What are you allergic to?

[Bosh]

Used to be allergic to chocolate

Now just ragweed and cats...

[CerberusIV]

I've recently developed a reaction to dairy products. This is a real pain. I have never really had a problem with anything before and at 42 I wasn't expecting to develop one.

I can't drink cow's milk - even a small amount in a mug of tea makes me shake and feel dreadful. I ate a small piece of cheese last Tuesday evening and was off work for 3 days.

All the butter, cheese and cow's milk has been thrown out and the fridge is kind of empty - apart from a jug of soya fake milk and a tub of dairy free soya spread (which doesn't really taste of anything at all).

I'm now terrified of developing an allergy to alcohol. If that happens I think I will have to consider suicide.

[alva]

Nerofen/brufen but not a 100% certainty.

-
allergic people.

[Mr. Harley]

Dust Mites - I have to wash all my bed clothes at 140 degress farenheit. Pain in the a**, can't leave the hot water at that temperature, have a nine month old.

I'm mildly allergic to dogs, no problem with cats. My wife, the resident cat person, chortles over this. Some molds, grass, and cockroaches. Luckily those three are easy to control.

Dr. Stranglove, thanks for the nice post on allergy synergies. My allergist didn't bother to explain that, it explains why once I got control of the dust mite issue, everything else eased off.

For other posters, there is alot of popular misconception of what is an allergy, and what is a sensitivity. Allergies are specifically caused by certain over reactions of the immune system to certain substances, often protein based. Usually if an anti-allergy medication relieves the symptoms, you have an allergy.

Sensitivies are when your body has a non-immune response to various substances, which can include proteins. I am highly sensitive to copper, as I found out when I drank apple cider out of a brass mug. It had set for about two hours, and in less than thirty minutes it felt like somebody had kicked me in the gut, literally. I crawled over to a phone and called a poison control center. It's not a poison, I'm just sensitive.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by CerberusIV
I've recently developed a reaction to dairy products. This is a real pain. I have never really had a problem with anything before and at 42 I wasn't expecting to develop one.

Have you tried goats' milk? Much tastier than soy milk. And goats' milk cheese is so much better than soy substitute cheese.

Also, you might want to investigate slippery elm bark- worked for a friend of mine who was lactose intolerant. It's available at Holland and Barrett and most other independent health food stores.

[duke o' york]

I've found that a combination of two popular allergies works quite well for me.
Basically if you smoke then that will drastically reduce the effects of hay fever. Maybe this is because the smoke kills all of the pollen, but I don't know. It does work though.

Keep killing yourselves kids,
Nick O'Tine.



[edit] I've just come across another allergy I have. Speaking to answering machines! Normally I would be able to talk my way out of pretty much anything and have a vocabulary the size of Belgium, but they reduce me to a stuttering gibbering oaf. Something in the fact that you have to say something and will not get a response to whatever you say just throws me completely. [/edit]

[Cruddy]

Hypocrisy.

[General Ludd]

My relatives.

Seriously, I don't know what it is, but every time I spend a week with relatives my sinuses go crazy.

[Bas]

Tulips. If I touch them, I get all kinds of sores on my fingers after a couple of hours. Strangely enough, I didn't always have this. I used to be able to handle the flower bulbs without any problem, but they suddenly showed up and from then on I can't even touch a tulip or a tulip bulb without an allergic reaction.

[Theben]

I am highly sensitive to copper, as I found out when I drank apple cider out of a brass mug. It had set for about two hours, and in less than thirty minutes it felt like somebody had kicked me in the gut, literally. I crawled over to a phone and called a poison control center. It's not a poison, I'm just sensitive.

I've heard that certain acidic compounds will react with copper or copper alloys and create a poison for humans. FE, u can't drink orange juice out of a copper/brass vessel.

[Spec]

I'm allergic to Albert Speer and Fez.


Spec.

[Mr. Harley]

Theban, thanks. The chemistry had always disturbed me, but the poison control people said no problem. Should know to do my own research (though no WWW when it happened). Wonder if it's the copper, or other compounds in brass like tin or zinc?