Hi! My name is Cat, and I wanted to formally introduce myself to the group. I just left the allergist AGAIN with sore arms. I have known for a good 20 years I had allergies to what I thought was unusual things. I have multi-chemical sensitivities to petro chemicals and pesticides. I am allergic to perfumes and have been carefully avoiding all those types of irritants for the past 20 years. I went through through testing at the University of Texas Health Science Center after I had worked in greenhouses for the past 15 years and was having symptoms of pesticide exposure. I also have fibromyalgia and a connective tissue disorder.
For the past two years I have had trouble breathing when I would eat out. I was having trouble figuring out what caused it but it would happen about 10 minutes into the meal. It would also happen at other times, for no obvious reason. It would go away after about 30 minutes. But it had started to get worse.
I woke up the day after Thanksgiving and my face was numb, I could not breathe through my nose at all and my face felt swollen. My new doctor thought I was having an allergic reaction to something. Maybe the wine I drank a bit too much of at Thanksgiving dinner
... Maybe the chocolate/cranberry cake drenched in cranberry liquor a chef friend made for dinner. Maybe the spicy stuffing he made that we devoured.
I have been in for allergy testing three times in the past month. Now I can breathe easily which is a BIG improvement. Also the colitis I have had for 20 years is SO much better. It seems I was allergic to wheat and rice. A week after cutting out all gluten, I could suddenly stop searching for a rest room every time I left the house.
They also told me I was allergic to cranberries and oranges. The oranges I can understand because they always made my mouth and lips break out. Often my face developed a rash right after eating them. What was suspicious was that we had just started using Orange Oil with Beeswax as a sealer on the furniture we were working on. My nose didn't like it and when we brought in a bed we had made into the house, I had to close the door to that bedroom because I found the smell overpowering.
I have had severely chapped and sore lips for about 2 years and found out that the lip balms I had been using contained mint and often orange. << sensitive to, but not allergic to mint.
Now I am reading labels on everything... I am trying to identify hidden ingredients.
I am trying to figure out why 7-up and Sprite burn my mouth but Dr. Pepper does not. Does anyone know if citric acid is made with oranges?
I also just started trying to cook with almond flour and oat flour. I seem to be tolerating both fine. However, my wonderful cooking skills can't seem to make a decent loaf of bread or a cracker that my taste buds find appealing. And my almond flour pie crust was terrible. I need help figuring out how to use alternative flours in the same way I used to use white/wheat flour. I need recipes!
And does anyone know anything about lip balms that don't contain sunscreen, parabens, jojoba, orange oil or mint? I have spent hours in drug stores reading labels and I am getting weary.
Any suggestions on sites or ideas would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
~MzCat