To make a long story short, last year I went through a rough time with allergies. And when I say allergies, I mean I had chronic urticaria (or hives) on my arms and legs, I couldn't sleep because of rapid heart rate and anxiety, and my body was in a constant state of exhaustion.
After numerous trips to different doctors, I was diagnosed with some sort of allergy. However, no amount of blood tests could figure out what my hives were caused by, food or other. While the rapid heart rate, anxiety and exhaustion were just brushed aside as secondary complaints. After several courses of pain relievers, anti-histamines, steroids, cortisone cream and what have you, the latest GP I'd gone to dismissed me with, "Well, if it gets really bad again you should go to the ER". Right.
I was miserable. My body itched like crazy, I had huge angry red welts all over my body, my heart felt like it was going to explode out of my body, there were times I could barely stand up, I was tired, depressed and felt entirely misunderstood by the medical profession.
My last attempt was a food allergy specialist. She gave me hope by saying that I'd probably caught a bad virus and the side effects were probably related to my body's heightened sensitivity to foods containing histamine. I know, that's a lot of probably's. I looked at the food allergy specialist for more details on what I could do, how I could beat this. But all I got was a prescription for yet more anti-histamines and a list of foods I should avoid for the time being: cured meats, fermented cheese, seafood, fish and alcohol. Apparently, it was something I had to learn to live with because it was unpredictable.
And that was it. It was a dark time for me because I didn't understand my condition. I eliminated the foods on the specialist's what not to eat list, but it seemed that everything I ate triggered the hives and the accompanying rapid heart rate, anxiety, bloating, stomach ache and exhaustion. Feeling more and more desperate, I continued the anti-histamine and cortisone route for three more months until I just couldn't take it anymore.
Enter my own research. And masses of it. It was what calmed me, psychologically at least. It made me feel like I could at some point have some kind of control over my body. The more I learned, the more I started to believe that I could get better. That I could feel like myself again.
And that was how it all started.
xoxo
Honey Bee
(I am by no means an expert so this advice is purely informational)
After numerous trips to different doctors, I was diagnosed with some sort of allergy. However, no amount of blood tests could figure out what my hives were caused by, food or other. While the rapid heart rate, anxiety and exhaustion were just brushed aside as secondary complaints. After several courses of pain relievers, anti-histamines, steroids, cortisone cream and what have you, the latest GP I'd gone to dismissed me with, "Well, if it gets really bad again you should go to the ER". Right.
I was miserable. My body itched like crazy, I had huge angry red welts all over my body, my heart felt like it was going to explode out of my body, there were times I could barely stand up, I was tired, depressed and felt entirely misunderstood by the medical profession.
My last attempt was a food allergy specialist. She gave me hope by saying that I'd probably caught a bad virus and the side effects were probably related to my body's heightened sensitivity to foods containing histamine. I know, that's a lot of probably's. I looked at the food allergy specialist for more details on what I could do, how I could beat this. But all I got was a prescription for yet more anti-histamines and a list of foods I should avoid for the time being: cured meats, fermented cheese, seafood, fish and alcohol. Apparently, it was something I had to learn to live with because it was unpredictable.
And that was it. It was a dark time for me because I didn't understand my condition. I eliminated the foods on the specialist's what not to eat list, but it seemed that everything I ate triggered the hives and the accompanying rapid heart rate, anxiety, bloating, stomach ache and exhaustion. Feeling more and more desperate, I continued the anti-histamine and cortisone route for three more months until I just couldn't take it anymore.
Enter my own research. And masses of it. It was what calmed me, psychologically at least. It made me feel like I could at some point have some kind of control over my body. The more I learned, the more I started to believe that I could get better. That I could feel like myself again.
And that was how it all started.
xoxo
Honey Bee
(I am by no means an expert so this advice is purely informational)
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