As a kid, I always had a runny nose. After my mom keeping me home from school for a number of days, she decided to have me checked for allergies. I don't remember much other than having a bunch of needles prick my back. Apparently I had a huge list of allergies, including all types of trees, pollen, dust, mold, grasses and weeds, cats, dogs, and birds. And chocolate and tomatoes.
Over the past few years, I've been dealing with dry, itchy skin. My scalp, my face, my ears... I also suffered from severe chapped lips - no matter how much chapstick I applied. In September 2015, I was stung by a bee and had a reaction that warranted a trip to the doctor. She prescribed a new EpiPen and I mentioned my skin issues and asked if it could be allergies. My doctor did an in-house blood test as preliminary screening.
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| Just a few of the positive hits on my bloodwork |
When she got the results, she called me to tell me I needed to make an appointment with an allergist. And that when I saw my results, not to get overly upset - I had a LOT of positive hits. When I saw the results, I immediately emailed my friend who is a nutritionist, and asked "WTF am I supposed to eat?". She reminded me not to get too worked up until I saw the allergist.
The allergist discussed my history and thought many of the food allergies were crossed with tree and weed allergies. And she believed most of my skin issues were due to chemical allergies. However, just to be safe and determine what food allergies were real, I had over 50 food prick tests done on my arms.
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| Over 50 prick tests done for food allergies |
The results? Most of the allergies were false positives with the exception of tree nuts, raw carrots, raw apples, and white potatoes. I was a little shocked at the tree nuts - I was eating Nutella and handfulls of almonds just about every day and never thought I was having a "reaction". But the doctor told me to make sure I have my EpiPen with me at all times.
The chemical patch test followed in early February. It was a three day event that tested over 70 chemicals. I had 7 patches placed on my back on Monday afternoon. Wednesday afternoon the patches were removed and the nurse noted where I was having reactions. Friday was the follow-up with the doctor.
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| Skin patch test for sensitivity to chemicals |
The results? I'm allergic to 16 different chemicals, including lanolin and "fragrance". Most of the chemicals are in soaps, detergents, shampoos and conditioners, lotions and cosmetics. I also found out some of the chemicals are in things like Neosporin, Ben Gay, Burt's Bees, and the Enzo's Embro I use. So when my lips were really chapped, applying Burt's Bees chapstick to them was only making it worse. The doctor gave me a stack of papers to go through with the chemicals and their derivatives. I also have a "safe list" of products I can use.
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| List of chemicals that I need to avoid |
I was really surprised by the outcome of the tests - and glad I did it. It will take some time to adjust and make the changes necessary, but I'm looking forward to a less irritable life!!
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