HUMP DAY!!! YESS!! WE ARE HALFWAY THROUGH THE WEEK AND I KNOW WE CAN DO IT!!!
A big portion of everyone’s lives is eating. And for me, I struggle on a daily basis and let me tell you why…
In September of 2017 I picked up my first epi-pen ever. I had never needed one up to that point but the allergist said it was always necessary I have one on me. Thus, began a journey I thought would be the death of me…literally.
So back story…at the end of 2016 I had started getting these weird rashes on my face which weren’t a huge deal but definitely noticeable. I was feeling embarrassed and really wanted to know what was going on. So, I started monitoring what I was eating. I noticed that after I ate anything that was “carb-y” I would get this rash. (Event #1) It would get worse after I would eat a bagel which is so sad because I love bagels so much. After realizing that maybe “carbs” were causing the rashes, I slowly started cutting them out of my diet. Then came a weird itching around my mouth. Now I was thinking to myself what the heck what is causing this. I thought maybe my face wash or toothpaste, maybe my shampoo or body wash. Yet again I monitored everything I did. It turns out almonds seemed to be giving me a bit of an itch around my mouth on occasion (Event #2). At that point my mom and I decided I should go to an allergist and get this all figured out.
The allergist, who was just oh so sweet, took me at her latest time slot since I work pretty far from her office. When she talked to me, she wanted to be “real with me” since I understood the “science-y” language she was about to throw at me. She said we needed to run some tests to see what reactions were happening with each of the individual foods I thought were causing the problem. We did a prick test that had gluten, casein (since I’ve been lactose intolerant since I was very young), almonds, celery (oh and you better believe that one came up as an allergy but it’s all good I’ve known since I was 19 that I was allergic to raw celery), and a few others. Everything but celery came up negative. Very odd. We also did blood tests to rule out Celiac’s, which it was negative. The diagnosis at that point (early 2017) was a gluten sensitivity and to be cautious around it. Nothing about almonds except just don’t eat them if they make you itch (duh Zaina pretty obvious) and to stay away from celery (not hard because celery is gross).
Great I was all set, or at least so I thought. Michael and I moved into our first apartment about 45 minutes from our parents. Everything was great! We even tried one of the home meal prepping services that get delivered to the house. I loved shrimp LOOOOVED it! Until that fateful night. We made a beautiful dinner of shrimp and veggies. It was delicious, and I loved it so much that I ate about half of the shrimp by myself. Well we cleaned up, put our PJs on and got ready to relax for the rest of the night. Well I was just sitting there and my lips start feeling odd, as if they were getting bigger and felt as they were on fire. It was terrifying. I called my mom in tears because I had no idea what was going on. She asked Michael to go get Benadryl from the local pharmacy as soon as he could. I took one and sucked on ice in a baggy until I was sleepy (Event 3). We’re now at event #3 of weird reactions after food.
A few weeks after, we went out to get frozen yogurt because who doesn’t love a good froyo night?! We went to our local favorite place. I’m a pretty plain and simple gal you know…just chocolate or vanilla base with Reese’s peanut butter cups, brownie bites, chocolate syrup, hot peanut butter, and chocolate sprinkles so pretty much all my favorite things in a cup. I waited to eat it until we got back into the car to drive home and boy am I glad I waited. I took a couple bites of the froyo and my throat started to itch. Nothing crazy, but I did not like the feeling (Event #4). I was getting nervous, so I stopped eating the froyo and took a Benadryl when we got home and went to sleep.
Fine, my body wants to freak out. That’s okay but what could it have been in the froyo? My second food group in life up to that point was Reese’s peanut butter cups (made of chocolate and peanut butter). Could it be the peanut butter, no way, I have eaten Reese’s my whole life. Just a bad night for froyo. At this point I started to get nervous about eating anything, but I have to live, so I just moved along.
About a week later we met up with my dad at a yummy restaurant where, silly Zaina ordered crab cakes as an appetizer and the lobster ravioli. I should’ve caught on to the look Michael was giving me like “crazy girl you’re eating shellfish and we have been here before what are you doing?” I ate everything and was savoring the moment when all of a sudden BAM the itchy throat and mouth!!!! I had no Benadryl on me. We had to go to a family friend’s house and barge in during their dinner to get Benadryl (event #5). Luckily with enough water and Benadryl in my system I was starting to feel better but was so upset at myself for not realizing what shellfish actually was.
