Well its a "Happy Day After Your Reaction" for me today.
First, I woke up after a solid 12 hours of dead sleep. I missed most of the morning due to that, and still feel like I was hit by a truck.
Since I'd missed several hours in which I could have been productive, I quickly got up and just as quickly crawled back in bed. It has been a while since I've had this severe of an allergic reaction and I forgot just how much "quick action" does not agree with my body during the reaction detox.
My quick get-up left me dizzy. So dizzy that I started seeing spots. I crawled back in bed to wait out the dizzy spell. It didn't take long, and so I again attempted getting out of bed, this time taking it slower. Success.
An hour later, after downing about 32 ounces of water and a high carb easily digestible snack (also known as my allergy-free fudge made entirely of cane sugar, gelatin, special margarine and dark baking chocolate), I got up the energy to make lunch.
Since I'd put off going to the grocery store for a week due to the whole Thanksgiving madness, lunch required going to the grocery store.
I go to put on my "suitable for public" clothes, and find things still aren't fitting right. I'm still a bit swollen from last night's reaction. So I find a few of my fat clothes that I keep around entirely for these days. As if missing most of my morning wasn't depressing enough, having to now put on my fat-clothes was not improving the outlook.
I throw a potato into the oven to bake while I grab my keys and run up the flight of stairs to my car. By run I mean climb at my normal pace, not that it mattered much. I arrived at the top of the flight of stairs, a section of stairs I do often without issue, breathing so heavily you'd think I'd just finished jogging a four minute mile. Again, I'd forgotten to take things extra slow today so I spent the next 20 minutes feeling like I was breathing through a straw with my head pounding.
I stop for a minute to toss a small bag of trash in the dumpster. I give it a good toss to get it over the edge of the dumpster. Once tossed, my arm tingles and I start cussing to myself.
"Is there anything that I can do today that won't make me feel like I'm attempting to climb Mount Everest?"
The arm tingling continues and parts of my hips and thighs join in for good measure. It's that numb-painful-tingling that you get when you're exercising too hard and your body wants you to stop it. (or its possible that's just me, I looked for articles about tingling with exercise and only found things about fibromyalgia which btw is often also relieved with allergy-free diets.)
So I do manage to get to the store, and most of the rest of the day goes better. I just forget that I have to take things slow on days like this. It's helping though that as the day progresses the more stiff my muscles get which in itself inhibits quick movement. Standing up currently feels like torture, and don't even get me started on the pain of walking. I'm also coughing up stuff, and the mirror tells me I look like the walking dead.
I've been so spoiled the last few weeks and I realized that today. I managed to eat quite a few things the last few weeks and still go for walks and exercise without feeling like I'm risking a heart attack or other personal injury due to fainting or breathing issues. It's been good.
I can only hope that tomorrow will be better, and I'll be back to normal soon.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Reflux, Nausea, Edema - Just par for the course of food allergies
I'm having new versions of the same old adventures, and attempting to relearn my own body right now.
Nearly 2 years ago, I started getting AAT treatments to alieviate my food allergies. It didn't work, or at least it didn't seem to do much of anything as I spent the last part of last year and nearly all of this year with the same if not worse food allergy concerns.
Then about a month ago, I suddenly became able to eat some foods that would have been previously dangerous. Then more foods, and more foods. Once in a while a food adventure would cause a reaction, but never the foods I thought would cause a problem.
It was craziness trying to predict what would or would not cause me problems. Even typing this out, I feel like a crazy person.
Prior to AAT, I knew darn good and well to what I was and was not allergic. It was predictable, guaranteed reactions. After AAT, everything became a crapshoot for a while, then nothing was safe, and for a few days recently I wondered if I was allergic to anything anymore.
Confused yet? So was/am I.
I've figured out a few things.
I still can't eat carrots. Don't even ask me to. You know those scenes in comedy movies where the person accidentally ingests laxatives and just barely makes it to the toilet before exploding. Yeah, its kinda like that.
