Husband came home Wednesday from his work day in Bismarck to find his right big toe was swollen from gout. He drives to Bismarck on Tuesday nights, stays at a hotel, and works at the Human Service Center all day on Wednesday. Sometimes he takes lunch with him from home in a cooler, but he often just scrambles for lunch on the fly from the grocery stores. Wednesday it was hummus.
Chickpeas are really bad for gout. He knows this, but really loves hummus. He still eats it. He also is seriously allergic to cats, but we have had cats in our home for 35 years. A dripping nose and sneezing are more tolerable to him than the absence of purring. A swollen toe is worth some hummus. I know I could never give up down pillows or comforters if I became allergic to feathers.
My Uncle Alvie, the poker player, always broke out in hives when he ate fresh strawberries. He always feasted on his wife’s homegrown strawberries though, no matter how itchy he got. I know that allergic reactions can be serious. I had a graduate school friend who would go into anaphylaxis if she walked into a home with gerbils or guinea pigs. A work friend recently got a bunny for her son and after a few hours her eyes swelled shut and poor Coco had to go back to his breeder. They were heartbroken.
Do you have allergies? What would be hard for you to give up for allergies or health issues?
Trail Baboon 
I am so lucky that the only thing I know I have a reaction to is sulfa drugs, as a child. And the only time I remember breaking out in hives was when I was seeing a therapist, who attributed them to the fact that I was “breaking out” of the place where I was “stuck”.
It would be harsh to be allergic to tea and coffee. What if I were allergic to sugar!
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I had no allergies until I reached my late 30s. The first one to pop up was Sulfa drugs. I was nearing the end of a 10 day course when I broke out in hives. That one is easily managed – just avoid that family of drugs. A couple years later Springtime allergies hit me hard. As I’ve mentioned before, oak pollen and cottonwood fluff are the biggest offenders. There are probably other pollens involved but I’ve never been tested. I start taking Allegra in late March or early April and continue until late June or early July. Luckily ragweed doesn’t bother me in the Fall. If I developed an allergy to animal dander, I would probably still visit my sister’s and niece’s cats and dogs (unless, of course, the allergy was severe put me in anaphylaxis).
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* severe enough to put me in….. (sheesh!)
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I had a childhood friend who was allergic to, among other things, chocolate, and that was the worst thing I could think of at the time..
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As a child being allergic to chocolate would have been a life crisis.
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Rise and Shine, Baboons,
I seem to be allergic to wide varieties of things, and once I get one managed so I do not react to it, the allergic reaction just shows up somewhere else. I am always on anti-histamines and medications to alleviate it. Now, though, the allergies are adequately treated enough that I rarely get sinus infections. That is as good as it gets for me. My dad was like this, too. Mine became exponentially worse after chemotherapy 33 years ago. That chemotherapy protocol uses heavy doses of steroids. Some allergy and sinus infection treatments use steroids as well because it reduces inflammation. After about a year following the treatment my allergies returned with a vengeance and have only intensified with age.
I am allergic to dogs, but like Renee’s husband and cats, my life must have a dog in it. In fact, tomorrow we go visit a litter of Corgi pups and choose one who will be ours. We are looking forward to that!
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Few real allergies, all plants, hay at top of list, some flowers like lilies. Then I have many things that trigger my rhinitis, rhinitis vs. allergies! Sort of a technical point. Biggest difference. No real treatment for rhinitis. Lots of triggers for my multiple sensitivities/fibromyalgia/or whatever it is. Sensory input of all sorts.I used to say except taste, but now some spices are on the list.
Sandy suddenly has a persistent sniffle. Seems at moment just spring. Never happened before.
Clyde
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nice to have you back clyde
sorry it’s about triggering your stuff
hope that you and sandy have a minimal reacting spring
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No allergies. Cutting waaaaay back on salt because of high blood pressure has been rough.
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I have to cut way back on sodium for my tinnitus, and yeah, it sucks. Have you tried the salt-free bread by Angelic Bakehouse? Lunds and Whole Foods carry it. A little dry, takes some getting used to, but it’s so nice not to have to calculate 180 – 300 mg of sodium per slice of bread into my lunch plans!
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does MSP do the same thing to your blood pressure is salt. You could get by with a lot less salt but MS fuel pump up the flavor.
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I’ve seen recipes for hummus made from other beans (edamame, cannellini, etc.) and from various vegetables (sweet potatoes, cauliflower, carrot, etc.). There’s also skordalia, which is potatoes and garlic, and melitzanosalata, or roasted eggplant dip, both of which are fantastic. So maybe your husband can scratch his hummus itch without ending up in pain.
