By: Eva Clark
I have been blessed with recurring sinus infections the past couple years, which have been incredibly annoying and have, according to my husband, made me a tad grumpy :D.
Due to this I went and saw an ear nose and throat doctor who specialized in, you guessed it, ears noses and throats.
The first step they told me I needed to take, was allergy testing.
I have never been tested for allergies before, and honestly just yearly during allergy season I've complained about my “allergies acting up” without ever REALLY knowing for sure what was even causing my symptoms. So this was a bit of an eye opener for me.
Now, when I first heard allergy testing, I honestly pictured someone coming in and putting a few dabs on my arm and saying, tadaa, “you’re allergic to ragweed, pay the lady at the counter.” Spoiler alert: this was way more intensive.
First, a week before the testing, I had to stop taking any and all allergy type medication. They gave me a giant list. Thankfully, the only thing on there that was relevant was my daily allergy pill and my nasal spray. But ten days is a long time to stop those staples of my life and the next week and a half was a congested snotty puffy-eyed murder.
On the day of allergy testing I show up to the dr’s office and get checked in and change into a wonderfully flattering gown with an open back. The first thing they do is make little scratches with this prickly rolly thing and apply a BUNCH of different oils (along with a control). They then wait 20 minutes and measure the giant welts that form. One side of my back was very itchy.
Next, they walk in with this:
My knee jerk reaction was to immediately say “What the F is that?!!” and then apologize for cursing at the nurse who said that she hears that phrase literally every day. She explained it looked worse than it was (doubtful) and told me how round two would go.
She was going to inject higher doses of the things I DID NOT react to under the skin on my arms, and a lower dose of things I DID react to also under the skin all along my arms. Both arms. Plural.
It honestly wasn’t terrible. I have a super high pain tolerance. But it was definitely like getting a million shots. Some people have gotten light-headed or fainted, but I didn’t think it was that bad.
Then we waited another 10 minutes, measured and VUALA! Allergy list!
I’m medium level allergic to 4 different weeds (Nettle, Rough Marsh Elder, Goldenrod, Cocklebur), a tree (Red Mulberry) a mold (Drechslera), and Higher lever allergic to….wait for it….COWS. Yes, that's right I am allergic to Cows. lol. Not cow MEAT or MILK mind you, no the physical animal Cow.
So, there you go. I shall avoid Cows.
The End,
By: Eva Clark
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