›› Allergic Reactions
I have, in my third
and fourth decades of living, discovered some of the most unusual of
allergic reactions and have learned the most interesting of realities
about allergies. The education began when I was teaching my
second semester of college English. As one up to that point
who rarely missed a day of work, I was appalled to find one very early
summer morning that I had an enflamed face and that every pore on my
face had filled with a blister—a tiny pustule that was, as if
the redness wasn’t enough, itchy.
When I went to the clinic (not yet having medical coverage of any
kind), the clinician seemed nonplussed. She told me with a
shrug that 1) I would have to experiment by isolating foods in my most
recent diet until I found the culprit (since I ha not changed laundry
or body soaps didn’t add any chemicals or perfumes to my
repertoire, etc.); and 2) I had developed these allergic
reactions—or allergic symptoms—all of a
sudden…that my perfect health record of many years had
nothing to do with the fact that as we get older, she said, we can
pathogenically change: we can develop allergies to foods we have eaten
our whole lives.
Allergic reactions as I describe are no big deal, really; and a tube of
Benadryl cream and a Benadryl capsule (which makes you sleep, so watch
out) are all that were needed. But other allergic reactions
are hideous, drastic, and emergent. Many require immediate
medical attention, as they are deadly…or, the allergens
causing the allergic reactions are.
When we were teens working our first jobs, waiting tables at a private
school in the summer, when scientists would come from the world over to
have conferences, study, and get fed three times a day, we witnessed
the more extreme cases of allergic reactions when a scientist asked if
there were any shellfish in the fare we were serving. The
stuffing of the meat, it turned out, had shredded
something—crab or lobster—and the man swelled,
turned red, and had to be rushed to the hospital. What is
most frightening, I think, is that such allergic reactions can include
the tongue swelling. Think about it. If your tongue
swells too far, it will block your breathing passages.
You’re done.
In my case, many years after my fear that we had killed an important
person—who showed up unshaken the next morning, by the
way—it turns out I had allergic reactions to soy products: I
loved to (and was so lazy about cooking that I would) eat raw hot
dogs. At the same time, I was experimenting with health food
store items and had drunk a big glass of soy milk. Imagine:
an innocuous little thing like a bean….
››
A Healthy Dose of Good Advice
