Its A Family Thing

The UK summer which consists of 5% sun (including overall temperatures reaching above 10 degrees), 95% rain, hail.  Basically anything that shouldn't be in this season we all look forward to.

Unfortunately over the past few months two of my younger relatives have also developed allergies, restaurants beware when we all come for a family dinner! The eldest out of the two went into anaphylaxis one lunch break in the Cafe they were working in.  After a trip to the hospital and a referral to the allergy clinic it was confirmed allergies to certain nuts but peanuts being the main culprit. Back to uni armed with an Epi Pen,  Into a new world of excessively reading food labels, triple checking menu's and hoping allergies are not taken for a dislike to certain food; of course a worried mother left behind!

A few months later I have a text from another relative describing contact dermatitis around the eyes.  The wait for the allergy clinic would be 2 years on the NHS but with this reaction not being life threatening they are going private.  They had been suffering it for over 6 months,  I have no idea how they manged to cope with it for so long, it makes you want to peel your own skin off! I suppose being british we will put up with complaints with a stiff upper lip and all that! Daft when most of the these issues can be dealt with fuss free.

We all live near industrial areas and pollution has been blamed for many conditions over the years.    Cleaner energy, recycling and less pollution are definitely the key to better living.  I am not preaching here, I could personally do better on all of these things.  Not wasting food, making sure that everything used is recyclable.  We do recycle but the devil called convenience has become more important than a healthy lifestyle.  I am guilty of living close to my work (which would take approx 35 mins to walk) I take the car to have that time extra in bed. So far my contribution has been vegi hair dye, turning off the lights when rooms are not in use and washing clothes at 30 degrees and recycling most of our waste. even though you can develop allergies at any point in your life but deep down I know that smoking, drinking and not making the effort to have healthy meals all the time contribute heavily to the severity of my allergic reactions .  My excuse, OAS stops me from eating healthy - pathetic! Getting spoilt at work I'm lazy with food,  treating myself to hot buttered toast every morning and lunch are not healthy choices either but I will never give up the toast!!  I do not contribute to the cooking at home, I really hate this because the more I talk about it the more I am realising that I am a lazy crap head.  My husband loved to cook and my god he is good and makes nutritious meals.  Not me I do it when I am asked and it comes out of the freezer! I need to take responsibility and act my friggin age.

Hello Contact Dermatitis

  Being comfortable in the knowledge that winter would provide a nice holiday from pollen attacks, I thought my allergies would be a doddle to manage. Oh I was wrong!  My first experience of contact dermatitis was two years ago.

Every Christmas at work we have a real tree which I enjoy helping to decorate.  Nothing beats a real Christmas tree, lit with colourful lights, glittering decorations and the sweet smell of pine.  Unaware that the tree, an accomplice to my OAS would make my eyelids red raw.  Leaving sticky, weeping, sore, itchy skin. Not really the look you are going for when you are dealing with Jo Public!

A couple of days later a colleague mentioned how after listening to a radio show he had learned that there had been an increase in allergic reactions to pine, especially over Christmas.  After visiting my GP he confirmed I had contact dermatitis and pine was probably to blame.  So while the tree was around I took my antihistamine, kept away from the it and made sure I washed my hands straight away if I came into direct contact.

The worst attack of Contact dermatitis so far was a month ago, on the top half of my chest, underarm and neck. I have no idea what I reacted to.  A nightmare to control and at it's very worst I have thought "I want to peel my skin off, someone hand me a potato peeler, stat!".

Dramatic I hear you say and I agree but my god the itch is relentless.  You will scratch no matter how much determination, and self control you have.  Just to make it even more unbearable your skin has the heat of sunburn.  Covering my chest, underarms and neck, the only solution? To sit there half naked, covered in emollient and steroid cream, which I reapply constantly.

When dermatitis appears on your underarms, it's a whole different ball game.  Your armpit is lovely and warm with the addition of sweat and hair, creating an aggravated mess. Infection can set in easily.  Making it so angry and sore, knocking you sick to your stomach.

Visiting my GP, I begged for anything to make it stop.  I couldn't sleep, couldn't wear deodorant, shave my arm pits and going to work was a nightmare! Well i'm not at home and I can't sit there half naked smothered in emollient cream.  Your clothes rub and being a woman wearing a bra is the perfect agitator.

