Allergies

[Rappa]

This is mostly just a rant about the horrible abominations known as "allergies". All my life I've had trouble with allergies. I've used pretty much every combination of otc meds possible, air purifiers, etc. Sometimes I could get them under control for a few days or weeks, but usually within a month or two the meds weren't working anymore.

Fast forward to last year. By recommendation of my doctor, I go to see an allergist. He puts me on prescription singulair and xyzal both and sets an appointment for an allergy test and a ct scan of my sinuses. Well after a few weeks, the ct scan showed nothing so we did the allergy test. If you're unfamiliar with this test, basically the doctor writes numbers on your back then takes a needle and scrapes next to each number. I had 62 of these done (I counted, heh), and to quote the doctor, I "lit up like a christmas tree". There were almost no allergens that I didn't have at least some reaction to.

Thus, I was put on weekly allergy shots. Now, I have to drive 20-25 mins each way every week to get my allergy shot. That's fine, I usually go to the nearby subway for a lowfat sub to eat while I wait my 20 minutes to ensure I don't have a negative reaction to the shot (I did have one once, burned up and sweated for a good 15 minutes but luckily didn't need an epi-pen or anything).

Well, I've been having these shots for over six months now and for the most part I've had improvements. My brother has a pet cat and I used to have to generally avoid it, but now I can play with the cat and no harm is done. My life's a lot better.

Now the other day, I woke up like any other day and noticed that I itched. A lot. All over. I had little sores all over and no idea what they were. To be safe, I washed the sheets and slept on the couch the next night. Today I'm still itching and out of frustration I go take a bath (I hate baths, but I didn't know what else to do) to try to feel better. After the bath I dry off and put on some clean clothes. In literally the time it takes me to leave the bathroom and get upstairs, my feet feel like they are literally on fire. I take off my socks and the tops of my feet are bright red, with numerous bumps/sores on them.

I finally figured it out. We ran out of detergent a week or so ago and we got a new type, not really thinking about it. Looks like I'm allergic to it, since the clothing that I washed with the old detergent did nothing and the sheets/socks I washed with the new detergent set me off.

So it looks like now even with weekly shots and two prescription meds, I still can't escape this shit. I have to toss a brand new container of detergent and painfully wait however long it takes for all these abrasions to heal. Can anyone else here relate to this? :/

 

[Morcheeba]

Fortunately no.

By the sounds of it this has disrupted your life. I have broken out with red bumps over my body sporadically but I'm fairly certain they've only ever been slight irritations.

Suffering from different types of infections and being very susceptible to chronic infections has been something I've dealt with since an early age. I can only imagine what dealing with these multiple allergies has been like.

By the sounds of it you have most of this under control. It's a pain in the ass I'm sure. Like you're doing, as the 'new' allergies arise making mental notes and I guess adjustments is your best bet.

 

[StanDarsh]

This is mostly just a rant about the horrible abominations known as "allergies". All my life I've had trouble with allergies. I've used pretty much every combination of otc meds possible, air purifiers, etc. Sometimes I could get them under control for a few days or weeks, but usually within a month or two the meds weren't working anymore.

Fast forward to last year. By recommendation of my doctor, I go to see an allergist. He puts me on prescription singulair and xyzal both and sets an appointment for an allergy test and a ct scan of my sinuses. Well after a few weeks, the ct scan showed nothing so we did the allergy test. If you're unfamiliar with this test, basically the doctor writes numbers on your back then takes a needle and scrapes next to each number. I had 62 of these done (I counted, heh), and to quote the doctor, I "lit up like a christmas tree". There were almost no allergens that I didn't have at least some reaction to.

Thus, I was put on weekly allergy shots. Now, I have to drive 20-25 mins each way every week to get my allergy shot. That's fine, I usually go to the nearby subway for a lowfat sub to eat while I wait my 20 minutes to ensure I don't have a negative reaction to the shot (I did have one once, burned up and sweated for a good 15 minutes but luckily didn't need an epi-pen or anything).

Well, I've been having these shots for over six months now and for the most part I've had improvements. My brother has a pet cat and I used to have to generally avoid it, but now I can play with the cat and no harm is done. My life's a lot better.

Now the other day, I woke up like any other day and noticed that I itched. A lot. All over. I had little sores all over and no idea what they were. To be safe, I washed the sheets and slept on the couch the next night. Today I'm still itching and out of frustration I go take a bath (I hate baths, but I didn't know what else to do) to try to feel better. After the bath I dry off and put on some clean clothes. In literally the time it takes me to leave the bathroom and get upstairs, my feet feel like they are literally on fire. I take off my socks and the tops of my feet are bright red, with numerous bumps/sores on them.

I finally figured it out. We ran out of detergent a week or so ago and we got a new type, not really thinking about it. Looks like I'm allergic to it, since the clothing that I washed with the old detergent did nothing and the sheets/socks I washed with the new detergent set me off.

