on what's available.

 

Same.

 

My sister is also allergic to bananas.

 

Disgustingly free of them. No allergies at all, that I know of. No problems with any pollen, although particulates like thick dust or smoke can bother me, but that's a mechanical irritation not an allergy.

I once got sick to my stomach from drinking cinnamon flavored coffee. I don't know what caused that. Maybe acidity. Cinnamon doesn't bother me in baked goods or apple pie.

Fish, shellfish, nuts, peanuts, wheat, coffee, tea, fruits, dairy, fungus, herbs and spices, meds, dogs, cats, birds, wool, latex, mold, all no problem.

Maybe growing up on a farm had something to do with my lack of allergies. I was exposed to a lot of stuff even as a toddler. Cows, horses, sheep, poultry, growing plants were all hands-on things for me as a kid. Nothing killed me, so I guess my immune system just worked it out.

 

Worth noting... bodies can become allergic to things unexpectedly even later in life.
I was in my 30s before my peanut allergy manifested.

 

I wasn't allergic to anything until my twenties.

 

Oh don't get me started...
I have one, that's more than enough.
I'll yibber-yabber about it later.

 

Ok...drama?
Sure, this is potentially life & death for me.
I changed my whole life because of it.

I have a strange allergy...the only one I have. (ok, CATS too...I'm now really allergic to cats...unfortunately, I like them..and I like the ladies that sometimes have them )
I'm allergic to mold...from rotten plants...and it only affects my lungs.

The thing is...I figured it out first, the doctors couldn't initially, they only confirm what I knew 15 years later.

It emerged while I was living in San Diego (start of my 30's, when many allergies come to the front again...seems that hormones often repress them during the teens and 20's)
I started coughing
Long and hard and loud.
To the point that people would think they'd need to give me CPR. (and it would unnerve co-workers, thinking I had the plague...still does, during those times...have to warn them that it affects only me)

And to the point, I was getting continuous and redundant lung infections.
The antibiotics were slowly stop working on me.

Again, the docs couldn't figure it out.
I thought it was the air, something environmental. (I knew the dry San Diego air aggravated it)
So I quit college (even though I was almost finished...got a quick Associates instead of the planned BS)

Moved across country to the East Coast, Mid-Atlantic.
Turns out, for my allergy (and life) it was the right move.

The humidity in the area, help repair my lungs.
And the rains periodically cleared out the air. (something that rarely occurs in San Diego)
And it only happens mostly during the late Fall. (and very rainy Springs)

Because of this pattern, affecting me only 2-3 weeks after Thanksgiving.
I figured out that it was after all the leaves had fallen. (rotting on the ground) And before the first frigid colds or snows. (which kills the mold)

When I finally got stable, got some money and good insurance (something that didn't exist in the first years of the IT industry)
I got to doctors...
The first started trying out various things that would help with the symptoms
Then one finally referred me to a GOOD allergist.
We went through all the expensive tests.

And it turns out that I was distinctly allergic to 2 things.
You could easily see the allergy to cats on my skin (something I really didn't know....I knew my mom was big time)
And very small on my skin, to certain plant molds.
And we figured out, it ONLY affects my lungs. (not skin, not eyes, not nose)

It makes my lungs clinch up.
As if it cannot work or get air.
That's why I cough....I'm trying to get air. (and it's LOUD!! I sound like a bull-moose in mating season. and it annoys people, or disturbs them...and I just have to do apologies and laugh and explain, and explain, and explain)

During those now short periods. I used Zyrtec, as a first measure.
Then Qvar, in the mornings, as a preventative.
Then Abuterol inhaler, just in case it gets bad (and I can't breathe)

Right now, I'm as quiet as a mouse (ok, those who know me, know I'm "never" quiet...but I'm not coughing)

And when went back to San Diego last year, even for a week, it was starting to affect me.
See...its ALWAYS there, year round, something always dying there...because there's no damn rain. (and the heat and sun)
And no rain to clear the air.
And the dry air aggravates it.
No wonder I was dying there.

I was thinking of trying progressive shots...try to get rid of it, or reduce it.
But that's expensive...and long-term....and I'm in the middle of switching jobs again....and don't have the best insurance (this new perm job will have it....and I will take advantage of it.)
But I'm not the most disciplined person in the world (outside of work)
So we'll see if I follow through
And if it works.

In the meantime, you'll always know where to find me in the late fall.

Yeah, I know it's weird and hard to understand....and people don't "get it".
It's what I have to live with.
But, at least I can stay away from cats. (but there are so many pretty girls that have them... )
Priorities...