Allergies Changing-But not Peanut

Hi, I am 43 years old, and have experienced MANY changes in my allergies and symptoms over the years. the main constant for me has been eczema- I have had it all of my life. I started out with numerous food allergies as a baby, and outgrew most of those by the time I was 5 or 6 years old. my main symptom was eczema. I was allergic to cats, but we never had one so it didn't bother me. by the time I was 20, I was having a few symptoms of seasonal allergies, but just lived with it as I couldn't afford allergy testing or Dr.s. at 27, I had a very serious asthma attack while I had bronchitus and probably would have died from it if a co worker hadn't been worried about me enough to call me at home after I left work barely breathing- she made our boss come get me and drive me to the ER. for several years after that, I had asthma - exercise induced, and aggrevated by grass allergies. the asthma went away on it's own for the most part ( I still keep an inhaler just in case) with the grass allegies, I started having trouble with hives and swelling one summer- That stuck around a few years, then subsided. when we moved to the east coast, I developed numerous tree allergies and dealt with sinus headaches and infections every spring for a few years...that subsided. Then I developed an allergy to Parabens, an ingredient in most shampoos, baby wipes, lotions and sunscreens. I still have trouble with that one and have to be pretty careful what I use. just waiting to see what will flare up next- it is always an adventure! take care, jen

both my PA girls are also allergic to wheat, soy and egg. all four allergies used to be more problematic...but only the PA considered life threatening. over time, the wheat, soy and egg allergies have become much milder to the point that we are considered "not allergic" to them anymore (as far as i understood the doctor). the numbers for the wheat, soy and egg had gone down af the time of retesting. those allergies were never life-threatening (for us)evem when the numbers were higher; which i've always been thankful for. however, the PA has remained unchanged over time (darn!)and is still very serious. my girls both also have ezcema and lots of skin issues that are bothersome (not sure which allergy or sensitivity that is all related to or whether or not they are all somehow tied together somehow) and one has asthma that varies from very mild to problematic depending on the time of the year and exposure to allergens. the other, the youngest, has not been diagnosed as asthmatic yet but i imagine that is right around the corner as i have noticed what i think might be some mild rattling and wheezing lately. she is seven which is the same age her sister suddenly experienced symptoms of asthma after exposure to leaves (while raking) and relatives eating mixed nuts the same day.

just wanted to add....i hadn't even entertained the thought that the girls/our family could acquire NEW allergies in the future! that must have been no fun at all.

we have or are dealing with seasonal allergies (15 yr old dd, myself), treenut allergies (husband), and the PA, wheat, soy, egg allergies and asthma and possible asthma (two youngest kids). i only hope that we are at our limit for food allergies and allergies in general in this household. : )

still, having read some of the other posts here over the years, i have to consider us lucky that we have only one serious allergy that is dangerous (the PA in our youngest two girls) and that our problems with asthma seem so much milder than what many other people are dealing with.

Ugh, yes, this happened to me, unfortunately (you'll see why further down). I was doing so well. I had allergy shots growing up, and by the end of high school, I wasn't on any medications for asthma OR for environmental allergies. When I was little, my doctor told my mom I couldn't have a rabbit even if we kept it outside, I was that bad off.

Then, I had to go through chemotherapy for hodgkin's disease. It's all been downhill from there.

I'm on allegra, singular, flovent, sudafed, I have to use my rescue inhaler at least once a day, and I had to use my nebulizer for the first time in 5 years last week. The chemo just completely reset my immune system back to square one. So now I have to go through the allergy shots again, and hope that my asthma problems will go away in a few years like they did in the past.

I wish I had never had the respite in the allergy/asthma problems, because then I wouldn't have adjusted to feeling okay all the time. When I was little, I was used to feeling stuffy all the time and it was just status quo for me because I didn't know I could feel any better than what I was. Now I know, and it's just horrible. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/frown.gif[/img]

DD started with exzema at age 3, after her first round of antibiotics.

By age 5 she suffered from hay fever, but the exzema rarely flared up. Allergy testing showed allergies to grass, several trees, dust mites, cats (which we didn't have).

By age 8, we added almonds, hazelnuts, and most raw fruit and vegetables.

Now, at 19, she's also allergic to more types of trees and grasses, peanuts, cashews, pistachios, macadamia nuts, but no reaction to almonds.

The seasonal allergies are not always bothersome, it depends on the weather. She's never had as severe a hay fever attack as her first, where her eyes were swollen shut.

Her food allergies seem to be getting worse, her others holding, or diminishing slightly.

I have had environmental allergies since high school (I'm 46). In the last few years, I have had more and more sinus problems, and am going in July for re-testing (first time in 20 years).

I can't pinpoint anything that makes my problems worse on a day-to-day basis, so I'm not sure if I'm hoping there's something new causing my problems, or just mismanaged allergies that I'm already aware of!

I have been taking a daily antihistamine, daily Nasonex, humidifier/ air cleaner, but so far, nothing fixes the chronic stuffed head.

we have been adding to our list of allergens too -- my son tested positive to peanuts only at age 2 -- at age 2 1/2 it was peanuts and tree nuts -- at age 4 we added latex and at age 5 we added apple,banana,strawberry, cantaloupe, carrot, corn, soy, coconut, dog, and ragweed

since we found all of these 7 months ago we have been able to almost completely clear up his excema -- most of the foods were either irritating his mouth or we noticed excema flare ups which was why he was tested for them. We are praying that his next testing won't reveal more -- however he has already starting complaining about watermelon....