Allergy Survey

[teh_blumchenkinder]

Mostly because I'm feeling sorry for myself-- because I'm dizzy, because of allergies-- I'm asking the community at large as to what the individuals who make up said community have allergies concerning. And yes I parsed that correctly.
Me:
Apartments I've just moved into
Hotels
Plants... I think? Sometimes I'm allergic to something, sometimes not. Or maybe subspecies of specific things?? Eh. There's a lovely juniper outside my window... maybe it's that?
Generic Zantac (Rinintadine)
All minor, I think there's some foods that irritates my insides (milk if I have too much, bell peppers, jicima) , but nothing on this list is "OMGEPIPEN" stuff. Except maybe the Generic Z... my throat, hands and tongue swelled enough to make me nervous, any worse and I would've called into the ER.

[Lurking Sockpuppet]

Dr. Pepper, Mr. Pibb
Peanut Butter ( I didn't know I was allergic until adulthood) I thought it was supposed to "stick" all the way down. Turns out the sticking feeling was my mouth and throat swelling. I still eat it but not often and never all natural. It triggers the reaction much faster and more violently.
Extreme changes in Temperature. Go from and Air Conditioned building out in the scorching summer heat or from a heated building out into the cold winter air. I break out in hives. I have even had reactions go internal and make it difficult to breath. Luckily this allergy has lessened as I have gotten older.

[Mishi]

Major (ER visit):
- Codine
- Celebrex

Minor:
- House dust
- Sugarcane
- Latex
- Nickel
- Parabens

[Sakka]

The usual suspects of hayfever, pollen, dust, animal dander/hair/fur, etc for summer.

Temperature changes (not an allergy per-say, triggers an asthma attack)

Nuts (including some of the ones I've worked with )
Some brands of peanut butter I can eat, some make it feel like my throat is closing up just from smelling it. Still love peanuts and peanut butter, but need to be careful when having some and stop when my body starts complaining.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

Temperature allergies are fascinating to me...
Mishi... wow. Aren't all your minor allergies essentially encompassing the modern stereotypical Western lifestyle?? O_O' Gord, woman!

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, Poison Sumac, Cashews.

I'm more allergic to the shrubs than the average person. I don't always have a dangerous reaction, but if it's bad enough, I will start going into anaphylaxis.

But usually, no instant anaphylaxis with any of this stuff so far.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, Poison Sumac, Cashews.

it's like the arson, murder, and jaywalking trope Avoid poison??
EDIT: I know an allergy to poison ivy/oak/sumac is much, much worse than the normal reaction... :shudder: Also, totally not making fun of any of your allergies! >_>

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Okay, I see what you're saying. That's funny! I didn't realize I'd done that.

Actually, though, if I had to choose, I'd probably take a skin rash over eating cashews. I can at least manage myself with a skin rash (usually), even though I spend the entire time wishing for death.

Cashews, though, are worse. My mouth swells, my lips and face starts sloughing off dead skin, and my entire digestive tract is fucked up till it gets out of me and my body stops freaking out. At least with the rash, I can still use my mouth to curse and complain.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

my lips and face starts sloughing off dead skin

[Seshat]

ER-worthy:
Penicillin and its derivatives

Histamine reactions:
The usual pollens, dusts, moulds, and other fine particles. (Including wattle)
Many perfumes and artificial scents.
Many cleaners.
Some pesticides.
Some paints, some glues...

Other reactions:
Seafood of all sorts.
Plastics, both hard and soft.
Formaldehyde (as found often in glues, dyes, paints, etc).
Chicken.
Citrus and other tart fruits, including tomato.
Cow's milk.
Lettuce. Yes, iceberg lettuce. Don't ask, I don't know!
Petrol & diesel fumes.
etc, etc, etc.

I had allergy testing done where they put a dilute smear of the substance on your skin and prick the skin lightly. My arm looked like a swarm of bees and landed on it and stung me.

Edit to add:
Some metals.

[flybye023]

Most of my allergies are skin related:
Metals--gives me a rash and the reaction can't be stopped without prescriptions
Perfumes and/or dyes
Sunscreen

non-skin related:
Some plant that probably blooms or something every other fall
Scented candles and air-fresheners

[Mishi]

Aren't all your minor allergies essentially encompassing the modern stereotypical Western lifestyle?? O_O' Gord, woman!

Good thing I'm a bit of a hippy then?
I'm also sensitive to the Solanum family, but I've found recently that as long as I keep on top of my pain management and stay well away from secondhand smoke I can eat them with minimal extra pain. When I overload (ie. eating San Choy Bow one night + two dinners with mashed potatoes + poking about in my tomato patch) then I get a massive headache the next day and my joints end up swollen and very sore.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I don't have any officially-diagnosed allergies, but I can't eat nuts. It's more of a phobia and a part of me wants to get tested just to prove that I'm not allergic; on the other hand, I'm not sure that it would make a difference to be told that I'm not so I just avoid them. My first couple panic attacks happened after having eaten nuts (an almond Hershey bar the first time, peanut M&Ms the second...oddly enough, I have no problem eating chocolate!) and I just can't get my head around it. Though the smell of peanuts doesn't set me off like it used to, so I guess that's progress.

Otherwise, I get occasional spring/fall allergies, with sniffles and itchy eyes. Some years are worse than others. This year wasn't bad in the spring; hopefully the fall will be the same (spring is usually worse, anyway).

[FormerCallingCardRep]

Major - Epipen & straight to the ER

Bees

Minor

Lilacs
Lanolin

[MaggieTheCat]

I get hayfever from a variety of pollens, I'm not sure of all the types specifically.

I also have quite a few fruit and vegetable allergies, but they're pretty unusual. For almost all of them, I'm only allergic if the food is fresh. If it's cooked, canned, frozen, or somehow preserved, I'm fine. We have basically figured out that I'm allergic to the pollen that these plants are pollinated with and I get a rather severe hayfever reaction when eating the fruit. Cooking/preserving them changes or destroys whatever it is in the fruit that gives me the reaction.

Anyway, foods that I know I'm allergic to:

Bananas (I'm really allergic to these, I won't eat them in any form, even cooked)
Carrots
Cherries
Avocado
Apples
Pears
Peaches
Kiwi
Mango
Celery
Walnuts
Pecans
Almonds
Peanuts, sometimes

In all of those (except Bananas) if I cook the food enough I can eat it. It has to be really cooked down, though. Carrots that are lightly steamed and crunchy will still give me a reaction. They have to be mushy. Nuts that are lightly toasted for a few minutes are no good. Baked in a pie or cookies for at least 10 minutes, are usually okay.

The type of reaction I get is what I think is referred to Oral Allergy Symptom (OAS.) My mouth and lips tingle/burn, my ears/nose/throat/head itch like CRAZY, my nose and eyes water. With bananas, I get extreme pain in my chest. I've never gone to the ER due to these symptoms, they have never been that severe that I felt I was in danger (I've never felt my throat close, even though it itches badly.) I have been allergy tested and most of the things on the list above did show up on the allergy test, except for bananas, which is weird because bananas have always given me the worst reactions.

Interestingly enough, almost all of the foods I'm allergic to are related to latex allergies, although I'm not allergic to latex itself. One of the reasons why I think it's at least somehow related to pollen allergies/hayfever is because some types of apples don't bother me while others do. Most apples give me at least some kind of reaction, although honey crisp and a couple others I can eat without a problem. Which leads me to thinking that different apples pollinated with different pollens don't affect me or at least not as badly as others.