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I think i'm allergic to my bed in the summer, because every day I wake up sneezing or sniffling. And then I go outside and I'm fine. Or maybe it's just a morning thing...
I'm also allergic to cats, which sux completely b/c my best friend has about 10 cats, so whenever I stay over, it's just BBBAAADDD
Posts: 1789 | Registered: Jul 2003
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Good point, Ludosti. Many people mistake bad reactions for allergies. A mild allergic reaction will manifest itself with watery, itchy eyes and a runny nose and some sneezing. A more severe reaction will give you a bad rash. An extreme (anaphylactic) reaction will result in difficulty breathing, and can sometimes close off the airway altogether. These are the ones to really worry about.
The reason I bring this up is that I see things misdiagnosed as allergies constantly. When I ask patients if they are allergic to medications, they'll give me a list. Often when I ask what happened when they took that medication, they tell me that it made them very sick to their stomach, or maybe tired or dizzy. These are not allergies. If a doctor doesn't have time to quiz you on these issues, they may put you on a less effective drug for fear of causing an allergic reaction with a more effective/ safer/ cheaper medication. Happens all the time.
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I'm massively allergic to cats, which frustrates my boyfriend to no end (he's very much a cat person, but was between felines when I met him).
Ragweed and chamomile (supposedly related in the plant world), cigarette smoke and possibly rabbits and/or ferrets. Slightly allergic to dogs, too, but not nearly as bad as the rest.
Posts: 471 | Registered: Jul 2002
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I'm allergic to hospital tape, the kind they use for IV's and such. I found out with my first baby. Wherever they had put tape on me I had big, I mean big blisters. Now I insist on cloth tape.
I didn’t have any allergies until after my second child was born and I seem to have gotten more sensitive to a wider variety of pollen and fragrances with each successive child. I have found out though if I take a good vitamin and mineral supplement, that’s heavy in the B vitamins I do just fine, unless I drink soda pop. Soda robs your body of excessive amount of B vitamins, calcium, and magnesium.
Posts: 180 | Registered: Jul 2003
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I used to be allergic to lots of stuff, including cats, dust, and cigarette smoke.
Now not so much. I mean I get sneezy in the summer, and dust still gets me, but I subverted my cat allergy by getting cats, and I think maybe my cigarette smoke allergy has become more of an asthma thing... as in 'will die from prolonged exposure, but no other ill effects'
I do have a strange allergy to Canteloupe, in that it makes my throat itch whenever I eat it... Blarg.
Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I didn't think I had any, until I got a tetanus shot and broke out in hives. In fact, I didn't know what it was, I was asking a co-worker (a registered pharmacist) what he thought about these huge welts forming on my arm.
He said "have you had any injections?" Yup. Tetanus shot. So he gave me benadryl and they went away.
Then, I started reacting to flu shots. At first, it would just hurt for a few days, but lots of people get sore after shots. Next year, it was very sore, red and a bit swollen, but not bad. The third year it was as big as an egg, red, hot to the touch.
The fourth year, the doc was swabbing my arm and about to inject it when I said "I hope this doesn't swell as much as last year."
He stopped and asked me about my history with flu shots. He wouldn't give me one and told me not to get another one. Apparently these things can accumulate, and get worse every time, as mine had been doing. So no more flu shots or tetanus shots for me.
Everyone always asks me if I'm allergic to eggs, but I'm not. At least I can eat eggs without any problem.
My Mom is deathly allergic to shellfish, she has had severe anaphylactic reactions before. She can't even be in side the house when someone's frying shrimp because her eyes will start watering and she'll begin to have trouble breathing. Scary.
And, lately - stings. I never reacted to a bee sting or wasp sting as a child. But I've been stung twice in the last year, and each time my hand would begin to get red, and the redness would spread rapidly up my arm, and start swelling. I have to take benadryl, and then it stops.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Cats Raspberries...I get the most tremendous headache if I eat raspberries or anything raspberry flavored.
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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I'm allergic to short haired cats. We have two long hair cats which don't bother me at all (at least, not relative to allergies). If a short haired cat starts rubbing on me, my eyes itch and water and I start having trouble breathing.
Posts: 4625 | Registered: Jul 2002
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My allergist once explained that most people who are sensative to cats/dogs are most often reacting to pollen/dust/etc. brought in from outdoors in the animals coats. Also, animals with fine fur may affect people more because the fine fur can easily become airborn and get in your eyes/nose/throat/etc. making your eyes water or your nose/throat itch. Again, you're not necessarily allergic, it's just your body reacting to having a strange thing (dog/cat fur) where it doesn't belong. For example, one of my cats has very fine fur and tends to shed quite a bit. Sometimes, when I pet him, my nose itches, but it's not because I'm allergic to cats. My nose just doesn't like his furs in it.