I still can't eat squash. I still can't keep it down. I can't even pretend to keep it down. As quick as I swallow is how quick it returns to the surface. Pretty, I know.
I haven't tried real hard, but pretty sure cruciferous veggies are still a no-go. I had a bite of broccoli about a week or so ago. Despite the fact that while chewing it it tasted reminiscent of dirt (yes I've tasted dirt. What tomboy from the midwest rural areas worth her salt hasn't tasted dirt?), it sat in my stomach like lead for hours.
But what's really getting me right now are onions. Thursday night I ate some Tomato Basil soup which had chunks of onion (unbelieable to me as it's a puree soup, so they had to have added the chunks after they pureed the soup defeating the whole purpose of puree). I ended being up for the next 5 hours with reflux, burping, and swelling/edema. Even though I'd eaten other things after the soup, still I burped only the taste of that soup. Yay, benadryl to the rescue.
Tonight, I tried some Indian food. It was pretty good, but I immediately started feeling bloated. You know that feeling you get after Thanksgiving dinner when you've eaten way too much, your jeans are too tight and you want to unbutton them, and you feel just a little nauseous.
By the time I got home, I was full-fledged swollen with cankles and swollen fingers to the point where movement was restricted. My joints hurt, actually it was more of a throbbing pain as if I could actually feel the blood pulsing through and around my joints.
Then the reflux and burping started. Flavor? Curried Onion. Lovely.
5 hours later? Still burping curried onion.
Hopefully this next dose of benadryl takes care of that so I can get some sleep.
Nearly 2 years ago, I started getting AAT treatments to alieviate my food allergies. It didn't work, or at least it didn't seem to do much of anything as I spent the last part of last year and nearly all of this year with the same if not worse food allergy concerns.
Then about a month ago, I suddenly became able to eat some foods that would have been previously dangerous. Then more foods, and more foods. Once in a while a food adventure would cause a reaction, but never the foods I thought would cause a problem.
It was craziness trying to predict what would or would not cause me problems. Even typing this out, I feel like a crazy person.
Prior to AAT, I knew darn good and well to what I was and was not allergic. It was predictable, guaranteed reactions. After AAT, everything became a crapshoot for a while, then nothing was safe, and for a few days recently I wondered if I was allergic to anything anymore.
Confused yet? So was/am I.
I've figured out a few things.
I still can't eat carrots. Don't even ask me to. You know those scenes in comedy movies where the person accidentally ingests laxatives and just barely makes it to the toilet before exploding. Yeah, its kinda like that.
I still can't eat squash. I still can't keep it down. I can't even pretend to keep it down. As quick as I swallow is how quick it returns to the surface. Pretty, I know.
I haven't tried real hard, but pretty sure cruciferous veggies are still a no-go. I had a bite of broccoli about a week or so ago. Despite the fact that while chewing it it tasted reminiscent of dirt (yes I've tasted dirt. What tomboy from the midwest rural areas worth her salt hasn't tasted dirt?), it sat in my stomach like lead for hours.
But what's really getting me right now are onions. Thursday night I ate some Tomato Basil soup which had chunks of onion (unbelieable to me as it's a puree soup, so they had to have added the chunks after they pureed the soup defeating the whole purpose of puree). I ended being up for the next 5 hours with reflux, burping, and swelling/edema. Even though I'd eaten other things after the soup, still I burped only the taste of that soup. Yay, benadryl to the rescue.
Tonight, I tried some Indian food. It was pretty good, but I immediately started feeling bloated. You know that feeling you get after Thanksgiving dinner when you've eaten way too much, your jeans are too tight and you want to unbutton them, and you feel just a little nauseous.
By the time I got home, I was full-fledged swollen with cankles and swollen fingers to the point where movement was restricted. My joints hurt, actually it was more of a throbbing pain as if I could actually feel the blood pulsing through and around my joints.
Then the reflux and burping started. Flavor? Curried Onion. Lovely.
5 hours later? Still burping curried onion.
