A Bit About Me

My journey trying to navigate my allergies has been nothing short of a wild ride. I grew up having no signs or symptoms of having any sort of allergies until I was around 10 years old. I went to blow up a balloon and my lips felt a little bit funny. I thought that was strange but I didn't think much of it at the time.

 

Over the next several months, anytime I would touch a balloon I would get a really itchy rash that wouldn't go away for a couple of hours. After this happened quite a few times, I eventually went to my doctor and she diagnosed me with a mild latex allergy.

 

My allergies didn't really change much for the next seven or so years until I was entering into my senior year of high school. I was eating a homemade banana popsicle that my friend's mom had made when my lips started puffing up. A few weeks later, I was eating a banana and the same thing happened again. I went to my allergist and he diagnosed me with something called latex-food syndrome and told me to avoid bananas.

 

According to PubMed, Allergy food syndrome occurs in approximately 30-50% of individuals who are allergic to natural rubber (latex). This can cause a hyper-sensitivity to plant-derived foods (Wagner & Breiteneder, 2002). This happens because the protein structures in many fruits and vegetables are similar to the protein structures found in latex, so the body can mistake the foods for latex (Allergy & Asthma Network, n.d.).

 

Over the next couple of years, what started as an allergy to just bananas turned into bananas, avocados, and celery, which turned into bananas, avocados, celery, and peppers. Which eventually turned into over 70 anaphylactic allergies to pretty much every fruit and vegetable under the sun.

 

If I ended up eating something that I was allergic to by mistake then all of a sudden a few days later I would be eating a fruit or a vegetable that I was previously okay with, then I would start to have a reaction. The more I would mess up, the less and less I was able to eat. I had gotten really sick that year with a multitude of different conditions and illnesses, so in part this was my auto-immune system attacking itself.

 

This was incredibly frustrating for me as this was all happening right as I was starting university. Having this allergy made it hard for me to eat the food in my residence because there were not many accessible options for me to choose from. This meant that I had to eat a lot of fast food which wasn't great for my bank account or my diet (editors note: there is nothing wrong with fast food).

 

By the time I had started my second year of university, I was at a whopping 75 allergies. Luckily, I had incredibly kind and patient roommates who did a great job of cleaning up after themselves and accommodating me to make sure I felt safe in my house.

 

After about two years of eating basically no fruit or vegetables, I decided enough was enough. After consulting with my doctor, we decided that it would be okay for me to test out carrots, which I had a very mild reaction to, to see if I was still allergic.

 

I was able to successfully challenge that food, and slowly over the next couple of years, I was able to re-introduce some of the foods back into my diet. I still have ten ingredients that I am still allergic to, but it is significantly better than it was originally.

 

After the majority of my food allergies had gone away, I was on Cloud 9, I was so excited that I was able to eat so much more delicious food and I felt like I had nothing to worry about anymore. I was really hopeful that I would eventually be able to out-grow my entire latex allergy.

 

Looking back, I could not have been more wrong. This past May, I attended a campfire at a friend's house. Afterwards, when I went to shower, I had broken out into hives all over my legs. I had assumed I must have been near something outside that I was mildly allergic to, so I didn't think much of it.

 

However, ever since that day, every time I shower, I break out into hives all over my body. Also, now every time I exercise, go somewhere cold, or get too excited I break out into hives. Sometimes, even my lips, fingers and toes will swell up. After going to my allergist she diagnosed me with an anaphylactic allergy to the hot and cold. This has been extremely frustrating because it really limits what I am able to participate in because it is such a hassle dealing with hives every day. I do have medication that I am able to take that helps a little, but for the most part, this has been a huge issue that I have had to deal with.

 

On top of this new allergy to the hot and cold, since starting my graduate program I have become significantly more sensitive to latex, and now my allergy to latex has become air-borne. This means that if I am even in the room with something that contains latex I have the potential of going into anaphylaxis. The doctors are still trying to figure out why this has happened, and how to control it.

 

Since November 2023 I have had seven different anaphylactic reactions to latex that have landed me in the emergency room. I have had to get multiple rounds of epinephrine, steroids, and fluids to keep me alive. These hospital trips have taken a big toll on both my physical and mental health because it takes me around a week to recover after each reaction.

 

Trying to figure out how to navigate dealing with my allergies while also working and going to school has been exhausting. But I am incredibly thankful for my friends and family who have supported me through such a difficult time.

 

Since my allergies have progressed, I have found that there are a lot of barriers precluding me from being able to do some of my favourite activities such as the stigma around allergies, misinformation about what someone with allergies can and cannot do, a lack of education, and general apathy towards trying to keep me and others with allergies safe.

 

This is why I wanted to create a website where people can find resources on how to properly educate themselves and those around them about anaphylactic allergies so we can create more welcoming and inclusive social spaces.