At this point my mom explained that I really should go see the allergist again and redo the prick test and other blood tests to see what was going on. I took her advice and off I went (September 15, 2017). The allergist was so helpful as always and really wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on. We did even more samples on this prick test and she suggested we do the children’s set of tests as well. So we tested for casein, gluten, peanuts, celery, almonds, cashews, shrimp, scallops, crab, lobster, dogs, cats, dust, and a few types of trees. Every shellfish showed a reaction (so sad), so did the peanuts (bye bye Reese’s), and so did celery (stupid celery). And then we had to chat about epi-pens, how they work, how they should be stored, and everything else I needed to know.
I was terrified, stunned, upset and just unsure of what to say. I have just been told I’m allergic to peanuts, shellfish and celery. On top of that I’m lactose intolerant and gluten sensitive. What am I seriously supposed to eat? Lettuce? Just veggies? I was panicking. Luckily I had my mom, nana, and Michael to be there for me and hold me while I was upset. My nana let me cry for about ten minutes and then she said let’s do this and order your one set of epi-pens (Auvi-Q which can talk and explain how they work). I love her for that moment. I went home to Michael and the sweet man he is, went right along with my crazy self. He supported and joined me as I started throwing out everything that could potentially kill me.
The night I picked up my epi-pen I was an absolute wreck. I cried at the pharmacy because it was coming out to be $400 and I could not afford that but I also knew I couldn’t leave without it. My future life literally depended on it. I was about to have a nervous breakdown right there in the pharmacy. It was a rough night but it turns out my insurance was inputted wrong so it was covered but still I was so upset and it didn’t help.
Thus, started my food allergy journey. At first I was overly obsessed with making sure nothing had been near any type of shellfish or peanut because I was terrified I was going to have a reaction. I went to the local pharmacy and stocked up on every type of Benadryl there was, chewables, tablets, and liquid, kids and adult versions (go check out that photo up top to see what I’m talking about!). I was ready for the food allergy apocalypse with the amount of anti-histamines (medicines help with allergic reactions) I had on hand. I had an “allergy plan” for if anything happened based on the severity. FYI if it is a mild reaction I will start with a chewable tablet, next level is the liquid, followed by the epi-pen. I choose this because I am so cautious and aware of what I eat that I’ve only ever gotten to a mild reaction a few times.
Michael and I began to eat gluten free, no peanuts, no shellfish. If Michael ate any peanuts, nuts, or any type of seafood I wouldn’t go near him. I was absolutely paranoid. It did not help my already existent anxiety.
This lasted for about 6 months. Michael did a great job of always being prepared and making sure everyone knew I was allergic to certain things. I started to relax more and realize it was okay. I mean seriously, children have food allergies and are diagnosed at young ages and are surviving. I definitely will be okay!
I started doing more research on food allergy friendly food brands and found some really awesome ones! My absolute favorite of them all is Sunbutter. It’s a peanut butter alternative made from sunflower seeds. Truly unbelievable! I buy two at a time because Michael likes it so much he goes through it so quickly. I also really enjoy Rice Dream rice milk and Ripple pea milk. Van’s gluten free waffles are literally my go to breakfasts!
I have become more lenient with brands where their foods have been made on the same machinery as peanuts. I just proceed with caution. And now, I have a long list of brands saved on my amazon list that I can’t wait to try!
I forbade sushi in my life for about a year unless it was vegetable rolls. Recently, I took the leap and tried a spicy salmon roll and asked to make sure they used fresh equipment and guess what? I survived. What I’ve realized is that it is totally reasonable to live with food allergies, I just need to be cautious and aware. Now I’ve been promoting some of my food options to my friends and colleagues and everyone has really enjoyed what I’ve suggested so far!
It has been over a year later and I’m feeling GREAT and much better about my food allergy situation. I’m still allergic to peanuts, shellfish, and celery but haven’t let it bother me. I have only recently started to incorporate nuts back into my life. I will eat an almond croissant or macaroon but no seafood or raw celery. I’m finding substitutes for everything and feeling very positive about the whole thing. I don’t know everything about food allergies but I do know that it is manageable and you can live with it!!!
Thank you for reading all of this I know it was a lot!! I appreciate each of you!! If you have any brands of food you eat that are peanut and shellfish free let me know!! I love to hear about new foods!!
Love always,
Z