Hopefully this next dose of benadryl takes care of that so I can get some sleep.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Removing allergens does not equal malnutrition
Once in a while there's an article or newscast that puts a bee in my bonnet. A week or so ago there was such a newcast by ABC's Nightline which it highlighted gluten-free as a fad and dangerous to people who do not need to avoid it for medical reasons. (So seriously untrue it's laughable.)
I'm not gluten-free and couldn't go gluten-free healthily as I am personally allergic or intolerent to 99% of the gluten-free carb sources. I am however well versed in the healthiness of limited diets, myself having survived quite well for 2 yrs simply eating bison, tomatoes, wheat, basil, oregano, sea salt, lettuce, safflower oil, palm oil, fresh berries (strawberry, blackberry, raspberry), fresh pomegranates, grape juice, the occaisional molasses or cane sugar, occaisional potato or artichoke, and dark milk-free chocolate.
Don't get me wrong though, I am not an advocate that everyone needs to be on such a limited diet, or that severely limited diets are healthy in the long run. I will attest though that my severely limited diet was at the time the healthiest diet for me as veering off that path would get me severely sick.
What I do want to talk about is this notion that removing any one food from a person's diet is unhealthy. If you've lived for any length of time, you've seen the recommended diet for "healthy" change from "eggs are evil, avoid eggs" to "milk is evil" to "fat is evil, avoid all fat" to "sugar is evil, avoid all sugar". In the USA, we've become a nation of fad-like food removal, so it seems mind-boggling to me that when it comes to food allergies or intolerances that there are "experts" out there still preaching that avoiding a certain food will leave you malnutritioned, and some that will go so far as to advise people to eat an allergen. (yes, I've met them.)
A couple of the points made in the Nightline report was that gluten-free was unhealthy because it was low in fiber, and notorious for causing vitamin B deficientcy.
I'm not sure on the notorious for Vitamin B deficientcy. The only cases of Vitamin B deficientcy I've personally heard of were from people who actually had Celiac in which absorbtion of vitamins and minerals is part of the condition itself. I do know that B12 is a problem for vegans and vegetarians, as it is only naturally available in meat products.
The "expert" on Nightline was agast that these gluten-free eaters were not getting the added vitamins and minerals in wheat products (mostly vitamin B). Oh no! It's a sad world when the "experts" are convinced that the only way to get our vitamins is through adding into our foods synthetically. However did we manage to live all these thousands of years? Oh wait, its because most of these vitamins and minerals are naturally present in our other foods. Amazing!
The added vitamins to wheat products are Riboflavin, Iron, Niacin, Thiamine (see chart on processed wheat products with added nutrients VS whole grain wheat)
Riboflavin sources (Funny enough all are gluten-free)
Iron Sources (Also, all gluten-free)
Niacin Sources (also, all gluten-free)
Thiamin Sources (also, all gluten-free)
As for all the other nutrients in gluten-foods, there are plenty of alternate sources for those as well.
Now lets talk about this fiber issue. Enriched products that he seemed agast that gluten-free people weren't eating, do not have much of any fiber. The fiber and most of the nutrients is stripped away during processing which is why they add those nutrients back in.
Most of our dietary fiber is not coming from gluten or shouldn't be. There really isn't much fiber in our breads, our hamburger buns, or our cookies, which is what gluten-free diets cut out.
Instead, most gluten-free diets replace those processed breads with beans, fresh fruit, fresh veggies. As such most gluten-free eaters actually end up getting much more fiber in their diet than their average American diet counterpart.
Somewhere along the way, we've forgotten to educate ourselves on exactly what foods are bringing to our table. The nutrients are all there, in many different sources.
Avoiding any one food isn't harmful. Being ignorant about it is.
I'm not gluten-free and couldn't go gluten-free healthily as I am personally allergic or intolerent to 99% of the gluten-free carb sources. I am however well versed in the healthiness of limited diets, myself having survived quite well for 2 yrs simply eating bison, tomatoes, wheat, basil, oregano, sea salt, lettuce, safflower oil, palm oil, fresh berries (strawberry, blackberry, raspberry), fresh pomegranates, grape juice, the occaisional molasses or cane sugar, occaisional potato or artichoke, and dark milk-free chocolate.
