Positive Reactions To An Allergy Free Diet

It really is hard to juggle illnesses sometimes. I'm laying here, awake, at 1 AM scouring Paleo/allergen blogs for new recipes. It's so difficult to juggle multiple allergies. It's rare that I find a recipe that doesn't include any of my allergies that I'll eat. And when I do, it usually includes some kitchen appliance I don't have. Let's face it, having an autonomic disorder, I've never been one to spend hours in the kitchen. If Big Daddy cooked it was fast, if I cooked it was something I could throw together in minutes and go rest between checking or even microwave processed crap food or even take out. I don't have that luxury any more.

 

Granted I won't complain TOO much. The food is excellent and I've lost almost 30 pounds but it's exhausting. Sure I can rest while it's cooking but eating this way usually involves prep. I was cooking the other day and got severely dizzy after putting chicken in the oven. I'd used all my pre-made (by me, not store bought) sauce/glaze/whatever and I have to brush the chicken again halfway through cooking so I started making more. I didn't get more than the wet ingredients into the bowl and mixed before I had to throw it in the fridge and go lay down. Checked my blood pressure and it was low even AFTER the severe pre-syncope passed. Top was low 80's bottom was high 50's/low 60's (57 - 61). Yes, AFTER the vertigo passed. Then, when it was all said and done, I went to remove the chicken from the oven and burnt my wrist on the shelf. It didn't blister and Big Daddy bandaged me up with some gauze and burn cream but over 2 weeks later it still feels really dry and slightly discolored. It's fading though.

 

I've taken to doing the extensive prep work sitting down in a room other than my kitchen. If I'm feeling poorly, Big Daddy will even bring the ingredients to me. He's even done part himself quite a few times. But, he doesn't like cooking, doesn't think himself capable. He makes a mean breakfast sandwich, like to die for. But he's very much dependent on the simple way, boxed, pre-packaged. None of which I can eat. I can't even eat that scrumptious sandwich any more unless I'm prepared to face the upset.

 

I've found a few recipes that are delicious and allergen free (free of mine, anyway) but who wants to eat the same handful of recipes over and over again. They're good (delicious is too mild a word) but I need variety. I do fairly well avoiding soy (except ALL the vegan/dairy free substitutions I've read about, like the vegan butter, veganaise (vegan mayo) etc, at least the ones HERE, all contain soy). So I found recipes for dairy free, egg free, soy free butter, mayo, ranch, ceasar dressing, etc. Talk about awesome! Yea, not so much. I mean, the recipes claim it's as good as store bought allergen versions but they all need kitchen appliances I don't have, so for now I'll just have to wait.

 

I had to go re-read what I wrote last time to see how much I needed to update. I officially tested egg white, I'm allergic, officially tested dairy (cheese) and am allergic. Cheese is the cause of my acid reflux. When I'm off dairy I can even stop the prilosec. Mostly anyway. I had a few infrequent flares over the last two months but over all, if I avoid dairy I don't need it! Tomato I kind of cheated the test. I don't like tomatoes except mixed in with my taco soup recipe and since I'm off dairy, I can't eat that. So I've been sampling condiments containing tomato/tomato paste. Like ketchup, barbecue sauce, steak sauce, etc. By far it's the least reactive to date. I have a very minor reaction, I can barely tell. I still react but minor, I can ignore it mostly. But it kind of feels wrong. I got tired of mustard being the only condiment I could consume and I NEED (ok, seriously want) extras. I've always been the type to need sauce, gravy, condiments, the extras you know. In a way, I feel that since avoiding allergens helped me lose a bunch of weight that otherwise WOULD. NOT. come off, and how much better I feel (stomach and GERD wise at least), that I should avoid all the ones I react to. But on the other hand, it's a mild reaction and I'm going stir crazy without tomato based foods/extras. 

 

I gave in and ate pizza. Of course it gave me heartburn, my stomach felt angry and I feel as though I need to down a bunch of fiber. I had a really REALLY bad craving for pizza and chinese food for DAYS and didn't feel up to cooking for myself so I gave in and ate some. It was delicious but I felt like crud. I need some easy recipes that don't take a kitchen full of fancy appliances, 30+ minutes of prep and an hour or more to cook. Even the soup recipes take a long time or require multiple steps or leftovers (that took equally a long time to cook). I miss just being able to throw something on the stove or in the microwave and from start to finish be done in 30 minutes. But I like not feeling like crap. I need a new kitchen and a lifted bar stool/lounger or something. But who has that kind of money on one income. One day though.