Belle - That's no fun about your reactions to shots. I'm lucky that although (according to my skin tests) I am allergic to egg yolks, I do not react in any way to eating eggs, nor do I react adversely to flu shots. So, I can still get my flu shot every year even when the nurse freaks out and doesn't want to give it to me.
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That's interesting...I always just assumed that anything that produced a consistently bad or unintended effect was an allergy. In that case, I suppose I'm allergic to cats, but sensitive to raspberries. hmm.
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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Hmm...is it possible to be allergic to something if it's injected under the skin, but not when it's ingested as food? In other words, perhaps I AM allergic to egg protein, but only if it's injected. Because I can eat eggs with no problem.
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In my understanding, it shouldn't make a difference whether it's injested or injected (as far as being allergic to it). The allergic reaction is your immune system resonding to the egg proteins as it would an invading substance (bacteria/virus) which would happen regardless of whether is is injected or injested.
I guess it may depend on whether you are allergic to the egg white proteins or the egg yolk proteins and which are being used in the vaccination.
I am surprised that you would have no other reaction to eating eggs though, since the amount of egg protein contained in a shot is minute. Given the growing severity of the reaction (food allergies, especially in adults, tend to grow worse over time, not better) I would assume you would have some sort (although not necessarily this same type of) reaction to eating eggs or anything with eggs in them.
Did you ever try an elimination diet to see if you felt any different when you didn't eat eggs?
I'd be really interested in seeing what any of our medical people have to say about this.
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When I went in for allergy testing for the shots, I found out that I was allergic to everything, including motion and hydrogen atoms. Seriously, I'm allergic to horse dander... That has got to be the weirdest allergy I've ever heard of. I didn't even know horses had dander.
Posts: 2258 | Registered: Aug 2003
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I don't think I'm allergic to anything. For a while I thought I was allergic to cats, but pretty much anyone will sneeze when breathing in the fur of a shedding cat.
Posts: 1855 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Book - I know a weirder one - cockroaches! My brother's allergy test revealed he's allergic to cockroaches. *tries to imagine making a solution of cockroaches for allergy testing* Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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The last time I played with an air freshener, I ended up with rashes, hives and a shot to my butt. Posts: 65 | Registered: Jun 2003
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Peaches, plums, nectarines, grapes (and anything made with them), cantaloupe, watermelon, bananas, apples, blueberries.
Probably some other stuff I can't think of right now.
I was never allergic to anything until I moved to central California. It's a real bummer, because I really like a lot of the foods I can't eat. Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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dkw - They do?! That's cool. I thought they only did shots for environmental (meaning pollen, grass, etc.) allergies.
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Pollen, ragweed, dust, wet paint, cats, dogs, anything with hair including humans. None of this are serious to my health mid you, but Claritin, Allegra, and Zertec have all failed to make my allergies go away. Oh yeah, Penicillin and its derivitives do endanger my health. Its not good when the main antibiotic makes you iller than the disease.
Posts: 3446 | Registered: Jul 2002
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i have some thing where i get a small rash on my neck every time i take a hot shower, and when i get really hot or stressed out i break out in hives. it has some really long name that i forgot already. i've only actually broken out in hives twice though, so it's not that bad.
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I am allergic to grass pollen. Guess where I live? The Willamette river valley, AKA the grass capital of the world (not THAT type of grass!!! ). I am also slightly allergic to sever types of tree pollen and cats.
Posts: 1466 | Registered: Jan 2003
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Dog's, cats, chocolate, milk, yellow dye's, gum, bht, pollen, grass, dust, nearly everything except for the "nut" related allergies.
Had to have injections from '79-'87 for my allergies, but all they did was hurt me, and instill an overpowering, terror of needles (confronting one's fears does not always work), so these days, I get by with pills, but I'm generally endanger of suffering congestion, or sneeze attacks nearly every day. C'est la vie, i've found that one can get used to it.
Posts: 752 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Onion, mushroom, spinach, nuts (*sob*), dust mites, ragweed, and cats. Of course, I found out about the cat allergy after I adopted Raina. I seem to have gotten used to her, though, as she doesn't bother me anymore. I have noticed that my other allergies have gotten worse, though. I used to be able to eat peanuts without any problems, but now they cause my eyes to water. Which is a shame, because I love peanuts.
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I was out playing miniature golf and I got hives or something all over my body. I think it was hives, but they looked like really wide mosquito bites, except they were all connected. If I left them alone, they would start to go away, but if I scratched, they would immediately spread to wherever I scratched. To get rid of them I was instructed to drink one-fourth of my bottle of Benedryl. That was kind of freaky. After sleeping six hours, they were gone. Does anyone know what that might have been? I have no clue. (one thing, they didn't actually show up until the morning after the miniature golf, so I guess something else may have caused it. Not sure.) The doctor didn't know what it was either.
