Allergies

With it being summer and all, I've been on constant alert for 'leaves of three'. My sister and aunt both recently broke out with poison ivy in a couple places, so I've been staying away from them as much as possible. Maybe its not medically possible, but I've always felt that I'm ridiculously allergic to poison ivy (more than most people), simply because of how quickly it travels when I get infected. I'll find a small spot on my leg, cover it so I cant scratch it, and somehow, within a day, it'll be on my face. One summer I had to walk around with gloves on at all times, because both my hands were COVERED with poison ivy. It was not fun.

So while mine may not be considered a true 'allergy', what kind of allergies do other people have? Any interesting stories in how said allergy was discovered?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Growing up I was allergic to milk, wheat, eggs, and the usual polleny sort of stuff, among other things. This lead to a really boring diet as a kid, although I was nice and skinny, something I can't say now. Eggs made my mouth itch like crazy, milk would make my throat close up, and I'm not sure what wheat did, as that's just something my mom said I had a reaction to as a baby. I did the whole allergy shot thing, which included the requisite test to see what I was allergic to. The test always showed I was deathly allergic to peanuts and orange juice (2 of my favorite foods), and although clearly I would have long keeled over dead if the test was correct, my mom would still take these foods away from me for a few weeks after each test.

Thankfully, I outgrew most of my allergies, though not at the same time. I still remember trying ice cream as a teenager and my throat closing up somewhat, but now I can eat it with no problems. Of course pets and pollen still set me off, but the only food I can think of is if I eat a raw banana, I get a slight itching on my tongue and lips (doesn't stop me though).

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Posting because you told me to... I mean, because I want to. Yes.

About the only allergy type thing I have is some mild hay-fever. I think. I tend to get sniffly and sneeze in the summer, and my dad gets hay-fever, so I assume it's that. It's not so bad that I really need to do anything about it.

My mum thinks I might be allergic to cat hair because I tend to get what seems like a cold whenever I got back to their place where our cat, the cat of molting hair, also resides. Not sure about that one, I've been fine round other cats and dogs, but it is odd that I always get these sneezing fits back there.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Temari

With it being summer and all, I've been on constant alert for 'leaves of three'. My sister and aunt both recently broke out with poison ivy in a couple places, so I've been staying away from them as much as possible. Maybe its not medically possible, but I've always felt that I'm ridiculously allergic to poison ivy (more than most people), simply because of how quickly it travels when I get infected. I'll find a small spot on my leg, cover it so I cant scratch it, and somehow, within a day, it'll be on my face. One summer I had to walk around with gloves on at all times, because both my hands were COVERED with poison ivy. It was not fun.

So while mine may not be considered a true 'allergy', what kind of allergies do other people have? Any interesting stories in how said allergy was discovered?

It is very much an allergy and it comes in varying degrees like you said. The summer camp that i work at in July and August is covered in those accursed plants. I have multiple friends who refuse to go into the bush because they know they'll react. They usually end up getting it anyways, and the reaction can be anywhere from an itchy rash to huge pussing open sores. I myself got poison ivy once, and i never want to go through that again. I avoided it for years afterwards, until one week at camp i was working maintenance one week and was set to striking campsites. That meant walking around in poison ivy almost constantly. Despite my prolonged exposure that day, i didn't get any break outs or rashes of any kinds. I think i'm immune, but i'm not really into testing that theory, and i know many people who are immune.

As far as my own allergies go, i've had bad digestion problems for a few years now. After seeing a naturopath i took an allergy test that measures allergies and intolerances small enough to escape a scratch test. The test reported that i'm allergic to all dairy and garlic of all things. I've since seriously reduced my dairy intake. It's worked wonders for me. I've lost 30 pounds with no change in exercise, my digestion has sorted itself out, and my complexion is clearing up. I will admit i had my doubts about naturpathic methods, but this one is working.

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I'm allergic to something in the grass at my old elementary school. I used to get really bad rashes on my legs and ankles when I was younger. They stopped once I moved on to middle school. Earlier this summer, I went back there for an event with my cousin, and we were on the grass for most of it. I ended up with the same type of rash on my legs. It's never happened when I've been on the grass anywhere else.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I don't exactly have any allergy stories, but each time I go to the hospital and the nurse asks, "Any allergies to anything?" I say, "Possibly sulfa." It's kind of funny, or maybe just dumb, but while growing up and having doctor appointments I'd always hear my parents argue over who was allergic to sulfa.
Then there was the time my dad said, "Yeah. He's allergic to it. He gets rashes and everything..."

I'm still not entirely convinced, but I still say, "Possibly sulfa."

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

My nose is an ever-running tape. During spring, it's because of tree pollen (bouleau; don't know the name in English). during late summer, it's because of a weed that grows in ditches.

ANd during winter, it's plain ol' flu

FELIPE NO

I'm allergic to two things: Tide laundry detergent and Penicillin. I found out I was allergic to Tide when my mom washed my clothes when I was a baby, and upon wearing it, broke out in quite the rash. I found out about penicillin roughly the same way. I took some to combat a nasty disease I was harboring at the time, and when I took that, same thing - Vicious rash all across my body.

The good news is, the penicillin outbreak gave me an extra week of playing Mega Man 2 like a junkie while I stayed home.

How ya doing, buddy?

These days the only allergies I know of are pollen and bananas. I've gotten better with pollen over the years, though. When I was a kid I could barely breathe through my nose during the spring/summer, but recently I've stopped having to take any allergy pills at all to counteract it. I used to love bananas when I was really young, but then they started causing me to break out in hives. When I tried one a couple years ago I didn't get any hives, but about 15 minutes after eating it I felt like I was being punched in the stomach repeatedly. Doubt I'll bother with that experiment again.

I had a really strange allergy to exercising right after eating back in elementary school. It was either right before I entered Kindergarten or right after when I went into anaphylactic shock twice after eating dinner and playing outside for awhile (though I only remember one of the times) and a specialist informed us that was the cause. According to her, I had to wait 2-3 hours after eating or drinking anything other than water before I could do any exercise without risk. It made school rather inconvenient since in first grade my recess time was scheduled immediately after lunch, so while everyone else went out to play I went to the library with a packet of worksheets and such. It wasn't as boring as it sounds, but it still sucked.

I also had to carry around an EpiPen for that, which freaked people out tremendously. My dad had to come in and tell my teachers how to use it every year in case of an emergency, and the case my grandfather made for it looked like a knife case so other kids would periodically report me for having a weapon. The after-school daycare instructors were extremely paranoid too. On one occassion they took us to a park, and I got a bit sweaty since it was a really hot day. Out of nowhere they dumped a bucket of ice water on me and wanted to rush me to the hospital. Needless to say, I didn't like them much.

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I hate allergies. I'm normally allergic to pollen. Dust really gets to me especially in the early morning, but isn't everyone like that?

Anyway my skin doesn't do too well in the heat. When I went to the Philippines in 2000 my wrists and my upper forearm were itchy. They were pimple-shaped hives. While I slept I guess I'd scratch them to the point where they got infected and puss formed. It stung a lot, and I have the scars from all that damned scratching.

Now I randomly get these oddly-shaped, flat hives. Haha. They're also a pain, but they don't itch as much as the ones I had before. This normally happens during the winter when my skin dries up. Oh and during this time a lot of phlegm builds up for some reason, but before I can get rid of it my throat may feel dry which makes me have to drink a lot of water.

There's nowhere I can't reach.