Glynis' posts with tag: allergies
I am allergic to................... COCKROACHES! Yes, that's right. I've been told that I should definitely avoid cockroaches because they could cause a serious reaction. A good reason NOT to go to Florida ever again. He said watch out for inner cities, large hospitals or hotels, etc. As far as everything else goes - I'm still allergic to penicillin, codeine, Bactrim, and certain spinal anesthetics...but I am not allergic to most environmental agents or foods. I do have a sensitivity to certain fish (tuna, salmon, cod) and must stay away from them (which I already knew). I also must not take ANY aspirin or ibuprofen for at least one full year. My biggest allergy issues seem to be with chemicals. My ANA antibody test - which is sometimes indicative of lupus - did come out positive. Positive with a speckled pattern. HOWEVER, it is a low positive. According to my doctor, it can often happen that these autoantibodies show up in people with other autoimmune disease besides lupus. I happen to have autoimmune thyroid disease (he said he has seen it show up in around 20% of thyroid patients). SO there is no need for me to freak out about this, I simply have to have another test in three months. There is also the possibility that this was induced by my body's reaction to the Bactrim. I had slightly low lymph levels, too. Right after that test I did come down with the nasty cold/virus that is going around. I have immunities to a whole bunch of different types of strep My body seems to have calmed down quite a lot since the last time he saw me. He told me to continue to avoid nuts as well because we may never know what I have reacted to in trail mix. It could be anything from something the dried fruit was treated/prepared with to a sensitivity that is not showing up in the blood work. Autoimmune disease can be triggered by high stress levels, which I definitely have had for the past year. Decreasing the stressors in my life is going to have to be a goal I zealously pursue. (Hmmm, zealously de-stressing - almost an oxymoron). People like me are prone to hives and avoiding autoimmune triggers is going to be my best defense. ~o~
Today's workout: 30 minutes on the stationary bike early this morning. I plan on doing more later. Yesterday's workout: 10 minutes on the stationary bike. 50 minutes of circuit training.
The Circuit-
dumbbel squat n' press 12/40
dumbbell fly on sb 20/40
side plank w/inner thigh raise 8 ea
Repeat for total of 3 sets
--1:30 bike sprint
deadlift 20/50
tricep dip 20
pike pushup 15
Repeat for total of 3 sets
--1:30 bike sprint
W-shoulder press w/leg extension 16/30
squat thrust 10
frog pushup 10
Repeat for total of 3 sets
--1:30 bike sprint
bicycle crunches 25
boat pose hold 25 seconds
Repeat for total of 3 sets
Apparently, my having autoimmune conditions and fair skin makes me very susceptible to all sorts of allergies. I am STILL really reactive!!!! He said it’s hard because the autoimmune disease can make things hang on longer. Any stress will make it worse, so it keeps feeding itself. It may take two more weeks for the redness and rash to go away. He said my back still has urticaria (fancy word for hives). You would think after almost 2 weeks my immune system would just give it a rest for Pete's sake! At least I don’t itch terribly, just your run of the mill occasional itch.
Dr, Allergy Specialist is ordering major blood tests for me. I have no idea how many vials of blood they're going to have to fill for all this. He said, “Oh, you ought to be loads of fun to treat” with a hint of irony. He's not giving up this armload of blood! I can't go give it up to the vampires for another 10 days because he wants the steroids out of my system.
Angioedema/Urticaria Panel Quantitative C1Q, C4
ANA
ESR
Recurrent Infection Screen IgG, IgA, IgM, IgE
14 panel pneumoccal IgG antibody titer
CGH50
C-ANCA, P-ANCA (anti-proteinase-3, anti myeloperoxidase) Food RAST Testing Food panel for: Histamine, almond, apple, banana, barley, string bean, beef, brazil nut, cantaloupe, carrot, cashew, celery, chicken, clam, codfish, corn,c rab, egg yok, egg white, hazelnut, lobster, milk, oat, orange, pea, peach, peanut, pork, potato, rice, rye, salmon, shrimp, soy, strawberry, tomato, tuna, walnut, wheat & yeast Nut panel: RAST to almond, Brazil nut, cashew, chocolate, coconut, hazelnut, peanut, pine nut, pistachio, sesame seed and walnut
Shellfish/Fish panel: codfish/white fish, crab, flounder, halibut, lobster, oyster/mussel, salmon, scallop, shrimp, trout and tuna
RAST for Environmental Allergies: Midwest Allergen Panel
Other Labs: CBC W I like the fact that he took everything I said very seriously. My issues with sesame seeds, cleaning pumpkins and getting a rash, all of those actually ARE problems. J It’s funny – because of my mother, I always feel “foolish” – you know, like I might be making a mountain out of a mole hill. You'd think I'd have learned by now ... every single time I've ever finally brought up something to the doctor, it's always turned out to be textbook-something-real. (Graves' Disease - waited until I was having temporary paralysis, resting heart rate of astronomical proportions, panic attacks, major hair loss, etc; gallbladder - waiting until I developed severe jaundice, etc). Also, the steroids that I stopped taking are what are making me have night sweats and feel on-edge. He said it will go away. I can’t go get those blood tests until the 24th because I have to have all of that out of my system. He asked the kids, 'Wow, your mom is never this edgy and jump, is she?" Of course they said, "No" and his experience with me on Rhianna's past appointments always showcase calm, cool, collected me. Not today - I was hot flashing like crazy, yet he said my skin was cold & clammy, I was tapping away with my toes. jitter-central.