After going vegan I had vastly fewer stomachaches and colds; I assume I have a lactose intolerance, though I don’t think it extends to a full-blown allergy. I would not give up the cats no matter how bad my allergies got, but I think that’s the only thing I absolutely could not do. Giving up coffee would be very difficult, since I love hanging out in coffeehouses, but if I had to I could. I’d just be really cranky about it (and not just until my headache went away).
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I misspeak, babaganoush would be a better substitute for hummus, since it includes tahini. Both babaganoush or melitzanosalata are delicious, it’s just a matter of texture.
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and the number of unpronounceable syllables
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Bonus tonguetwister with every recipe! Babaganoush is really fun to say, makes a great faux swearword.
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I’m told nuts can contribute to kidney stones. I don’t want to give up my peanut M&M’s…
But I’m not allergic to anything it doesn’t seem. I may get some skin irritation from certain things, but nothing critical.
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Looks like peanuts are on the low end for oxalates, at least. (I remembered something about this from when I worked at the nutrition center…)
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It’s the calcium in legumes that causes the kidney stones. Dairy products cause them too.
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My skin reacts to the skin test they give for TB that makes it look like I am positive for tuberculosis.
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Mantoux test. So did I and lots of people in my mother’s family. We were given the test routinely in elementary school. My doctor wrote a letter to the school nurse about it. There was still a fear about TB then.
Clyde
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I’m allergic to a long list of weird stuff. I’m allergic to the TB vaccine – how strange! I had one at one point in my life so I shouldn’t need another, I hope.
Dust is probably the worst allergen for me. It causes asthma. Also that snow mold that appears right after the snow melts, as well as some mildews.
I’m also allergic to “organic wheat” but I don’t know what that means. Does it mean all wheat products or does it have to be organically grown wheat? And how does that make sense? I do have more tummy upsets if I eat a lot of wheat products like pasta. I’ve never had trouble with a slice of bread or two, or pizza crust, or any of the millions of cookies I have enjoyed in my lifetime. So I’m not sure what that really means. I’ve just learned to be careful about portion sizes.
Apparently, I am also allergic to pistachios although I’ve eaten them in the past and had no problem. I have to avoid garbanzo beans at all costs, even though I do like hummus.
I recently saved myself from crossing into borderline diabetes. I cut out sugar as much as possible in January and my recent bloodwork shows that it helped. I did have pie at VS’s and enjoyed it very much. I went right back to being sugar free after that and I just need to avoid it. I’m really a sugar addict. I know that breads and pastas convert to sugar but I think as long as I control sweets, I’ll be ok. I also avoid products with lots of preservatives as they contain high sodium.
I have been pretty busy for the last couple weeks. I spent a week on the North Shore and this week I’m having painting done.
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Was fun to see some North Shore pics on FB, Krista.
Let us know how the painting goes!
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I have adult onset allergy to every kind of dust mite apparently as well as tree leaf mold. The tree leaf issue doesn’t bother me anymore but used to be a problem every fall when I used to do Leaf Pile. It took the medical establishment a long time to figure out the allergies. And part of the finding out process was having my tonsils out. That was just awful. Suffice it to say that every rare thing that can happen to adults who has their tonsils out happened to me. I lost a month of work over it. Anyway, the allergies are pretty well contained these days, except for when I get a cold. Then it’s as if the allergies come out to party and my two allergy meds depart for the coast. Luckily, I don’t have to give up anything for my allergies, although I have certainly made changes to my life. All my clothes washed in hot water now no matter what and I change the sheets every Saturday whether I like it or not. And then there’s the allergy covers over my mattress, box springs and pillows. This means twice a year I have to completely disassemble my bed, wash all of these covers and then reassemble. That’s coming up in the next few weeks.
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Sounds familiar.
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I don’t have food allergies, thank goodness. I do have elevated homocysteine levels, and the theory is that that’s related to a genetic inability to methylate folic acid. About 25 years ago they started adding folic acid to most cereals and grains. Unless they are organic, then they don’t have to have the additive.
I try to buy organic products when I can, but they’re expensive, and it’s pretty hard to avoid folic acid completely. Any time you get a sandwich at a restaurant, it’s almost certainly not organic.
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For what reason?
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Folic acid, if you cannot methylate it causes elevated homocysteine levels. and poteniially heart disease.
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