Saturday, April 18, 2009

Yesterday's visit with Dr. Allergist

I managed to make it through the rest of the week after Monday without another reaction (yay me). Yesterday was my long-awaited appointment with Dr. Allergist. I set my food diary in front of her & she said, "So, what conclusions have you reached?" (Like I'm the doctor?!)

I told her I don't dispute that I may have some food allergies -- but I thought that at least some of this might be anxiety-related. And after listening to me for awhile, although she didn't outright say so, I got the feeling she thought so too (!). She also didn't discount my hormones theory, saying there is definitely a connection between hormones & asthma and hormones & migraines... but then she said, "But then what do you do about it?" (i.e., there is not much you CAN do). She said she could send me to a gynecologist, & I told her I had already been to Dr. Ob-gyn that week & he didn't think I needed blood tests or hormone supplements at this point.

She did more scratch tests on me for about a dozen more fruits & vegetables (all of which were negative), & had some blood drawn. Told me I shouldn't be afraid to eat but to use caution on the foods that may be a problem for me. She seemed particularly concerned about those that cross-react with tree & grass pollen (which is sometimes a seasonal problem for me) -- including apples, pears, peaches, plums, nectarines, cherries, & almonds -- in raw form, that is (cooked is better, boiled is best). These have never been a problem for me in the past, but...

She also suggested that I should try taking a daily antihistamine for awhile,that it might help break the cycle I seem to be in right now. I asked whether that would raise my blood pressure, & she said no, it's decongestants that do that, not antihistamines. I'm going to double-check with my family dr, but I think I'd like to try it (especially since she said I can take one of the non-sedating ones instead of the Benadryl, which totally throws me for a loop). I'm going to go back to see her in July.

In the end, she told me she is not too worried about me -- & not to be afraid to eat! So I'm feeling better & more hopeful about the situation. It was a 15-minute walk there & then back again from the subway -- a wealthy, midtown neighbourhood full of big old brick houses & big old trees, not far from the apartment where we lived when we were first married. It was a GORGEOUS day! (& I went straight from the dr's office to the train station to meet dh) That made me feel better too. : )

4 comments:

  1. Glad your appointment wasn't too stressful. So you're just going to avoid eating certain foods and take antihistamines? The upside of things is that you don't have any life threatening allergies, thank goodness. What is driving the anxiety?

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  2. I'm glad to hear your updates, and to hear you can eat again. Yay! Hopefully the antihistamines will do the trick.

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  3. I hope some of the advice helps and that you feel better soon.

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  4. Glad you are getting closer to answrs. Allergies are awful and miserable to live with. People who haven't dealt with it have no idea.
    I hope you get it figured out, at least to a comfortable non-suffering point anyway!

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