He gave me a prescription for Allegra that he really wants me to take to get chill my system. Pepcid instead of Tagamet, he said it causes less mental stuff. He also gave me a week of samples of a stronger antihistamine to take at night, Xyzl. If I like it, they’ll mail me a mail-order prescription for my pharmacy company and then give me more samples to tide me over. I dread taking new things. (Gee, I wonder why?!) Part of me thinks, yeah, I should take something tonight like he wants me to...the other part of me says, "You're getting by without stuff, just soldier on through this." Worse comes to worse, I can just take some Benadryl - although after a few days, that starts giving me nervousness and all.
I also have Bactroban that I have to put in my nostrils twice a day for 14 days, to kill any MRSA colony that I might be harboring. I then have to wash with Dove BAR soap, not body wash. Any little nicks or anything I get shaving or spots of eczema, I have to put Bactroban on them right away. He said that if I get MRSA again and am ever hospitalized for it, he’ll be taking care of me – and he can even give me the Bactrim in diluted quantities with other stuff so that I don’t have to fear not having any antibiotics left to me. He'd just had some big discussion about MRSA with a colleague, so I benefited from that with a long discourse. He is not fond of Armour Thyroid (which I can't stop singing the praises of) – he thinks that maybe I should do Synthroid and Cytomel. It’s the whole desiccated pig/cow thyroid thing that bothers him. We shall see. I have to go back to him the first week of January to go over my labs and make a plan of action from what we find. ~o~ Yesterday I managed 45 minutes on the stationary bike and a 31 minute body-weight workout. It felt great and I was glad to do it. Unfortunately, the doctor told me today that he doesn't want me working out "hard" yet. I can workout but I can't give it all I've got or anything. It tends to be a problem with the angioedema/uticaria. What a pain this whole thing is turning out to be!
 | Snow | Dec 7, '07 5:12 PM
for everyone |
 I woke up this morning to lots and lots of snow. Instead of hitting north to the snow belt, it was hitting from where I live southward. We got a good additional four inches to add to what was already on the ground. I had to drive my daughter to a babysitting job this morning and then take myself to the doctor. The roads were horrible. I saw many cars slip-sliding away. A transit bus even went off the road and was in someone's front yard. It wasn't until 11am when I first heard plows. Of course, the public schools weren't cancelled. At the doctor today my blood pressure was unnaturally high and I was running a fever of 100.8. Fevers always make me jittery & anxious feeling. He changed me from Prednisone to Medrol (he doesn't think the ER docs gave me strong enough meds to deal with this), with decreasing dosing each day. Supposedly I will start to feel better. Supposedly... He said that my body still appears to be very "reactive" and therefore he wants me to eat as organically as possible and avoid any/all chemical food additives. If I feel worse, I am to have him paged this weekend. If I'm not better by Monday, he wants to see me back in the office. I am definitely coveting all prayers - I to be over this. Meanwhile, my dad still hasn't been released - they were doing an MRI on him at 4:30pm. If all was well, then they will allow him to be released. He's been calling me all day and having me call the nurses' station for information. His day shift nurse is not very nice. The MRI technician called and I got more information out of her than from the nurse - she was wonderful. The friend who tried to talk me into doing stuff must finally be comprehending that I'm not feeling well. She called and I was absolutely useless to give her any information she wanted. She then expressed concern about me being on the steroids. I'm really not into negativity right now. My sister sent me the most frightening link about Bactrim reactions that I just can't bear any more pessimism. ~o~ On the gate posts exiting the family that Rhianna babysat for today they had set in concrete:
You are now entering your mission field. I love that!