Don't get me wrong though, I am not an advocate that everyone needs to be on such a limited diet, or that severely limited diets are healthy in the long run. I will attest though that my severely limited diet was at the time the healthiest diet for me as veering off that path would get me severely sick.
What I do want to talk about is this notion that removing any one food from a person's diet is unhealthy. If you've lived for any length of time, you've seen the recommended diet for "healthy" change from "eggs are evil, avoid eggs" to "milk is evil" to "fat is evil, avoid all fat" to "sugar is evil, avoid all sugar". In the USA, we've become a nation of fad-like food removal, so it seems mind-boggling to me that when it comes to food allergies or intolerances that there are "experts" out there still preaching that avoiding a certain food will leave you malnutritioned, and some that will go so far as to advise people to eat an allergen. (yes, I've met them.)
A couple of the points made in the Nightline report was that gluten-free was unhealthy because it was low in fiber, and notorious for causing vitamin B deficientcy.
I'm not sure on the notorious for Vitamin B deficientcy. The only cases of Vitamin B deficientcy I've personally heard of were from people who actually had Celiac in which absorbtion of vitamins and minerals is part of the condition itself. I do know that B12 is a problem for vegans and vegetarians, as it is only naturally available in meat products.
The "expert" on Nightline was agast that these gluten-free eaters were not getting the added vitamins and minerals in wheat products (mostly vitamin B). Oh no! It's a sad world when the "experts" are convinced that the only way to get our vitamins is through adding into our foods synthetically. However did we manage to live all these thousands of years? Oh wait, its because most of these vitamins and minerals are naturally present in our other foods. Amazing!
The added vitamins to wheat products are Riboflavin, Iron, Niacin, Thiamine (see chart on processed wheat products with added nutrients VS whole grain wheat)
Riboflavin sources (Funny enough all are gluten-free)
Iron Sources (Also, all gluten-free)
Niacin Sources (also, all gluten-free)
Thiamin Sources (also, all gluten-free)
As for all the other nutrients in gluten-foods, there are plenty of alternate sources for those as well.
Now lets talk about this fiber issue. Enriched products that he seemed agast that gluten-free people weren't eating, do not have much of any fiber. The fiber and most of the nutrients is stripped away during processing which is why they add those nutrients back in.
Most of our dietary fiber is not coming from gluten or shouldn't be. There really isn't much fiber in our breads, our hamburger buns, or our cookies, which is what gluten-free diets cut out.
Instead, most gluten-free diets replace those processed breads with beans, fresh fruit, fresh veggies. As such most gluten-free eaters actually end up getting much more fiber in their diet than their average American diet counterpart.
Somewhere along the way, we've forgotten to educate ourselves on exactly what foods are bringing to our table. The nutrients are all there, in many different sources.
Avoiding any one food isn't harmful. Being ignorant about it is.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Hostile work environments not uncommon for people with food allergies
This honestly is a perfect example of a day in the life of someone allergic. I just got off the phone with a friend of mine who is upset, and doesn't know what to do about it.
She has a job, and she's good at it. She works hard, pulls her weight, and will help out others if they need it. I know from having worked with her myself that she's a great co-worker.
She just has one little idiocyncrasy. She's violently allergic to cinnamon. Just a small dose of it can send her to the ER. Just a touch of it in the air can cause her to be unable to function like a normal human being (comparable to someone having smoked way too much weed). In both cases, her detox symptoms, symptoms of her body healing from a reaction, include irrational thought, panic attacks, paranoia, and anti-social behaviors. The more severe the reaction; the more severe the detox symptoms.
Since cinnamon is in a lot of places from candles, airfresheners, and foods cooking, she takes anti-anxiety meds daily as a preventative measure. She also carries benadryl with her 24/7.
