Allergy Update July 1, 2011

I think it's about time to give a little update on how I am doing with my allergies.

Overall, I feel like I am doing well. I still have (what I think are) issues from tomatoes off and on (presenting in a "there's something in my throat" feeling, heartburn, and gut pain/burning), but I find I can have a tomato-containing meal and not suffer many repercussions as long as I don't repeatedly eat them the next few days.

I am doing a Gluten-light sort of avoidance diet as well. I don't have immediate responses to gluten, like those with Celiac disease might have.  However, it tends to back me up over time if I eat it every day(or multiple times a day) and my guts tend to ache for a week until I quit eating it regularly.

I am taking my multivitamin, an acidophilus supplement (and eating yogurt or drinking kefir most days) and trying to eat a diet as close to whole foods as possible with minimal additives.  I also take fish oil. I have read that it is supposed to be helpful for reducing inflammation, and it's generally good for me since I don't eat much fish.  Interestingly, as a side note, I find I don't get those gross "fishy burps" when I take it with a meal including a leafy salad. Go figure, but it works.



As far as environmental allergies/hayfever, I find that I am no longer the guinea pig to determine when things start pollinating. Other people complain of their allergies long before it bothers me. I do take a Claritin or a Zyrtec ever so often (and may start doing to more regularly leading up to August, my worst allergy month in the past), but---get this---the meds actually *do* something now, where before they would  hardly touch the allergy stuff! Woo-hoo!

I can't say I am 100% cured, but then the Advanced Allergy Therapeutics and the BioAllergenix systems used to treat me are man-made and have their limitations. They can't catch every single thing out there I am allergic to, isolate it, treat me for it AND me successfully avoid it for the allotted time (those pollens and molds are a trick to avoid!). Or maybe they could over time, but there comes a point when one is weary of trying to figure it out and finds contentment where they are.

I am still happy with the outcome of my treatments.  I may go in for a chiro visit in the near future, but at the moment I can't think of anything to get myself tested treated for in the allergy realm...which is a good thing.

From AAT to Allergenix

It has been awhile since I have posted about my allergy treatments. My apologies! I have been busy finishing reading The Unhealthy Truth, planting the garden, and taking care of the kids full-time now that they are out of school. :)

My last allergy I had treated was Cat Dander. I was warned that this one very often has trouble holding. I'm not sure whether it held or not, but the cats aren't driving me nuts so maybe...


As I have mentioned earlier in my blogging, my AAT doc was getting the Allergenix system and I have started on that. It is a flat fee for the year to do the Allergenix, and I think I would have spent that flat fee on doing the rest of my allergens through AAT, especially if I had to have some treated more than once. So, last week I had the first Allergenix testing done, along with one treatment, and I went in on Tuesday this week and had the next treatment done.

So, just letting my readers know that I have switched over to Allergenix. If I am having some difficulty still, and we can't find it on the Allergenix system, I can hop over to the AAT system and pull up individual allergens and do the strength testing and treat them that way. From what I understand, the Allergenix system doesn't allow the user to do that.

More about Allergenix later! :)

AAT- Flowers

At my most recent AAT appointment, I had Flowers treated. Let me just say, mowing the lawn today was a much more pleasant experience than it has been for some time!(Ever???) And to actually be able to SMELL the freshly cut grass (and dandelions and weeds...) and not start with the itchy throat and sneezing?!? Mmmmmmm..... I did have some mild congestion and very mild palate itching by the time I was done mowing for about an hour, but NOTHING NEAR what my experience has been in the past.

My AAT doc is getting the Allergenix system in the very near future, and I am looking forward to being able to see all of my allergens on one page(I hope!) and to not use up so much time with the strength testing. Having a list will really help me to prioritize which allergens to have treated in what order, and to better decide when I am satisfied enough to be done. :)

In what I have observed in myself, I think these will be the next things I will have treated:

Coconut-this is currently the hardest thing for me to avoid, though not nearly as difficult to avoid as corn. It is in soaps, shampoos and lotions, as well as being a popular ingredient in many food items---read: palm oil.

Nightshades-tomato, peppers, potato, eggplant, etc. I miss real pizza and spaghetti and salsa!

Garlic-along with Asparagus, which I had on Sunday and reacted to with slight nausea, a hot/flushed feeling and stomach pains and had work through my system with the symptom of my back and legs itching a lot the last few days. :-/ I could do with avoiding Asparagus, but I sure do miss my garlic!

And the following that don't always bother me/may have already been taken care of:
Celery, Cauliflower, Berries(that I eat off and on-I think it is the Rose family ones that get me if I overindulge), Nuts, Stone Fruits



In trying to decipher what exactly it was that bothered me on Sunday, I had my doc run through the food suspects and came up with the Asparagus as what I am allergic to. I had him check me for garlic(allergic), onion(not allergic and have been eating w/no ill results), mushroom(not allergic! so I have added it back in and feel fine with it) and nightshades(allergic).


