Allergy Test Update

pookie-poo

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Well, I had my allergy testing done this morning. I'm only moderately allergic to the cats! Whew! I was really worried about that one. I actually snipped a tuft of fur from each kitty and took it to the doctor office with me this morning. He soaked each one with saline, and did the routine dermal injection with their fur/allergens, as well as the standard 'cat epithelial cell' test. I've got quite a few environmental allergies....the usual molds and just about every tree imaginable! One thing that kind of surprised me was my severe reaction to walnuts, and black walnut tree pollen. It was so severe that Dr. H suggested that I get an Epi-pen. I have noticed in the past that my lips and tongue get swollen and rigid when I eat walnuts, so I just avoid them and substitute pecans for them in recipes. I'm rather glad I moved from my old house several years ago. There were 7 or 8 black walnut trees in the yard! There aren't any in the neighborhood where I live now, whew!

Hopefully, this testing will allow me to get back into a better place with my health. I've been miserable all summer, and can't wait to get these allergy symptoms under control!
 

fuzzles

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I'm glad you went and got tested. Are you going to start getting shots now for it? I stopped my shots back in May when I moved. I really need to start getting them again. I'm slightly allergic to cats as well. Usually when kids grow up around animals they will have less allergies later on in life. I grew up with like 7 cats around and I still was a little allergic to them. Doesn't stop me from having one though!! I was also suffereing from sinus infections over and over for years until my doctor told me to go get tested. I was miserable. Come to find out I'm allergic to dustmites so that was why I was always having sinus problems year round. Last January, when I got retested for the 3rd time I found our that I'm allergic to grass now as well as the other two. Did you know they test for cockroach allergy now? I just found that out the last time I got tested. I thought it was strange.
 

mews2much

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I am Allergic to Walnuts also.
They make my mouth numb and my gums swell.
I also get a rash on my tongue.
I should get tested again because its been 20 years.
I am glad you got tested.
 

pami

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What a relief with the cats. I, too hope you start feeling better now that you know what it is, but how do you treat with trees, since they are all around you?
 
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pookie-poo

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I started the shots today. From what I gather, they inject you with minute amounts of the things that you are allergic to, so that your body can build up the immunity to them. Hopefully, with winter (frost and snow) the tree pollen allergies should become less noticible...and by spring, with the shots, hopefully, I will not react to them! Yippee!!!

I also think I'm going to use this as my excuse to finally go out and purchase the Dyson that I've had my heart set on! I just hope my finances can justify it!
 

pami

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Well, it seems like the timing couldnt be better then. So its all going to work out.

You will not regret the Dyson. You will subconsciously breathe better after the first vacuum
 

tierre0

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That is really great that your not to allergic to the kitty cats. At least now you know what to avoid and that in itself is half the battle when dealing with allergies..
 

gailc

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Thats interesting about the walnuts. My mom reacts off and on to nuts-peanuts for sure and I wonder if she should get checked out about other ones.

There was an article in the WSJ this summer about food mfg substituting cheaper ingredients in products and pecans are out and walnuts will be found in more items.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by Pookie-poo

I started the shots today. From what I gather, they inject you with minute amounts of the things that you are allergic to, so that your body can build up the immunity to them.
yeah, i tried that type 30 years ago - never saw that they made a difference. my most severe allergies are to foods, tho - so now, i just avoid them.
 

strange_wings

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^Easier to avoid foods, somewhat, as they don't tend to float through the air throughout warm seasons... (Look! up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane!... It's a bacon cheeseburger
)

DH had injections for allergies as a child. He has asthma and says before he had the injections that everything would set off attacks.

He's allergic to practically all tree pollens, grass, dust, mold, ceder, and foods - mustard, corn, cucumbers, coconut, and some nuts (maybe pecans and walnuts, but not peanuts). I can't remember everything he listed.
The combination of allergy treatment and proper treatment for his asthma (one of the first things I seen to when I started dating him!
) makes him able to tolerate everything much better. He can eat all of those foods now, but occasionally gets an itchy throat, asthma attack, or a swollen lip.

I wish I had pictures from the swollen lip incident - it looked like a bad collagen job!
He had been eating too much coconut and drinking the milk.



You could see about getting some of the stand alone air purifiers, improve your heat and air filters, add a dust/allergen guard to your mattress, and a bunch of other little things to help. And of course don't be a glutton for punishment like my DH is.
 

laureen227

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well, the most severe ones are foods... but i'm also allergic to molds, some grass pollens & tree pollens [elm, in particular - very common in my area, of course] & dust mites.
i've read that cockroach allergy is the most common cause of asthma [can't remember where, tho
]
 

white cat lover

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Wow, a cockroach allergy? That's....weird.


Hopefully the shots work for you & winter brings relief until the shots take full effect by spring!
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by laureen227

i've read that cockroach allergy is the most common cause of asthma [can't remember where, tho
Well, with the way my in-laws can be, sometimes I wonder why they don't have roaches...
 
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