Posts: 113 | Registered: Aug 2003
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I am allergic to mold, pollen, cats, and of course my two wonderful dogs. I am allergic to penicillin as well. I used to get shots for my allergies, although I do not really know how well they worked. Claritin is a complete waste of money. Actually, all antihistamines are wastes of money for me. I get little to no main effects. I get little to no side effects. Apparently they are supposed to make you very sleepy, but I have never had that happen to me.
Oddly, cigarette smoke usually does not bother me. I think I am the only person in the world who actually likes the smell of smoke on someone who has just come in from a smoke break. The only time I really cannot stand cigarette smoke is if I am wasted- for some reason, it irritates me quite a bit then. I still will not let anyone smoke tobacco in any place I happen to live, however, both for the benefit of other visitors and health reasons.
Posts: 1364 | Registered: Feb 2003
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Although I seem to have many more scars from road rash then most people
I have a friend who has the worst allergy I've ever seen, chocolate seems to cause him to die. The smell alone gives him horrible migrains, to me it sounds like and unimaginable hell.
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It's not pleasant. While others luxuriate in chocolate, chocolate, dark and milk causes major sneezing, nose, eye, and headache issues with me. What's really odd is that I'm allergic to Chocolate, and to milk, and yet my reaction to Dark Chocolate is always far worse than to Milk Chocolate.
That being said, I still eat it, and I still love it, but anytime I dabble, I need to dose with medicine and be prepared for massive irritation, and chronic headaches, like when I visit someone with pets.
It's immensely frustrating to say the least, but it could be worse, so I try to count my blessings.
Posts: 752 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Pollen, dust, mold, cats and dogs, and flower-based scents.
A combination of Allegra and Flonase keeps it under control. Flonase is cool stuff. At first I was afraid of it because it smells like flowers, but it works.
I find that being around cats and dogs lessens the severity of the reaction, so I own two of each, plus a pair of gerbils. The dogs are not allowed to lick me, though.
I took Paxil for 6 weeks once, and on about the third day my mouth and jaw quit working properly, and my tongue felt swelled up and uncontrollable. Would that be more of a side effect than an allergy, or not?
Posts: 1379 | Registered: Feb 2002
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Flonase is the only allergy medication I have ever tried that worked for more than two days in a row for me. All the others I've tried give me rebound issues after a day or two.
The only problem is, about a day after the Flonase started really working, I got what I describe as an "ice-pick headache" -- it felt like someone was jabbing the base of my skull with an ice pick. Advil made it go away for 4 hours at a time, and after two days of THAT, I decided the cure was worse than the disease. Aren't side effects lovely? Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Dead_Horse - To my knowledge, swelling of the tongue is a sign of a severe allergic reaction (and can precede anaphylactic shock). You should definately notify your doctor when such a thing happens.
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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I'm allergic to mosquito bites--they blister and swell and look like something horrible got me. Otherwise, nothing.
My daughter, however, is allergic to peanuts and nuts, which is really scary. The blood test came up with her being allergic to everything: corn, wheat, milk, soy, beef, chocolate...she'd starve if she really had reactions to all those things, which thank goodness she does not. But we're careful.
Posts: 335 | Registered: Feb 2001
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I have a mild allergy to many different kinds of insect stings and bites--I break out in itchy lumps.
I think I'm allergic to something in the Memphis air--my eyes unexpectedly became itchy and dry and I had sinus problems while visiting friends there.
But my worst allergy is to morphine. Following back surgery I was placed on it for the pain. When I finally became lucid again I realized I was itching everywhere, even underneath the huge dressing on my back. I had to be switched to Demerol, which didn't make me itch but was less effective--ouch!
Posts: 1041 | Registered: Feb 2002
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I also have gluten intolerance. I can't eat anything that contains wheat, rye, barley or other closely related grains.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
Now I insist on cloth tape.![[Evil Laugh]](graemlins/evillaugh.gif)
![[Monkeys]](graemlins/monkeys.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Laugh]](graemlins/laugh.gif)
My brother's allergy test revealed he's allergic to cockroaches. *tries to imagine making a solution of cockroaches for allergy testing* ![[Angst]](graemlins/angst.gif)
![[Grumble]](graemlins/grumble.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
I seem to have gotten used to her, though, as she doesn't bother me anymore. I have noticed that my other allergies have gotten worse, though. I used to be able to eat peanuts without any problems, but now they cause my eyes to water. Which is a shame, because I love peanuts.![[Evil]](graemlins/evil.gif)