Here's looking forward to my visit next week and I am hoping they have the Allergenix system up and running by then!

AAT-Tree Pollen

Yesterday I went to my AAT appointment with hopes that my Wheat/Grains have been holding. It is(yeah!) so we moved on to some other things.

The doc tested me for heavy metals, which I had done some reading on in the last week or so after having to be retreated for Wheat/Grains. Apparently, there may be a link there with hard cases and having to be retreated. I seemed to test fine for the heavy metals, though, so that was a relief. He pretty much held the vials of the metals to my abdomen and did strength testing. He also tested my liver points, yeast/fungus and it all is looking good.

Once we got that done, he asked how I was doing symptomatically. I told him I am on the end of a cold, but have noticed obvious allergy symptoms now that the trees and lilacs have really started blooming. It turns out lilacs fall under "Flowers" with AAT, so we let the computer prioritize between Trees and Flowers and Trees won without a doubt. So, I had trees treated.

It took some time to get through the many many different tree families. I think we ended up with 9 families to treat, and then after that we had to break down some of the families to the little components and then have those treated. Of the 9 families of trees, I remember the following: Cottonwood(no surprise there!), Black Walnut, Scrub Oak, Sycamore, Yew, Cherry and Arborvitae(or something like that). I pretty much held my breath on the way to the van and then on the way to the house.

From here on out, I get to pick and choose what I want treated and when! At the top of my list is Coconut, as that is the hardest thing for me to avoid now, followed by nightshades, garlic, mushrooms, nuts, legumes, and some veggies and fruits.

Oh, and my AAT doc is getting his Allergenix system in 3 weeks, so perhaps I will hold out until then to go back.

An AAT Setback

During this week's AAT appointment, I experienced a bit of a setback in my treatment. Late last week I started reacting at random times. I would try to figure out what was causing the reactions, with tree pollen being one of the top suspects, but most of the reactions occurred when I was indoors. I began suspecting something was up, since it was seemingly random reactions that I haven't lived with regularly since being treated for corn and the wheat/grains.

Easter was particularly a challenge. For breakfast I had New York Crumb Cake made by me, and tea with milk and then we went to church. On the way to church I was having the itchy throat/sinus drainage stuff going on.
Church went fairly well with no reactions that I can remember.
We went to my sister-in-law's house for lunch and spend the afternoon/early evening there. I did eat ham that as far as I knew only had corny ingredients so was probably ok. I also had asparagus(which I've done fine with eating occassionally), a few ripe and green olives, carrots, and a roll that I had made with safe ingredients for me. I ended dinner with angel-food cake (purchased variety with no palm oil) with strawberries and my real whipped cream on top.
I didn't have any immediate oral reactions as far as itchy throat or ears, but I could tell something was up as the afternoon progressed. I nearly fell asleep on the couch (which is unusual for me) and I was just feeling really sluggish and thirsty.
I must have had at least 3 large glasses of water while there.

Oh, and the carpets had been cleaned recently and the smell was starting to bother me.

By the end of the afternoon, I was experiencing the brain fog/inability to concentrate/irritability/headache symptoms. We finally decided to head home.

Once home, I took a Benadryl (on top of the Loratadine I take every day) and sat down to take it easy for a bit. The fog actually started to lift within 10-15 minutes and the headache left me.

Then I got dinner for the kids and ran the dishwasher. That was the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back.

The kids' dinner consisted of Garlic Spaghetti(Garlic is a known allergen for me) and the dishwashing detergent is suspected by me to have an allergen(coconut?).

The itching throat/ears/runny nose/sneezing and irritability came back in a rush. I was so ready to put the kids to bed. Once they were down, I went to bed by 8:30 and was dead to the world by 9pm. I didn't even hear the phone ring when a friend called!

The next days, I was feeling 'not right'. The seemingly random oral itching/ears itching/runny nose/slight headache/brain fog/sinus problems were just bugging me!

My AAT doc went through the things I have been treated for, and come to find out, I needed more treatment for Wheat/Mixed Grains! Apparently, I am one of the 15% minority who needs to have something re-treated. So we spent the appointment time working through all of the little components of the grains. A few of the things I remember that came up were phytic acid and rice bran.

Hopefully this time it will stick!

One interesting thing the AAT doc said was that somehow he knew that I was "reversed". I don't recall the exact term he used, but he said that the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body. But, part (20%?) of the nerves of each side of the brain cross over somehow. He said that my body was using the 20% to function, not the 80%. So he had to do a reversal technique before the testing and treatment. I don't understand how it all works, but based on how I was feeling, I believe I was working on 20%!

Looking back, I can see why Easter gave me so much trouble--I had grains so many times that day, and THEN I assaulted my body with known allergens! My bucket was just too full and couldn't take it any longer.

