As a couple of you know (mum and Claire mainly) I had a bad bout of the flu last September and the usual accompanying sinusitis.
The sinusitis had never gone away. I suffer a constant low level sinus headache which occasionally flares up to worse pain. I wake up each morning to gunk running down the back of my nose and my throat and I have pretty much lost my sense of smell.
Both the doc and I originally thought this was an infection as some smells have just turned ghastly. Anything protein-based: cooked meat, bodily wastes, opening the mixed nuts packet, all produce the exact same disgusting smell. Chicken is the worst. I can't eat chicken without blocking my nose.
The doc has had me on a range of antibiotics and saline rinses etc and they did nothing. So doc thinks that its not an infection, I've just gotten sensitised to something in my environment. She's had me on a range of antihistamine's ever since - but like Claire's steroids, its just masking the issue, not fixing it.
The doc keeps asking me "do you have a cat?" Ah yes - but we've lived together for 12 years - look elsewhere !!!!
I took a standard allergy skin test yesterday. To do so, I needed to stop taking any antihistamines and any other form of pill, spray, tablet or supplement. I needed to be off these for a minimum of three days before they would do the tests.
I woke up yesterday thinking someone had packed my sinus cavities with expanding acid !!!All my lymph nodes were swollen and I had a sore throat - is this the flu? It is the sinusitis coming back in full force? is it withdrawal from the antihistamines? Can you get withdrawal from antihistamines?
Was very grumpy at work, took tests and came home with sinus headache and screaming kids on the train. {delete rant on Boganspawn}
The immediate results on the test. I reacted badly to wheat and milk, moderately to peanuts and mildly to cat hair.
I did not react at all to any form of pollen or grasses or common hay-fever causes. I did not react to cockroaches, dust mites or paper dust.
The doc will tell me week Monday what that all means.
The thing that worries me is the wheat one. I am gluten intolerant. However I am also allergic to wheat? A lot of gluten-free flours are wheat flour with the gluten removed. I'm going to have to go through my cupboards and be extra careful.
Either that or just go back onto the low-carb meat and veggies and fruit lifestyle I did years ago. No pre-processed foods, very little cereal-based foods. I never felt healthier than then and I lost 30 kilos in a little under 3 months. I've just gotten lazy over time.
I'll see what the doc says.
Anyway the clock says I can have another dose of pseudo ephedrine now so I'm going back to bed until the sinusitis calms down to a dull roar.
33 comments:
Oh heavens - I hadn't realized that there were still wheat-based flours in gluten-free foods. I guess I never read the ingredients that closely when looking for gluten free products for my aunt.
I'll keep my fingers crossed that this is something that they can manage to make sense of for you so that you start feeling better. And I hope they can find a resolution to the smell issue - especially the bad smells around proteins.
Wow - I know allergies morph over time, so hopefully you can get these identified, and it's not a huge adjustment to get you back to normal :) I love my cereals and breads - don't know what I'd do without them... probably replace them with dairy, which could be bad :)
I have a friend at work going through the *exact* same thing right now! I'm not 100% positive, but I do believe that your reaction to the wheat is most likely because of the gluten. Good luck at the doc's on Monday, and I hope you get to feeling better soon... :-)
I hope you feel better soon Mel.
See this is why I finally admit my shame and blog about things like this. I've been soooo embarrassed about the loss of smelling ability - and other people are going through the same thing.
I am not a complete freakazoid! Woo Hooo!
I feel your pain and your frustration.
When one part of you "breaks down" everything else in the world seems like a big pain in the butt. I was going to suggest meditation and relaxation cds but pretty much think that an M-16 would be more therapeutic...
I have those and do meditate on a regular basis - but sometimes (especially when I'm at work) the M-16 would be better - however they have a tendency to jam so how about the nostalgia value of an old Tommy gun?
You are not a freak!!!!! I am with you on the milk and this sounds more like a milk problem than anything else. Milk (sorry) makes you produce mucus, hence the loss of nice smells and tastes, the vile runny gunk (did warn y'all) plus the horrible smells and tastes arriving from nowhere. I have to to avoid all moo milk like the plague and stick to soya to stop the problem getting out of hand.
As for the screaming kids, a machine gun is a lovely thought if not a PC one!
Oh boy - that doesn't sound good re the wheat, would it be very hard to cut it out totally though (as you say you have done this before)
I hope you get some good news and the sinuses clear up soon!
