Allergy

I am allergic to several things.  Well, according to the allergist I saw down in Orlando a few years ago, I am not technically allergic to anything.  He put me through the full roster of tests - the blood test, the nicks on your arm and back.  At the end, he told me that I wasn't allergic to anything, but that I had a higher than average sensitivity to some things like dust mites and mold.  When I asked him how it was possible that I wasn't testing allergic to things that really messed me up, he told me that the only way to be sure was to do a controlled test.  Basically, drag me in there and have me consume the offending food and see if it hurts me.  I thought this was a pretty stupid suggestion, since I had a hospital visit that should have accomplished the same thing.  [And people wonder why I don't hold doctors in the highest esteem - except for my wife and the people associated with the FSU College of Medicine who are all awesome.]

So, I guess to be correct, I have heightened sensitivity to several things.  Allergies can manifest themselves in many ways.  They can trigger outbreaks of hives.  They can cause swelling, intestinal distress, anaphylactic shock.  Fun stuff.  At the most simple, though, allergies are highly annoying.  They force you to be vigilant about food - and it makes you miss out on foods.  My worst attack ever came from some stupid cook/waitress combo at Cracker Barrel messing up my order.  My allergies (sorry, sensitivities) have different levels of severity.

EGGS: This is the big bad momma.  I used to eat eggs all the time.  In college, I made omelettes for dinner and had bacon egg and cheese biscuits about five times a week from McDonald's.  I also had unbelievably bad indigestion all the time and irritable bowels.  I never connected anything until I started having really bad attacks after eating eggs.  Vomiting, swelling up, trouble breathing.  I finally realized that a lot of the digestive trouble I had in college was actually egg problems (like in the mayo I used on every sandwich).  I finally landed in the hospital once (the aforementioned Cracker Barrel experience).  After that, I stopped eating any form of eggs - except in some baked goods.  Now, through this effort, I haven't consumed anything with eggs in it at all - since the only things I had them in I don't eat now.

NUTRASWEET: This one was the source of a lot of problems for me.  Doctors refuse to admit people have this issue.  They say that Nutrasweet is not something you can be allergic to.  My brother explained it actually is an inability to process certain amino acids correctly.  But, in middle school, I thought I was going to die.  Massive weight fluctuations, intense chest pains, stomach pains, degenerating eye sight, spasms and seizures, irregular heartbeat.  No one could diagnose anything.  Eventually I had one doctor just write me off as fabricating everything in my mind.  When we went back to tell him it was Nutrasweet, he said, "Well I'm glad you found something to blame so you could get over it."  (He wan't impressed by the book of research we had compiled on the topic, either.)  After I quit eating Nutrasweet in eighth grade, I only had it once.  The intense stomach cramps showed me I needed to avoid it.  So I haven't had it in over twenty years.

CINNAMON: This one in particular the doctor told me was not possible.  I asked him to explain how those cinnamon brooms in Publix will burn my throat and cause me to lose my voice.  He didn't know.  I know that if I have too much cinnamon in something, it will literally blister my mouth.  When I worked in Tampa, I was chewing cinnamon gum a lot, since it was the only flavor without Nutrasweet.  I kept wondering why my mouth was burned.  I tried to remember when I had scalded myself with pizza.  But it wasn't hot pizza.  It was the gum.  Every time I chewed Big Red, my mouth would literally burn.  So, I learned to avoid foods with a lot of cinnamon.  Now, it isn't an issue since most foods with cinnamon are on my "no no" list.

SHELLFISH:  This was one of the most painful ones.  I never had a problem with shellfish.  Since I never was a huge fan of standard fish, shellfish was my go-to at a seafood place.  Shrimp, crawfish, lobster, crab.  I loves all of those things.  One night I had all-you-can-eat shrimp with a friend in Gainesville and then had to drive back to Orlando.  The whole way, I was having something similar to my egg attacks.  When I asked the doctor, he said that some people have food sensitivities.  It is almost like their body can handle a certain amount of that food.  Once they hit that limit, they start to have problems.  The reactions begin small, but they get worse and worse.  Finally, they get into the really scary ones.  This is what happened with eggs with me.  He said a huge amount of one of these foods could trigger a reaction, and prematurely cause problems.  (AYCE shrimp would qualify, in case you wondered.)  In light of the egg problem, he suggested that I be proactive and avoid shellfish all together. That would mean it never got to the anaphylactic shock level - basically securing me a buffer in case of accidental exposure.  That was seven years ago, and I've maybe had three shrimps since then.

So, that is my list of allergies.  It is annoying, to be sure.  Things would have been a lot easier in changing my eating habits if I could have eggs or Nutrasweet or shellfish.  For example, I am pretty much stuck having yogurt for breakfast, since I don't have any options.  Friends of mine doing similar food plans can have egg white omelets.  Not me.  Diet soda, or even diet juice, would be a welcome change from water all the time.  But that wasn't a choice.  (Now, though, I'm glad I didn't rely on those things.  It is one less area for problems.)

In the last couple of weeks, I have begun to notice something disturbing, though.  I am worried that I am developing a sensitivity to peanuts.  Now, for those of you following this effort, you understand how devastating that it to me.  I have credited four foods for helping me get through this whole process: yogurt, chili, bbq, and peanut butter.  I eat peanuts every day.  I have a can of peanuts that I will snack on during the day.  I have trail mix with peanuts in it.  And, every night I have some sort of dessert with peanut butter.  It may be a banana with peanut butter on it.  Sometimes I melt peanut butter and dip fruit in it.  Or I will make a peanut butter yogurt dip.  I even came up with a frozen peanut butter dipped banana pop.

But, lately, when I eat peanuts or peanut butter, I have these little things I pick up on.  Sometimes my mouth will tingle.  Or my lips will feel a little swollen.  There are times when I start coughing a little, or feel like there is something stuck in my throat.  The last few days, I have even had intestinal issues.  This week, I am running a test of it.  I am not eating anything with peanuts in it.  After I am sure my body has flushed anything with peanuts, I will try something and see what happens.

I am trying to be careful and not expose myself too much to it, since I know how fast my egg sensitivity accelerated.  And peanut allergies are scary stuff.  I already am up to Epi-Pen level concern with eggs.  I don't want to get to the point where peanut dust can trigger a reaction.  This is pretty big blow, as you might imagine.  I have really come to rely on peanut products to help me get through this.  To suddenly lose one of my major supports is pretty scary.  I am going to try to make it work.  I bought a container of cashews at Sam's today.  And I found a new trail mix without peanuts in it.  I will get a jar of almond or cashew butter at the store.  But, let's face it, that is a far cry from Jif.  And it is sooo much more expensive.  Obviously, I am not going to play around with this.  It isn't worth eating peanuts and risking my life.  It is just disheartening.