 Time to turn in my Superwoman cape. A woman of mystique is fully aware
of her flaws and weaknesses, yet
she is strong enough to admit them
and not be embarrassed by them.
Jean Lush I have defintely discovered that I am not invincible or indomitable. It's apparent that microorganisms like MRSA and even antigens in my own body won this round. My plans for the week have totally been ambushed by the unexpected and I've been pretty powerless to gain any sort of control. This morning I awoke to some marked improvement. I'd had to wake up at 1am and 5am to take more Benadryl, but at 9:30 I woke up and noticed I didn't itch. The hives on my arms had faded and were no longer angry and raised. Throughout the rest of the day, the other hives began to pale. Not itching is a wondrous thing. I feel like roadkill, but that's besides the point. I wasn't particularly hungry for breakfast, so I ate a couple of handfuls of Quaker Oat Squares (my favorite cereal) and within a few minutes, my face puffed up a bit and my lips became puffy. I quickly took my Benadryl, Tagamet and Prednisone then waited it out. I'm thinking that because my body is so keyed up that anything I might be slightly sensitive to, like wheat perhaps, is going to cause a stronger reaction. Those meds were able to keep any further reaction at bay and resigned myself to steer clear of anything that could be a potential trigger. My daughter got a CD of photos from the photographer so that she can choose the ones she wants printed. "Mom," says she, "It's obvious in the pictures that you were already starting to get hives - your face is puffy and red, the skin around your eyes is swollen making them look half opened." How did I not notice this on Saturday? I did - to some extent, I think, I remember complaining about it to Christine - but I thought it was lack of sleep or a new skin product or something. I also remember beginning to itch. The next couple of doses of Bactrim on Sunday must've really put me over the edge. I wrote a few days or a week ago about those yogis who can walk on hot coals without getting blisters because they learn to control their vagus nerve. I think to some extend I've figured that out. I have willed myself to stop my throat from closing up on more than one allergic occasion. I think my own adrenal juices kicked in enough to to provide the ephedrine needed to keep the airways open. Now, however, I am painfully aware that there could come a time when I can't do that - and boy, does that make me feel vulnerable. The acknowledgment of our weakness
is the first step in repairing our loss.
Thomas ã Kempis So, being the Can-Do kind of girl that I am, when I wasn't napping today, I was researching ways to combat allergies. For the next few days I'm going to clean out my system - lean meats, fruits and veggies and an occasional sweet potato. My immune system is in overdrive and I need to discover a way to calm my body down. Funny thing - once you make a decision to do that, you start craving everything you're not going to allow yourself to have. As for exercise, I'm going to use this forced hiatus to write up my next 12 week plan. I should be refreshed and energized when I get back to the gym. Refreshed, energized AND carrying around my own sanitizer. Until then, I may very well start some gentle yoga, if I can stop feeling drowsy from all these antihistamines. You cannot run away from weakness;
you must some time fight it out or
perish; and if that be so, why not now,
and where you stand?
Robert Louis Stevenson
I wasn't itching all over from head to toe. Last night I was finally able to fall asleep without a struggle. It was wonderful....until 1:00AM when I woke up itching. The back of my leg where the infection is healing was itching like crazy - and my right big toe. I got up, put some anti-itch stuff on them and willed myself to ignore the itching and go back to sleep. Woke up at 3:00AM - itching on the other big toe and the top of my head. Fell instantly back to sleep after rubbing in an anti-itch cream that had lidocaine in it. 6:00AM same thing. Fell asleep. Had to get up to drive daughter to babysitting job at 7. I have a rash everywhere.Hives. I drive daughter to job and head straight to the pharmacy where they look at me, tell me "Yep, stop taking that Bactrim and call you doctor. If you have shortness of breath use your epi-pen and get help." She hoped the Benadryl would be enough. As I'm sitting here trying to distract myself, hives are popping up on my forearms right in front of my eyes. My doctor's office doesn't open for 1/2 hour. I'm supposed to call and get a new prescription because I was still supposed to be on the Bactrim for another week. SO now we can add a new drug to my list of allergies: penicillin, coedine, morphine, unknown spinal anesthetic, cefllosporins, and now sulfa drugs. I conjecture that my extreme overload of stress this week kept my cortisol levels so high that I held the allergic reaction at bay until I finally could truly rest. My guard went down and the hives came up.
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