Living with allergies can be incredibly distressing and isolating, especially when they are life threatening. I developed a few allergies during early stages of pregnancy, which started off with rashes on my neck and forehead, my Doctor was unsure what it was, so I was referred to a dermatologist and a skin biopsy was performed on my neck. The results of the biopsy confirmed it was Atopic Eczema. Seven months later, after giving birth to my baby girl, I noticed the rash was getting worse, especially when eating certain foods. I remember being at a picnic in a friend’s garden with the kids and my sister, we had a variety of snacks on display with tea and coffee. I helped myself to a few crackers and cheese sandwich biscuits, then went and got myself a milky cup of coffee. After biting into my cracker and cheese biscuit I started to choke and my chest became tight – I was struggling to breathe, I spat out the biscuits and took my asthma inhaler, still unsure of what was happening I had a sip of coffee and the same thing happened all over again but worse my tongue was tingling and I started having tummy cramps.
A few days later I booked in to see my Doctor, after explaining my situation he still wasn’t convinced that I had allergies, I was referred back to a Dermatologist, that didn’t do an allergy test but decided that I didn’t have allergies and it was all in my mind. I chose to stop having dairy among other foods that I thought were making me sick, I decided to try natural herbs, starting with Chinese remedies as well as homeopathy, which was unsuccessful. A friend told me about a private Allergist who was practicing desensitisation, by starting off with patch tests and blood work, whatever foods I was allergic to, which caused a mild allergic reactions, he would re-interduce to my body then eventually he would make up a vaccine of foods that he knew my body to cope with, that it couldn’t have before. Administering my own injection each day worked for at least three to four years, but then I started to develop more allergies and this method was no longer working for me, so I was back where I started, but worse off.
I felt lost and fed up, the fact that I was losing my hair and my skin was a complete mess, I had no confidence in myself or my doctors, and with all that I was going through, they wouldn’t accept that I have allergies. After an seeing an allergist who was able to prove I was allergic to many different foods among other things that wasn’t enough to convince them. Why? Because they didn’t recognise the allergist I was seeing and the method he was using to help me.
I decided to so some research and found private surgery Harley Street in London. The allergist examined my body and performed a blood test, the results came back within an hour with the major triggers that would eventually take my life if I continued eating them which were nuts, dairy, and all seafood. My reactions would result in problems with breathing, my entire body becoming itchy and covered with red blotches, and extreme hair loss. The blood test was £400.00, to continue doing more testing would cost a lot more money… but this wasn’t about the money, I also was seeing a dermatologist and a psychiatrist who “used psychology”, they were working as a team so each one had a different fee and my appointment for the day was to see all three specialists in one day.
Later on I had more test done, and the results of the patch test came up with
3.Multiple allergies including house dust mites, cat, dog, peanut, tree nut, cows milk, shellfish, fish, and sesame
4.Latex food syndrome
5. Contact sensitivity to rubber chemicals including thiuram, carbonic fragrances, linalool and limonene
6. Iron deficiency anaemia
7. Social restriction/depression
Come with me on this journey and I will share with you how I’m managing with my life with these crazy allergies.
Dairy Free Vegan Queen 