She does her part to stay safe, but she has to work. She works in an office. Office environments should be simple enough to work in without food problems. McDonald's, or restaurants, it'd be pretty impossible to avoid foods, but in an office working with computers and papers, it should be really easy to make it a safe environment for food allergies.
The Americans with Disablities Act (ADA) has put in steps to ensure that people like my friend can find and keep jobs despite any extra steps the company may have to take. It ensures her right to work at any job that can reasonably accomodate her. (AKA she won't be able to get a job at Cinnabon, but in an office pushing papers is totally manageable.)
All the company has to do is make a policy of no food near her workspace, and enforce it.
Unfortunately, her company is not very good at enforcing. They have made it known (not very well) that there is to be no scented anything on her floor (people kept bringing in cinnamon scented candles and airfresheners), and that there is to be no cinnamon things on the floor when she's present.
Her co-workers are seeing it as an infringment of their rights, and rebel against her. Since she is not management, they also see it as her being attention seeking and usurping authority.
She just doesn't want to go the the ER, or get sick.
If she goes to the boss and complains, its tattle taling. If she speaks out on her own to her co-workers, its usurping and who is she to tell them what to do? The policy itself gives her special treatment and they resent her.
Today she called upset because she's detoxing from yesterday's office debacle. One of her co-workers had brought in a cinnamon cheesecake to share with the office, and everyone was eating it around her.
She could smell the cinnamon in the air, and started to feel the reaction starting. She took benadryl, and asked them if they could finish the cheesecake outside or remove it from the premises. They refused.
Tired of battling with them and scared of a possible ER visit, she went down to the Employee Relations office and reported the incident as a violation of the ADA. The Employee Relations personnel then went and told her co-workers they couldn't eat the cheesecake in the office.
Her co-workers put the cheesecake away.
Simple easy success right?
No. The minute the Employee Relations personnel left, they took the cheesecake back out.
If this was merely someone complaining that they didn't like something, or was trying to ruin people's fun, it'd be more understandable.
But these people are playing with someone's life. It's not fair, its not safe, and it's not sane.
It's getting to the point, that unless it becomes a fireable offense and a well publicised as a fireable offense, people will continue to have no reguard for other peoples lives.
She has a job, and she's good at it. She works hard, pulls her weight, and will help out others if they need it. I know from having worked with her myself that she's a great co-worker.
She just has one little idiocyncrasy. She's violently allergic to cinnamon. Just a small dose of it can send her to the ER. Just a touch of it in the air can cause her to be unable to function like a normal human being (comparable to someone having smoked way too much weed). In both cases, her detox symptoms, symptoms of her body healing from a reaction, include irrational thought, panic attacks, paranoia, and anti-social behaviors. The more severe the reaction; the more severe the detox symptoms.
Since cinnamon is in a lot of places from candles, airfresheners, and foods cooking, she takes anti-anxiety meds daily as a preventative measure. She also carries benadryl with her 24/7.
She does her part to stay safe, but she has to work. She works in an office. Office environments should be simple enough to work in without food problems. McDonald's, or restaurants, it'd be pretty impossible to avoid foods, but in an office working with computers and papers, it should be really easy to make it a safe environment for food allergies.
The Americans with Disablities Act (ADA) has put in steps to ensure that people like my friend can find and keep jobs despite any extra steps the company may have to take. It ensures her right to work at any job that can reasonably accomodate her. (AKA she won't be able to get a job at Cinnabon, but in an office pushing papers is totally manageable.)
All the company has to do is make a policy of no food near her workspace, and enforce it.
Unfortunately, her company is not very good at enforcing. They have made it known (not very well) that there is to be no scented anything on her floor (people kept bringing in cinnamon scented candles and airfresheners), and that there is to be no cinnamon things on the floor when she's present.
Her co-workers are seeing it as an infringment of their rights, and rebel against her. Since she is not management, they also see it as her being attention seeking and usurping authority.
She just doesn't want to go the the ER, or get sick.
If she goes to the boss and complains, its tattle taling. If she speaks out on her own to her co-workers, its usurping and who is she to tell them what to do? The policy itself gives her special treatment and they resent her.