So it looks like now even with weekly shots and two prescription meds, I still can't escape this shit. I have to toss a brand new container of detergent and painfully wait however long it takes for all these abrasions to heal. Can anyone else here relate to this? :/

I can relate up to an extent. I've always had ridiculously bad allergies as well, and have been going to an allergy clinic for about 4 years now. Except I only need to go once every two-three weeks now as opposed to the once a week I originally had to. My allergies have definitely improved exponentially since I have been going, but my case doesn't sound anywhere nearly as bad as yours.

When I got the same test you had done to you it showed up as me being allergic to everything but one or two allergens (and those 15 minutes are torture btw); although I have never had any kind of reaction to detergent. I take Zyrtec D twice a day - which used to require you to have a prescription for, but is now sold over the counter - and if I skip taking it a couple of times, I get really bad the following couple of days. When it rains and the ragweed comes out in full swing - even if I've been taking my allergy medicine for a month straight without skipping a single morning or night - I get Hell for at least the day it rains and the next one if it's really bad.

I've never had an issue with detergent though. I really don't know what to say about that, other than that really blows. Obviously you should mention it to your allergist during your next visit, though you've probably already done that much. Hopefully he/she can give you some good advice. I've had to live with bad allergies my entire life, and it's really a lot more difficult than most people might think. I really wish I didn't have them as bad as I do, because on the days it gets increasingly unbearable they really take their toll on my body physically and mentally, and my ability to concentrate on what I'm currently doing takes a nosedive.

One really odd thing I have noticed the past few years - something I'm very curious to know if maybe you or someone else reading this has noticed too - is when my allergies are bad, when I start to eat something like a small snack or lunch for example, my allergies completely stop. My nose stops running, my sinuses stop hurting, etc. As soon as I'm finished eating though they start right back up again.

 

[Falsey]

if i eat a kiwi my lips get kinda red, so yea, i can relate.

 

[Raesvelg]

Best one for me was getting a cut on my back stitched up, and having the doctor place this single large adhesive bandage over it. About two hours later, it's itching like hell, and I have to have someone help me take the damn thing off. I was allergic to the adhesive the bandage was using... so I had a rather large patch of allergic reaction surrounding a 6-7 stitch gash in my back.

I should probably start seeing an allergist at some point myself... Reya really wants a cat, but the damn things make me explode. I mean literally. There was one cat that brushed up against my face and in about 10 minutes it looked like someone had punched me...

 

[Princemercury]

I'm not a professional when it comes to this, but is it possible to be sensitive to nothing? All of my friends are either sensitive to something small or a lot of random things, but I've never experienced anything like this before. Or do I just not know yet?

During my pre med classes we learned that allergies are protein based incompatibilities between 2 organisms. So are allergies and sensitivities really that different? Or is allergy just a term most people put in practice since it's related to the thought?

 

[Rappa]

@StanDarsh: Yeah, those 15 minutes of the allergy test totally blow, lol. The drive home wasn't much of a picnic either, had to lean forward to keep from rubbing my back against the car seat. My next allergy shot is tomorrow (being wednesday), so I'm going to bring up this episode with my allergist while I'm there. Then of course I have to go straight to the store for some new detergent and rewash all of my clothing that I either know I washed in the most recent load or that I can't remember either way, and my sheets too. Guess it's the couch for tonight, heh.

I've never had the eating thing you exerience. That's interesting, not sure why that happens. Food usually sets me to coughing afterwards, but that's my acid reflux and not my allergies (just one of many health-related problems I deal with).

@Falsey: Nobody asked jew!

@Raes: Oh man I bet that must've sucked. I've never had stitches before but I did have staples, and I can't even begin to imagine what that would've been like compounded with allergic reaction. As for cats, as I said in my OP they used to be one of my biggest problems but now in general they don't bother me anymore. The only thing I have to be careful about is when I'm tired, either late at night or just groggy from a long day's work. In that case if I were to say, lay my head on a pillow that the cat was on, that would start me sneezing.

@Prince: I don't know really if there's an answer for that. For me personally, it isn't a "sensitivity" issue. It's a full blown allergy. My skin will bubble up or I'll cough/wheeze/sneeze when I come across the right allergen. I think some people do confuse sensitivity with allergy though. Allergic reactions have some sort of normal set of... "guidelines", I guess would be the right word. If someone's having an allergic reaction, it's usually very noticable. When I think sensitivity, I think something like being sensitive to bright light and just having to shade your eyes, for example.

 

[Orinna]

I have a ridiculous sensitivity to Acetaminophen.. It makes me hallucinate in doses over 400mg.. So I stay as far away from it as possible. If i take under 400mg I get really weird.. It's like I'm high or something. It's an incredibly weird feeling.. That's pretty much the only thing I'm even close to Allergic to.. Pollen and ragweed do to me what they do to most people.. but it's nothing an sinus/allergy pill won't fix..