Normal protocol for AAT is to avoid what you were treated for for 2 hours after treatment. I did have some whole wheat breading on a veggie last night, but I think I will be staying away from regular servings of the grains for a bit...just because.

Advanced Allergy Therapeutics--AAT

I have entered the realm of Alternative Medicine, namely Advanced Allergy Therapeutics, or AAT.

I went to my first AAT appointment, not wanting to get my hopes up ( just in case it didn't work), yet at the same time I knew it had been working for others I knew. So, yes, I had hope and was looking forward to answers, getting to the bottom of things and feeling better rather than feeling icky all the time, even while avoiding the (increasing number of) things I was allergic to.

The doctor began by listening to my (abbreviated) health history. Then, he began testing pressure points on my body and doing strength testing on each point.

Strength testing consists of me putting my right arm straight out in front of me, locking my elbow and making a fist. The doctor then presses down on my arm as I in turn press upward in effort to keep my arm from going down. This strength testing is done while he presses each of the pressure points, as well as when testing for each of the allergens.

I had suspected yeast overgrowth and low adrenal function, and tested for those being weak(no surprise there). He later recommended Morinda Supreme Noni powder for that(which I am taking). My liver seemed to be fine, thyroid marginal(I suspect those problems as it's in the family) but ok, digestion was weak(again, no surprise, but I hadn't mentioned this before the testing).

I was then hooked up to the computer. This consists of an arm cuff similar to a blood pressure cuff, only it doesn't fill with air, it is about half the size, and it is placed on the forearm just below the elbow. This cuff is how the signal of the allergen is transmitted from the computer to my body.

We tested a whole lot of allergens that first day and ended up with a list of main things that needed to be taken care of before I would be able to treat specific single foods. The good thing is, once the main things are treated, that often takes care of many/most of the allergenic foods.

AAT has the ability to break foods down into miniscule components, and to treat those components. Often, those foods span over huge food groups.

The things I tested weak towards were: Salicylates, Glutamates, Corn, Grains/Wheat, Vitamin A, Milk/Dairy, Protein, Soy, Plant Phenolics

The thing that floored me and made me nearly an instant believer in this process is that I hadn't even TOLD the AAT doc that Salicylates and Glutamates were something I had struggled with. Remember my low-Sal diet I went on before finally going to the conventional allergist, who told me "there's no test for that and no treatment other than avoidance"???

Salicylates were the definite first thing that I needed to have treated.

The treatment consists of the AAT doctor sending the signal for the allergen to the arm cuff. I stand and turn around and the doctor uses this vibrating instrument thing(sorry, don't know the real word for it-I'll have to ask!) and runs it down my spine, once while breathing in, once while breathing out, and then once more while breathing in and once more while breathing out. This instrument is said to send signals to the brain and the rest of the body, to encourage a positive response to the allergen, instead of a negative response.

Then I sit back down and he does the strength test again to be sure it worked. If I am weak to it, then he breaks it down to the tiny components and we treat those.

At that time(barring any questions/discussion), the appointment is finished and I avoid the allergen for 2 hours. After that I should be able to have the allergen without any problems.

I can go back anytime after that 2 hours and be treated for something else, of if I decide I'm feeling great and don't want to go in, there's no hurry. It's completely up to the patient.

So far, all of my treatments have been successful. I have been treated for Salicylates, Glutamates, Corn, Grains/Wheat, Milk/Dairy, and Plant Phenolics from the main list. Vitamin A was taken care of once I was treated for Salicylates, Protein was taken care of once I was treated for Milk/Dairy, and Soy was taken care of as well.

When I had Corn treated, it was as if a ball and chain had been cut off of my ankle and I could eat again. No exaggeration there. :)
Soy was similar, although it was easier to live soy-free than it was corn-free, since most things with soy were labeled as such.

I have also been treated for Molds(when we had flooding and my sinuses were raging and my neck was sore and stiff and I had a slight headache) and the symptoms subsided within the 2 hours after my treatment.
I could BREATHE! I could think more clearly!

I had Plant Phenolics treated last week, and I was no longer enduring a scratchy throat whenever I drove around in the country(I live in the country-hard to avoid that!). The trees aren't actually blooming/pollinating yet, but they are producing alleles, which are known to cause problems in people with allergens.



I had Dust treated today(amazingly, I did not test weak to Dust Mites!).

I believe next week we will do Trees, and then after that there is another large test to see what other things might need to be treated. I am betting the Nightshade Family, Pitted Fruits, Garlic and Coconut/other nuts will top that list! We shall see...


As it is, I am feeling better than I remember feeling for quite some time---I would almost say I feel better than I have my entire life, minus the fact that I am still avoiding many foods.

It feels as if a cloud has suddenly lifted and the longed-for sun is shining once again.

