allergist

So I've been meaning to update recently, but have been distracted by real life stuff. What is it about life interrupting? ;)

The reason I wanted to update at first was because it was my two year anniversary of my diagnosis. It's around the New Year, so it's a handy thing to remember and mark. It's like the ultimate New Year's Resolution--a complete and utter change to the way you eat. And the way that I look at food.

It's completely true to say things that way too--I've basically become a foodie without really meaning to. I can talk food with real foodies--I spent the morning discussing gastropubs and the latest fads in food (does everything need to be garnished with bacon? I like it, but still! You take vegetarian dishes and un-vegetarianize them!)

It's also a mark for me this year of some big things. First off, a bit of de-vegetarianizing for me (yes, i made that word up and then proceeded to use it twice). I absolutely cannot have beef or chicken, but I'm anticipating some travel here--you may have seen that in the last post! Six weeks in Jamaica and twoish weeks after that in the UK. It greatly opens up possibilities to eat things like sausage and bacon. Also, in Jamaica--goat. It has to be a gradual process because my body no longer produces those enzymes and will have to relearn them. When I've eaten meat, it sits in my stomach--the enzymes aren't there to digest it. So a gradual readdition of some meat to my diet. It'll be temporary because when I'm back in the US, things are a little easier.

The other reason why I had held off posting with the New Year is because I knew I was going to see my allergist today. I didn't know what the outcome was but it is so interesting to talk to another physician on the same level, despite being a patient. He tried to convince me to go into allergy and I will not deny that I find it fascinating (for rather obvious reasons) but we did get down to brass tacks after a bit.

It breaks down to the fact that I was (apparently--and maybe that should be am, in the present tense) a genetic time bomb--my allergies were there and just needed enough exposure to be a problem. It's very common in women in their early twenties, apparently. It's also very much a matter of cross reactivity--I'd had so many seasons of doing fine, but then as another spring and fall passed, things started getting worse. Thus the time bomb analogy. It's also why they've been getting worse recently--more seasons have passed.

It was an interesting thought and it leads to some more interesting things to ponder. Which I will get to.

It was also funny to put more of the puzzle together--I knew that I couldn't eat beef or chicken and was told it was because of the moldy grains that they eat. It's also the reason why I can't eat a good number of grains myself--the molds. However, if you think that through, chickens eat corn. I'm not allergic to corn and it is, in fact a major staple of my diet. I am allergic to the grass smut that grows on the corn. Ta da! Answer for that. Also, allergy to chicken means allergy to eggs.

Mostly I'm allergic to summer grasses and fall weeds, with a healthy addition of molds to cover everything else. It's all cross-reactivity, which is the hot new topic in allergy research.

The good news is that there are ways to band-aid cover my allergies and worsening food reactions for now. Key being 'for now.' The ultimate end to all of this is desensitization or allergy shots, in the common vernacular. Which I have to say I saw coming and was in denial. Maybe not so much denial but in the can't wrap my head around the logistics of that right now so I'm ignoring it. The other thing about all of this is that because I've passed two years since my allergy testing, and the eight seasons that go along with that, I have to be retested before doing desensitization, to make sure it's done properly.

So there was both good and bad news, but I ultimately so enjoyed the conversation with my allergist and the frankness of the way that we can talk physician to physician, it's all good for now. Plus I flat out told him--I can't do desensitization right now. There are so many reasons starting with insurance and ending with I don't have time now. It would be of great benefit to be able to freely eat as I travel, but desensitization is a years long process so there's no benefit to starting before I go anywhere this spring. Plus there's other things going on in the next few months that mean desensitization is far from my mind.

In the meantime, adding some new medications and trying to patch things through here for a bit.