 

In the meantime I guess I'll make do with what I have, what I can find, and try to incorporate previously untried foods. And hope I don't react.

 

Furthering on that, my dys is unaffected by my new diet. At all. My heart rate is still as wild and the dizziness too. I believe the severe near syncope episode from the other day had to do with switching from a beta blocker to a calcium channel blocker (so my allergist would take a more hands on approach to me). I quit taking it and my topamax. No frequent migraines (I can count the number I've had)! No GERD! Lots of weight loss! Obviously this diet is right for me. But my dys is still acting up. I'm going to try the CCB again now that the topamax is out of my system (both claim to lower blood pressure, the T alone never affected me, so I'm going to see how I do on JUST the CCB. Ok I've rambled enough. More later.

 

The picture is of my burn immediately after it happened.

 

I wonder what the etiquette is on posting recipes I've found online. Just link the original, post the recipe AND link the original, or what. I don't know, I'll figure something out. I have them all written down but I don't want to step on toes.
 

Allergies

*Peaks head out from behind curtain* I know, I know. I'm a sucky bloggist. It is what it is. I hate trickling information but it probably would've been more informative to keep up as it went along.
Nothing much ever came of either scan. I have no clue what the bone narrowing was or wasn't as the bone scan was clear. It was a very cool test, but clear nonetheless.

The sinus cyst appeared to just be mucus (gag) deep in my head and she said the symptoms I felt weren't from it but from allergies and sent me for the injection test. I believe I was stuck in the arm 51 times, with 19 allergens and reacted positively (allergic) to 16 of them.

Furthering that, the office where they did it tells you to avoid antihistamines the week before but also beta blockers (mine) and additionally, milk and some others. I had to reschedule because I got a sinus cold and took meds that I couldn't (on the list) after being off milk/dairy a few days then going back on it, and had a reaction. Then after I completed the test (going off dairy again) and eating dairy again, I had another reaction. Adding that, plus the arm results, and the way I react to pumpkin, she sent me for a RAST test (blood allergy). The results were 3 pages long.

The summary, I'm borderline allergic/sensitive to egg white, milk, cod, wheat, peanut, soybean, corn, orange, chicken, apple, scallops, clam, oyster. Actually full on allergic (low level) to tomato, crab, crayfish. Moderately allergic to shrimp, tuna, and lobster. I have other low to "very high" environmental allergies (detailed in the skin test PLUS the ones that were negative on the skin test, were positive/borderline on the blood test). I left her office with a prescription to an epi pen.
At first she wanted to do allergy shots but changed her mind when I reminded her I'm on beta blockers (since they specifically said not to take them for the test because the meds they give for an allergic reaction won't work). She's afraid the shots would give me an anaphylactic reaction and the beta blocker would hinder treatment. Nice huh. So shall I AGAIN repeat what I say every few months about one treatment of mine canceling out another?

Now most people may wonder how I didn't know about the moderate seafood allergies, those at least are more bothersome (especially if "borderline" milk makes me react after not eating it for a few days) and the answer is simple. I don't and never have eaten shell fish. Ever. But my goal recently was to get over my picky ways and eat more foods, had actively, if slowly started, with success, started trying and liking new foods I'd never tried. So eventually I'd have probably tried it.

Right now I'm midway through week 3 of a modified elimination diet. I haven't had dairy, egg, soy, wheat, tomato, seafood (tuna or any other non shellfish I've ever tried), SODA (I've had 5 sips/swallows, literally) in almost 3 weeks. Today is day 19, and as an fu to the NP who told me to simply cut soda, my heart still races and skips beats, yes no soda is much healthier, but it did NOTHING for my heart rate. I had an oops where I was exposed to cheese on Wednesday though. I went somewhere with Mom and they had breakfast foods and I stuck mainly with the meat but mom and her boyfriend said to just pick the cheese off the potatoes as there wasn't much so I did thinking it'd be ok. Wrong! I only ate a few pieces and within a few minutes felt awful (and for the rest of the night). So contaminated food, made with dairy, even if you remove the cheese STILL COUNTS NEWBIES. Lesson learned. "Luckily" dairy intolerance is just GI for me and not anaphylactic. Around the beginning of November, after a month of no everything listed, I start slowly reintroducing to see how I react. I'm still going to officially test dairy. I noted my oops but I'm going to still officially test it.

This was REALLY itchy.