Nah the machine gun was for my workplace :) :) :)
Seriously thanks for the info on the milk - I'll definitely ask my doc what part of the milk the test was focused on - for example, if it is lactose, then I can buy small amounts of lactose-free milk for white sauces, splashes in coffee etc ....
You are welcome Mel. The problem with milk is that it tends to be pretty indigestable. Some people swap from cows to goats and get not problems. For me it is any animal milk - cow, sheep, goat, hippo that gets this reaction. I know all the snot jokes in the book and I'm fed up with being asked if I have a cold even when well. I was only joking about the hippo milk though
Hi Mel,
I never had allergies until I was almost 30 and then bam! Coughing for MONTHS on end. Ear and eye pressure so bad it feels like both want to explode off my head from the inside out. Headaches something awful if I forget to take even one of my allergy meds to the point that is almost migraine pain. What have they determined I am allergic to: cats and only cats. NOT! I was in GA for almost 2 and 1/2 weeks and well away from any animal and I still had the problems. So I take 2 Dr. prescribed meds and then every 12 hours add a Drixoral or Clairitin D - both of which I have to sign for at a pharmacy to get. If I skip one of those 12 hour ones - not pretty. I did the coughing listed stuff above for almost 2 years before I, not my Dr., hit upon adding in the 12 hour pill over and above whatever the Dr. was trying. They thought it was asthma for the longest time. Hope you find a solution to your nightmare!! Soon!
{{{{Hugs}}}}} Mel!! Feel better soon :)
That's what happened to me last night and this morning as I had to go off everything for the tests.
Slowly returning to normal - but damn I'm clocking-watching the last 2 hours three times a day as the meds wear off before I'm allowed to take the next set ....
More people than you could ever imagine are lactose intolerant....problem for me is I loathe Soya Milk so just suffer with the rest of the snot stuff....
meditation cds...Vamp...I'd go with the M16 or Aussie equivalent...
Silly old bear....there's no shame in this at all as I told you when it started up. No shame whatsoever....
Now, loss of peeing ability might be something to be embarrassed over, though I'm not sure how long you could hide that one.... Between DH's smoking and the new doggy farts, I would almost welcome the loss of smell, though I know from all of my sinus issues how it screws with your enjoyment of food.
Mel, I hope whateve info you get from the doc will help you target the allergy. Sucks to be allergic.
Claire, Katie is lactose intolerant and what I found is that the taste of soy milk varies HUGELY by brand. I found only one brand that I could stomach, so that is what we get for her. The rest of it tasted like wet cardboard. So you may want to try different brands. Here in the states there are refrigerated varieties and non-refrigerated varieties, so they are in 2 different places in the store. You might find one you can tolerate.
I didn't even think of that....will have a look round over the weekend...thanks, Sisu!
Yup soy products go in the same category as gluten-free bread. I.e. non-digestible non-food-stuff torture devices.
Just like bread, I'd rather just go without.
They've also found a lot of coeliac's like mum are getting sensitised to soy products, so I'm leery of using too much soy-based products anyway .....
Right - and would I be me if I knew how to listen to good advice the first time I heard it ????
Yeah....does anyone ever listen to my advice?
EVENTUALLY !!!!!
LOL!
Hmmph
{whine}
Went to be at 3:45am after watching the cricket. Woke up shourtly after 8:00am, shaking with fever and sore joints, sore throat and my head about to explode with sinus pain.
Am waiting for meds to kick in.
Not sure if its just sinus, or included sleep dep or I'm actually trying to fight off a flu/cold infection too ... definitely a quiet day here for me today.
Oh gack...nasty, nasty...could be any combination or an actual viral thing. or you could have Mariann's lurgy...hope not.
Feel better love and rest up.
Yee Gods I hope not. I have no sick leave left at work - I'm using annual leave at the moment - and the more of that I use, the less I have for the great Get together next year ......
The joys of changing jobs...lack of sick leave...
Cant afford to get sick before mid-July.
OK me and the puddle of cat in my arms are going to make a cup of tea and head back to bed I think ,,,,
Funny, me and the puddle of cat are also going to bed....night love..sleep well and get better pronto
Now there's good advice I'd happily take the first time !!!
My MIL has a gluten and wheat allergy - it's hard, but it can be done. Good luck!
Thanks Lyne - I've had the gluten intolerance for years - it just other things are now coming into the mix.
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