Tiffany's Allergy Testing!

Intermountain Allergy & Asthma

Well, I finally got the allergy testing done! And, it's official, I am allergic to EVERYTHING! I am not exaggerating either. The testing was painless (which I am grateful for) and it didn't take too long. We did some testing on my asthma first. I had to blow in a peek meter thing.. and I could only get it up to 300.. and the thing goes clear to 900. At first I could only get it to 150! Then then had me do the testing with it hooked up to a computer that records the breaths I take in and blow out. He said mine is a little low but that I probably have smaller lungs since I am tall and thin. I am sure Jason could get it all the way up to 900 easily. He's much broader than I am though. Plus, he's way more competitive so he'd do it just because I can't. :) I can't take very deep breaths at all or blow them out for very long. I was awful at it!

The allergy testing was easy. I was so nervous for it though. Luckily, my husband holds the priesthood or I would NOT have ever even done the testing! Priesthood blessings help calm me down, even though I'm still nervous, they help me a lot! They did the testing on my back. First, the MA wiped my back with cold alcohol (it made me cringe!) and then she drew all over my back with a marker. Jason says it looks like a child took a marker to me! :) Here is a picture of the writing on me before the testing. Sorry if it's revealing.. it's just my back, I promise!

After she wrote all over me, she put little drops of liquid on each of the black dots and letters of different trees, plants, animals, foods, etc. And then she took a bifurcated needle and pricked all of the spots. It didn't hurt at all. It just felt like someone poking me with a fingernail. I was surpised.. I am such a baby. I thought for sure I would be crying but it wasn't bad. The worst part was waiting for 15 minutes after she did the pricking because I was itchy all over my back and couldn't scratch!!! I had Jason fanning my back with a folder to make it itch less. It was the longest 15 minutes ever! It itched all over! And Jason just kept saying, "Oh wow! You are allergic to all of it! Tiff, they are all big red welts! There's only 3 that aren't! You are allergic to EVERYTHING Tiff!" Well... I always say I am allergic to everything but really, I am! Here are some pictures of what it looked like for the 15 minutes!

Here's a close up.. Jason says these two big ones are the dogs and cats but I am not sure..

After the 15 minutes, the MA came back and tallied up the results. She had to measure some of the spots because they were so big. The biggest one was the Cashews.. that welt was 2 1/2 x 1 cm. Jason didn't get a picture of it though since it was my VERY lower back.. She was pretty shocked so that must mean she doesn't see that often. After writing the results down, she wiped my back with alcohol and put some cream on all the spots to stop the itching. Then Dr. Burdett took Jason and I to his office to talk about the results...

So, we already knew that I am allergic to all types of nuts! The doctor made sure to tell me to stay away from the nuts! And I know I am allergic to fruits and veggies but, there's lots of allergies that I had no idea about! No wonder I am always feeling so miserable! They rate the allergies on a scale from 1 to 5+ and about all of mine are the 5+. Dr. Burdett told me that I am probably in the highest 5% of people with severe allergies! He told me I was in the right place when we walked in and saw my welted back! Blah!

So here are my results.... Some of you may think this is boring but I think it's CRAZY! So I am putting it on here for my family to see. I'm not going to put all of the specifics like they are on my paper cause that'll take way too long...

TREES
4 Alder
5 Ash, White
5 Aspen
5 Birch, River
5 Box Elder
5 Cedar, Mountain
5 Cottonwood
5 Elm, American
5 Elm, Siberian
5 Juniper, Utah
5 Linden
4 Maple, Silver
4 Mesquite
4 Mulberry, Red
5 Oak, Gambel
5 Olive, Russian
(there are 8 other trees on this list but they didn't test me for them.. 4 of those are nut trees so I gurantee I'd be positive on them too..)
(By the way.. it's no wonder I have allergic reactions to fruits and veggies.. They grow on plants!)
GRASS
5 Kentucky Blue Grass
5 Timothy
(They only test for these 2 types of grasses because if you allergic to these, you are normally allergic to all grasses)
WEEDS
5 Alfalfa
4 Dock, Yellow/Curly
4 False Ragweed
4 Giant Marshelder
4 Greasewood
4 Kochia
5 Lamb's Quarters
4 Pigweed, Redroot
5 Plaintain, English
4 Rabbitbrush
5 Ragweed, Western
4 Russian Thistle
5 Sagebrush Mix
5 Scale, Wing
(There are 2 other types of weeds they didn't test me for... But my guess is a 4 or 5.. what do you guys think?)
MOLDS
3 Alternaria
2 Hormodendrum
INHALANTS
4 Cats
5 Dogs
1 Feathers, Mix
1 House Dust Mite
(They didn't test me for other animals but I am told to stay away from ones with furr..I already kind of realized this.  My asthma was way bad at my parent's house and they have cats and dogs so we don't even stay there when we go home to visit.  My cousin's Jenn and Celeste have been nice to let us stay with them.)
COMMON FOODS
1 Banana (this surprises me because I have reactions to apples, bananas, any fruit really.. but the Doctor told me this may be because I have something called "Oral Allergic Syndrome" where my mouth and throat become itchy like I am having a reaction but it doesn't hinder my breathing any or start my asthma.. so I can eat it but it's really irritating and feels like a reaction.. weird!!! Why can't the itching not come so I can eat fruit without feeling like I am having an allergic reaction?!)