Today she called upset because she's detoxing from yesterday's office debacle. One of her co-workers had brought in a cinnamon cheesecake to share with the office, and everyone was eating it around her.
She could smell the cinnamon in the air, and started to feel the reaction starting. She took benadryl, and asked them if they could finish the cheesecake outside or remove it from the premises. They refused.
Tired of battling with them and scared of a possible ER visit, she went down to the Employee Relations office and reported the incident as a violation of the ADA. The Employee Relations personnel then went and told her co-workers they couldn't eat the cheesecake in the office.
Her co-workers put the cheesecake away.
Simple easy success right?
No. The minute the Employee Relations personnel left, they took the cheesecake back out.
If this was merely someone complaining that they didn't like something, or was trying to ruin people's fun, it'd be more understandable.
But these people are playing with someone's life. It's not fair, its not safe, and it's not sane.
It's getting to the point, that unless it becomes a fireable offense and a well publicised as a fireable offense, people will continue to have no reguard for other peoples lives.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Limb Sleeping, numbness, and allergic reactions.
Dear Body,
I'd like to have my leg back please. While this numb and unfeeling sensation is fun now then, it stopped being fun about an hour ago.
I no longer appreciate your sense of humor. So please, May I have my leg back now?
Sincerely,
Me
I've gone to the doctor for this a couple times now. I've been poked and prodded. I've had labs run. He didn't do ultrasound or xrays, but basically told me I'd be ok. It's only one little section of my leg on the outside of my thigh, and as much as I've searched online I've found absolutely no articles on numbness in that area. So I figure no one has died from it.
I haven't persued it with doctors very hard. Mostly because it doesn't feel life threatening, and I've found a system to its madness.
You see.. it only happens when I've eaten something I shouldn't have and usually hours later.
I've theorized that its probably my colon swelling up as the food passes through it and pressing on the nerve that gives sensation to that part of my leg. I got out anatomy charts and neurological charts, and it seems that the nerves and blood distribution for that section of the body start within the pelvic region, roughly the same area as the large colon.
It usually goes away in a couple hours. It's only mildly painful and more of a tingly pain. Similar to your leg or foot going to "sleep" if you sit in the wrong position for too long. The skin in the area of leg that's affected is slightly cooler to the touch than my other skin. It hasn't ever turned blue or anything severe looking. Just mild discomfort and a sensation that makes me wonder if I'd feel it if I stabbed myself in the leg.
Just another day in the life of food allergies.
See Also: Meralgia Paraethetica
I'd like to have my leg back please. While this numb and unfeeling sensation is fun now then, it stopped being fun about an hour ago.
I no longer appreciate your sense of humor. So please, May I have my leg back now?
Sincerely,
Me
I've gone to the doctor for this a couple times now. I've been poked and prodded. I've had labs run. He didn't do ultrasound or xrays, but basically told me I'd be ok. It's only one little section of my leg on the outside of my thigh, and as much as I've searched online I've found absolutely no articles on numbness in that area. So I figure no one has died from it.
I haven't persued it with doctors very hard. Mostly because it doesn't feel life threatening, and I've found a system to its madness.
You see.. it only happens when I've eaten something I shouldn't have and usually hours later.
I've theorized that its probably my colon swelling up as the food passes through it and pressing on the nerve that gives sensation to that part of my leg. I got out anatomy charts and neurological charts, and it seems that the nerves and blood distribution for that section of the body start within the pelvic region, roughly the same area as the large colon.
It usually goes away in a couple hours. It's only mildly painful and more of a tingly pain. Similar to your leg or foot going to "sleep" if you sit in the wrong position for too long. The skin in the area of leg that's affected is slightly cooler to the touch than my other skin. It hasn't ever turned blue or anything severe looking. Just mild discomfort and a sensation that makes me wonder if I'd feel it if I stabbed myself in the leg.
Just another day in the life of food allergies.
See Also: Meralgia Paraethetica
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)