I am a person who suffers from severe allergies. When I take a moment to think about it, I realize that most of my relatives suffer from some form of allergies, too. My family is living proof that allergies really can run in families.
My allergies are severe enough that I never know for sure what my health will be like from one day to the next. Or, from one hour to the next, for that matter. I have good days, and bad days, and today is definitely not a good allergy day. Therefore, it is difficult for me to think about much of anything else, except for how my allergies are affecting me right now.
I carry an epi-pen with me because my allergy to pine is severe enough to accidentally kill me, if I’m not super careful. I’d like to scream at whomever started the trend of putting pine nuts into foods, and sauces. Strawberries can also make my throat close up, and there is a strong chance that the next time I get stung by a bee, wasp, or hornet, that it will kill me. I carry an inhaler because I can end up having an asthma attack from smoke, perfume, flowers, dust and a variety of other air born allergens.
I’m lactose intolerant, and also allergic to oranges, grapefruit, olives, and anything with a lot of citric acid in it. Aspartame gives me headaches and sinus pressure. I have to read the labels on everything before I eat or drink it, just to be safe, and even that doesn’t work sometimes. “Natural flavors” could be anything, and I had a bad reaction yesterday to something I ate that I thought was safe. I take one antihistamine daily, and more if I’m having an allergy attack. I also have skin allergies to metal, latex, wool, and a variety of soaps and laundry detergents. The world is a scary place, for people with as many severe allergies as me.
One thing I know for certain, though, is that I am not the only one like this. Allergies run in my family. One of my brothers is also severely allergic to bees, pine, pollen, dust, and is lactose intolerant. We share all of the same allergies, save one. He is allergic to shellfish, while I am not. Neither one of us is allergic to peanuts, either, which is a miracle. Everyone in my immediate family has a dust allergy. My father, some of my cousins, and myself, all have skin reactions to metal.
Given what I know about allergies, and how many different kinds run in my family, I seems extremely likely that any children I have could inherit the family allergies. It’s kind of scary to think about. How much do you know about the allergies that your relatives suffer from? It is a really good idea to include information about allergies into your medical family tree.
Image by vanherdehaage on Flickr