Frustrated with Allergy Shots--What Now???

I went on the elimination diet, as my allergist recommended, and stayed on it. Except for accidental exposure/ingestion of my allergens, I didn't cheat. I started the shots as well.

I did feel somewhat better, but not great. And when ragweed season(August--read: Allergic Hell month) came, I felt HORRIBLE. No better than if I was just taking Loratadine every day. And I was taking it every day AND getting the shots AND avoiding all of my known allergenic foods and their families...and still felt horrible and could barely function.

I tried to add foods back in, but with no sure success. So then I would go back on the diet until I had the week of no reactions, and then try a different food....and have some sort of reaction, and then back on the diet until I had a week of no reactions, which took forever to get to that point...

I had very little success in adding any new foods in. When I asked the allergist or his assistant about what to do, I was told to give the new food a month to be sure I was or wasn't reacting. I suspected my cycles to have something to do with how/when I reacted to things, so the thought was to give it the whole month and see if there was a pattern. Obviously, if I had an obvious immediate reaction, I would quit that food and go back on the elimination diet until I had a week free of reactions, and then attempt to add back a different food.

Over the course of the time I was on the elimination diet, I repeatedly tried to add wheat back in. According to my skin testing, I should have been ok with it, but I could tell I was having reactions to it. Not the immediate reaction, but a few months ago I noticed that when I ate something with wheat flour(using flour from the corn-free foods list), I would get the hiccups. After 3 days of having wheat, I developed back pain under the left shoulderblade, heartburn, and then progressed to abdominal pain and other symptoms.

I believe I was also becoming more and more sensitive to new things. It was like my body was saying "Hey, my allergens are gone--I need something new to react to--let's react to something else!".
I started reacting noticeably to things such as dishwasher detergent, scented dishsoap, people's perfume/aftershave smell, fabric softener smell on other people's clothes, food smells in the air. Exposure to these things would cause me to have instant brain fog, itchy nose, sinus irritation/drainage and headache.
If I washed the kids' hair with baby shampoo or used conditioner, or got conventional dishwashing liquid on my hands, they would be raw, cracked and sore for 3 days.

I also started to have a stiff neck, jaw pain/clicking, constant drainage down my throat, clogged sinuses. Finally I was able to get a Rx from the allergist(antibiotics-a Z-pack) and started feeling better...but then THAT caused other issues(read: yeast problems) that the allergist only wanted to treat with creams. I suspected systemic yeast problems but could not get a Rx for a systemic antifungal. In an attempt to get control over the yeast, I started making my own kefir and drinking that everyday.

In addition to the struggle of adding new foods(and trying to stick to the crazy limited diet) and becoming more sensitive to new things, and the sinus problems, my shots were giving me problems. I've always had problems with my left arm itching after the shots and had mentioned it to the doc. He told the nurses to make sure I had taken my Loratadine, do an epi rinse on the needle before getting the serum ready, then follow the shot with a cream and then ice. Well, I was still itching as the shots increased. Then they reformulated my serums, making them weaker. Still, my left arm was itching for days. Especially if/when I was exposed to something I was allergic to--even something like, say, the smell of a Sharpie marker(which contains corn).

All of these problems got worse over the holiday season(and I stuck to my diet the best I knew how, fixing my own dishes for Thanksgiving and Christmas and avoiding the rest of the family's food for the most part).

In October, I found a thread in the Avoiding Corn forum about a treatment for allergies called Advanced Allergy Therapeutics, or AAT. Come to find out, there was a AAT doc(Chiro) near me. I wasn't ready to jump in yet (seeing as I have been paying for all this allergy stuff out-of-pocket and I am not monetarily rich), but happened to find someone from another state that was going to the AAT doc near me. I began to follow their journey and correspond via email to get updates as to how things were going for them. They were having excellent success and were able to eat the foods they were allergic to with no problems. They really encouraged me to make an appointment.

I asked my conventional allergist what his thoughts were in regards to AAT, and was told "Nothing has been proven with those types of treatments. There are only testimonials, but no scientific evidence. I wouldn't advise throwing too much money in their direction."

I took his advice with a grain of salt, knowing that his whole background was likely from Western medicine. I also knew that his therapy-the shots-only had an 85% likelihood of working(after $1000's of dollars invested), and his therapy would not even address the food allergy issues unless you count the *possible* indirect "get the pollen/mold/epithelial allergies under control and *maybe* then your body will quit reacting to foods"...

FINALLY, in January, I made an appointment with the AAT doc for Valentine's Day. I waited for that day, wondering what it would bring. Would the testing show any similarities to the skin prick testing? Would the treatments work? Would I react to the treatments? Could I start to live a normal life again and not constantly be worried about what to eat, what to breathe, what to wash with, for pete's sake???

And would I go broke with this therapy?

Only time would tell.