I feel bad for anyone who has to live with that kind of thing on a daily basis though. That's got to suck.

 

[JerkFace]

Rappa I sympathize with you man. I have also been living with constant allergy problems. I used to tell people with only the slightest exageration that I did not breathe out of my nose until I was about 17 years old. This was because I am allergic to both dogs and cats, and we had both at one time or another growing up.

This is all compounded by the fact that I have eczema. I can totally understand your discomfort with the irritation you are experiencing. I am broken out in one place or another at any given time. The best advice I can give you is that if the irritation gets bad, you can find some relief by cooling the area that it occurs on. Bags of frozen peas, cold showers, all manner of cooling can help you out if it gets really annoying.

Sorry that you are having such a hard time.

 

[Mirewen]

Not that you're going to be able to read this, but my sister and dad are both allergic to liquid fabric softener but not the fabric softener sheets. They had pretty much the exact same reaction that you did to it, which is odd because the only other thing my dad is allergic to is crab...

It may have either been a small additive or even a fragrance.

http://cleaning.tips.net/Pages/T0229_Controlling_Allergic_Reactions_to_Laundry_Detergent.html

Don't know if that helps.

 

[Sanoske]

I never had allergies until I was about 17, and then they started to destroy me during April and May. Although, I've noticed it's not a static thing. Given the same conditions/environment I could be sneezing and red eyed to the point of being useless and the next day I would be fine or have only mild reactions. For 2 years, during the springtime, I worked at a nursery (as in herbs/flowers, not babies). It was like playing Russian Roulette with my sinuses.

Sorry to hear that you have this going on. I have a friend who is severely allergic to a variety of things, and I know how much it affects her day to day.

 

[Grandphoenix]

I have a ridiculous sensitivity to Acetaminophen.. It makes me hallucinate in doses over 400mg.. So I stay as far away from it as possible. If i take under 400mg I get really weird.. It's like I'm high or something. It's an incredibly weird feeling.. That's pretty much the only thing I'm even close to Allergic to.. Pollen and ragweed do to me what they do to most people.. but it's nothing an sinus/allergy pill won't fix..

I feel bad for anyone who has to live with that kind of thing on a daily basis though. That's got to suck.

This reminds me of a friend I have who is allergic to DXM in cough medicine and medicines of that variety he seems to get double the effect and basically nearly drunk off of it.

 

[Mirewen]

For me it's Eurethromycin, makes me cough/throw up blood. That wasn't pleasant to find out.

 

[Orinna]

Not that you're going to be able to read this, but my sister and dad are both allergic to liquid fabric softener but not the fabric softener sheets. They had pretty much the exact same reaction that you did to it, which is odd because the only other thing my dad is allergic to is crab...

It may have either been a small additive or even a fragrance.

http://cleaning.tips.net/Pages/T0229_Controlling_Allergic_Reactions_to_Laundry_Detergent.html

Don't know if that helps.

Hm..i'll let him know about that. That's actually something he may not have thought of.. They do use fabric softener sheets.

 

[Tim Wakefield]

I usually get hit about 2-3 times a year, but not nearly to the extent you have. Normally, as soon as the weather changes, I clog up like a toilet at the Golden Corral. Especially when I'm golfing, something in the air just gets to me and by the end of a round I'll have all types of weird stuff running out of my nose/eyes. Also, my girlfriends parents have seven cats, which basically causes me to go into a fit of sneezing, nose running, face-itching hysteria. It really drives me crazy sometimes. Still, yours sounds much worse, and I feel for ya in that aspect.

 

[Kairiboo]

I'm mildly allergic to a few things. Highly allergic to cats, they cause my asthma to kick in and it's all down hill from there. Also allergic to some medicine that I've never been able to pin down yet, I used one of those motion sickness patches behind the ear... and WOW hallucinated for a good 36 hours was pretty crazy. (I never did find out which part of it I had a reaction to) I did what you did at the start rotated OTC meds and after a month or so they stopped working for me. A family member of mine is actually allergic to laundry detergent but -only- powder. Some difference in the chemicals or such I guess.

 

[Zaltana]

booboo will you babysit my cats for me while elph and i go back to NOLA for Mardi Gras?

 

[Kerowynn]

I had the exact same thing happen to me Rappa, for months afterward it seemed like my skin was really sensitive and would break out like that if I breathed wrong. Luckily I got over that sensitivity and I'm fine now. But yeah, I'll wear dirty clothes before I'll wash anything in a detergent other than Tide now. >.>;

 

[Rappa]

But yeah, I'll wear dirty clothes before I'll wash anything in a detergent other than Tide now. >.>;

That's funny, because it was Tide Clean Breeze that set off my allergies, lol. No more silly scented crap for me anymore!

 

[Crumpet]

Although I'm not allergic to anything. Several members of my family are. I hope your allergies settle down a bit soon.