After religiously applying my creams and steroids for five long weeks, I have only two tiny spots left.        

                

Spring has sprung early

We have had another mild winter this year in the UK, spring has come early.  Fantastic, it's my favorite season however, birch and grass pollen are my nemesis! Birch pollen invades from march until June followed by grass pollen May to September.  On a walk this afternoon with my husband and pooches I was greeted by birch pollen everywhere.  So folks its confirmed the UK birch season has also started early.  Becoming a little more experienced I feel more prepared.  As soon as my skin starts to itch especially around my eyes, straight to the sink I go and wash it. Have an antihistamine and make sure I am always stocked up on my emollients and steroid creams.

All of us are different, if you have a skin condition or you think you might have, always seek advice from a professional before you go dabbling or experimenting with different products.

You don't want to go make it worse!

Lotions and Potions

I struggle with toiletries and have to buy sensitive, paraban free stuff.  I quickly realised that it is expensive and finding a product that was relatively cheap was difficult.  But I found a fantastic range that is available from most UK supermarkets and is so reasonably priced, I had a little celebration when I discovered this particular product.

Sanex Zero%

Sanex Zero% I salute you! Your product is well priced and there is a good selection of deodorants, shower gels and bubble bath.  No parabens, colourants Phthalates, phenoxyethanol, has the European Eco-Label and is biodegradable.  So for me it ticks all the boxes and have stuck to it like glue.

There are so many different creams and lotions available.  I have come to rely on a few different products.

Oilatum

 Oilatum a well known brand for dry skin conditions.  So when my skin is in dire straights this is the product I go for.  The emollient cream is lovely and cooling, mositurises your skin really well.  It has a really thick creamy consistency and you can apply a large amount and it stays put.  It has a pleasant smell even thought there is no perfume added.

The Shower gel smells lovely to and soothes the itch and keeps a conditioning barrier on my skin.  Be careful it becomes slippy underfoot, which cannot be helped but you need to take care getting out of your shower and give it a clean afterwards. The shower gel gives me a moisture boost for when i'm at work, unable to reapply emollient cream as frequently at home.

I find after using the cream and the shower gel over a period of time your skin becomes very greasy.  Overall though it is a brilliant product and don't know what I would do with out it.  I get this on prescription but it is also reasonably priced and available from supermarkets and chemists.  I even found the cream in Home Bargains, winner!

Dermol

I get Dermol antimicrobial emollients on prescription.  It is easily absorbed but effectively moisturises without leaving a greasy or oily feel to your skin.  I currently use the shower and cream emollient which can also be used as a soap alternative.  Diomed Developments  antimicrobials in Dermol products combat Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus colonisation levels are especially high in atopic skin), and consequently reduce the itchy inflammatory reaction to the bacterial superantigenic exotoxins.  

So with the added bonus of infection prevention Dermol is my all rounder,  10/10!

If you have recommendations of your own please feel free to leave a comment :)

Your allergic to fruit and veg?

OAS what is it?  

How on earth can you become allergic to healthy, nutritious food that you haven't been allergic to before? Well I had no idea before 2012 and I quickly found out most people didn't know, even general practitioners. Hay fever is a common allergy.  My sister and most of my mothers side of the family have it, including me. So most summers we spent inside with swollen eyes, itchy throats and running noses.  Having a ritual of nose spray, eye drops and antihistamine. As I got older my hay fever got easier and thought maybe that it would eventually disappear.  Wishful thinking, I would never have guessed that this common nasty would create an allergy to fruit, vegetables, nuts and spices.  I didn't really know anything about allergies.  Yes I had come across individuals who were allergic to nuts or to dairy etc but in my ignorant head I thought you were born with an allergy, that it was in your genetic make up.  I did not know that anyone of us can develop an allergy to anything, at any point in your lifetime.  

So when I developed OAS I had no idea what it was and didn't see the connection between what I was eating and why I was feeling so unwell.  Its weird, you eat fruit and veg your whole life then all of a sudden, no you can't!  I had brushed off times for example when eating melon my mouth would start to itch, nothing severe just a little bit.  With no reactions to anything else, so I must be fine?