5 Soybean (this is one I didn't know! Soy is in EVERYTHING!!! And he said it may be why I have stomach issues because I am eating it and have a severe allergy to it...)

2 Carrots (he says that if I cook the carrots and don't eat them raw then I shouldn't have the reaction.. We'll see.. I stay away from them because I have reactions to fruits and veggies.. Carrots with ranch always looks so good to me but if I eat it, I get all itchy in my mouth and throat and feel like I am having a bad allergic reaction.. maybe I need to try cooking them and see what happens but I am nervous!)

2 Egg, White (I get itchy in my mouth and throat when I eat eggs too but it is a 2 so it's not a very bad allergy I guess..I can't even eat cokie dough without getting itchy from the raw egg..sad I know!)

2 Milk, Whole (anything dairy..like milk and icecream make my allergies worse so I was nervous this would be high but I'm glad it's not higher than a 2..)

2 Wheat

5 Cantalope (he told me I can try some fruits and veggies and see how they make me feel but that it's probably going to take some testing out to see which ones bother me and which don't... Doesn't sound very fun to me! He said it's probably worse for me to eat them during plant season since I am allergic to all plants, trees, weeds, etc.)

NUTS
3 Almonds
2 Brazil
5 Cashew
4 Coconut
3 Filbert, Hazelnut
5 Peanuts
5 Pecans
5 Walnuts, English

So... What do you think? I am not sure what I think.. Relieved that the testing is over with but WOW.. I am worse off than I thought. We talked with him about starting allergy shots for the trees, grass, and weeds. You have to start them 5 months before the season that they are prevalent in but my allergies are year-round.. each season, there are trees, grass, and weeds that I am severely allergic too.. no wonder I have had this chronic sore throat for 2 years now!!! AHHH!

Jason mentioned that he better be a doctor in Mesquite. I cried when he got rejected the other day by the Med School in Arizona because I know my allergies wouldn't be as bad there since they haven't ever been this bad in Nevada... I'm so sad we aren't going to Arizona. I hope he gets in at the U of U in SLC now because the rest of the schools are clear across the country but I also am way sad because I think I am going to be in this pain from allergies for a LONG time before we can move somewhere without so many trees...

Anyways, now Jason and I have to decide if I should try the allergy shots. I would get 2 each week of the pollens, trees, grass, weeds, etc. that I am allergic to and the dose will keep getting higher and then my body will have a better immunity built up but it doesn't mean that the allergy goes away...We'll try and figure out if I should do it or not. I haven't heard very many success stories from the shots so we are going to do our research before we decide. The Doctor said we should start by January though if we are going to do it so we only have a couple of weeks to decide.

By the way, just a side note.. there are tons of other foods on the list that they didn't test me for and a lot of them I have reactions to if I try eating them.. I wonder how severe my allergies are to the rest of the foods.. especially the other fruits and veggies...

Also, with my swollen lymoh nodes and the pain that comes with that... the doctor wants me to get a sinus x-ray taken at the hospital to see what is going on in there. I am going to try and get it done before Christmas so we don't have to pay for it since we have met our deductible this year already... I'd rather hurry and get it done this month so we don't have to pay out of our pocket for it.

Well, this was a long post but I'm done! I wonder if anyone will read the whole thing... I'll make Jason! :) Then I'll feel better about taking the time to do it.