 I'm in my early twenties and I have started to react to coleslaw, a tingling in the mouth but now I started to get little sores. Strange never had an issue with coleslaw before?  Fast forward a little to my Dads birthday and it falls on Queen Elizabeth's Jubilee.  We have a afternoon tea party in joint celebration with homemade lemonade and lots of lovely cake.  My husband and I make two fresh cream and strawberry sponge cakes in competition, I won!  Any hoo, I tuck in to this delicious strawberry cake only to end up with the biggest trout pout that would rival any celeb botched up lip enhancement you have ever seen.  Now I'm starting to think woooooooh,  this is not good, you have to do something.  But I love strawberry's, coleslaw and melon and never seem to have this issue before.  Maybe i'm getting sensitive to pesticides?



So while I'm currently being an idiot and living in my ignorant world of bliss I carry on, not eating them all the time but if a buffet or cake is going I can't resist!  Look I'm also at this point unaware that you can develop allergies so I don't want to beat myself up to badly but really looking back I should have taken more haste and bothered my GP.  When I did go and kept going back they really didn't know about OAS, It was only when I had a severe reaction to sulphites from drinking red wine and describing the  symptoms of anaphylaxis that I was referred to an allergy clinic, in July 2012 I was diagnosed with Oral Allergy Syndrome. Shocked When I found out, how much I was allergic to and for how long I had been consuming my allergens, I was relieved that I new what was making me so unwell but annoyed with myself for not taking the warning signs seriously.

So my trip to the allergy clinic was an itchy experience!  I arrived not knowing what they were going to do or if anything at all.  My name is called and I am taken to a clinic room and have my weight, height and general health information is taken.  Then off I go to see a nurse who talks about my symptoms, current allergies and he begins the skin prick test.  

At first i'm fine but then it starts.  Hives and itchy arms and a feeling very hot. The nurse told me my worst allergins were cabbage and walnut. Blood samples were also taken for IgE tesing.  I couldn't believe how many I had reacted to. With having a terrible memory I asked the nurse to jot my allergies down. 

 

Changing old habits at the beginning is hard

No longer did I have the freedom of going out to eat, picking up a ready made sandwich or just tucking into cakes without checking the ingredients first.  In the first month I did have a couple of frustration fits.  Spending so much time checking labels on sandwiches by the time I had found something to eat my lunch break was over.  On the drive back to work I cried, feeling sorry for myself.  Now I just make myself something and over time have learnt what to stay clear from. 

Eating out is a whole new experience.  After scrutinising the life out of the menu only to find there are a possible two options (if they don't put what you can't have in). When explaining to the waitress that you have allergies to a, y and z and it comes on or in your dish anyway?! You get fed up of the hassle for a while but then you bounce back.  Now I contact the restaurant before I arrive, generally this has worked really well and they are happy for you to order in advance.  No scary surprises for me  and no unexpected requests for the restaurant. Most of all I can relax and enjoy the meal. 

There are lots of people out there with allergies, a lot more severe than mine.  

The issue with OAS?  Fruit, veg, nuts and spices are also cross pollenated.  So your allergies can be made up from one, two or three pollen groups. You can develop more over time or you can in some cases be allergic to all of them.  Some OAS suffers cannot even go into a fruit and veg department in a supermarket without triggering severe reactions.

It can be quite easy to manage for some, others it can be a lot more complicated.  If your new to OAS there are certain things you can do to help.

Getting to know your cross reactors

                                                                                                                     Allergic Living

Having a good knowledge of the food groups that are related to tree, grass and weed pollens can give you a better idea of what could potentially be a issue.

    Get pollen season on your calendar

All grass, trees and weeds have a peak period when they release the most pollen.  You can find your allergies worsen and reactions become more severe.

University of Worcester

So I am continuing to keep on the look out for new allergies but so far managing them well, making sure my epi pen is to hand.  March is not far off and my allergies will go like haywire until the end of Autumn but I have my weapon antihistamine, pollen calendar, lotions and potions! 

Please feel free to share you experiences, you never know who you may help and we can all support each other.