Allergy

[GillT]

I have been diagnosed as suffering from stress and anxiety when being treated for my severe allergies. I think the doctors are right as I feel so ill and I am anxious about eating the wrong food which can cause anaphylactic shock or going into the wrong place which may excacerbate asthma and sinus problems. Trouble is my symptoms dont seem to fit into what I read. Even when I had a panic attack it didnt feel like what I read. I woke in the night feeling the worst I ever have felt in my life and kept saying I cant bear it but the symptoms didnt seem to be of racing heart , sweating etc. I just felt really ill. It lasted about 20 minutes. Now I just feel physically ill but all the time with flu-like feelings, nausea and headaches and sort of tingly hand sometimes (tho I know I am not hyperventilating. and it never goes away except when I am asleep! Every now and again I have periods of about half an hour when I feel even worse completely terrible, nauseous and ill. Can anyone identify with this, just feeling ill all the time from the minute I wake up.

[Southern_Belle]

Gill,

Are you allergic to mold? What are you allergies? I also have severe allergies and get terribly ill from them. If I am exposed or eat the wrong foods I feel the same way.

Bel

[GillT]

Ive got multiple allergies. All the usual things like pollen, cats house dust. Also to latex (I had an anaphylactic shock in reaction to chestnut and this later caused panic attacks) I just was recovering from this when we moved into a house with hidden moulds and have become hypersensitive to them. This started with sinus problems but now I can hardly go anywhere and I think its developed into serious panic and stress and possibly ME chronic fatigue. I dont really know whats going on, just that I feel il all the time now.

[GillT]

Sorry Bel, and I meant to ask you what allergies you have got and how it affects your life. This seems on a different scale to just a bit of hayfever or something.

[Southern_Belle]

Gill,

It's ok. I too developed mold allergies and got extremely ill after being exposed to a "sick" building at work and by that I mean it had mold growing on the walls and it got in the air conditioning vents. We also had mold in our air ducts at our home so I got a double whammy. Afterwards I was treated with mass doses of steriods from an allergist and have never been the same as it killed my immune system. I now have fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. I also have hypothyroid disease. I'm not saying that the mold caused this I'm just saying my immune system died. I'm allergie to tons of food and just about everything green on the planet and the usual stuff, dust, cats, pollen, and yes me too latex. The dentist has to use special gloves with me or my face swells up. I did allergy shots a few years ago with my son for 5 years and they helped him loads but not me. Now I take about 3 meds for my allergies to try to control them but I get terrible migraines and have sinus problems and get bronchitis. I so understand what you are going through. I get so ill when I eat something I am barely allergic to. I get headaches and oooh what happens to my stomach!!! I also feel the effects for days afterwards. It's like when I would get the allergy shots, I would feel so ill afterwards as they would inject you with what you were allergic to - to try to build up an immunity to it. As I said, they didn't work for me. My son had 17 fatal allergies when he was younger, he is now 13yr! He also has (and me too) have asthma, but his was much much more worse than mine. We also have eczema which is a skin rash in the same family as asthma. I have horrible anxiety and have only had 2 panic attacks. Bet you never wished you asked what was wrong with me huh, lol. So much huh! When you feel physically ill the anxiety only gets worse. So I think when you are reacting to having eaten something you are allergic to you feel ill so of course your anxiety level goes up. It has been my experience.

Bel

[GillT]

Your story is so similar to mine. I cannot believe it. 3 years ago we moved in to a bungalow near the sea. We began to find mould behind the wall paper, under the carpet etc. The house had been really nicely done up but it was all hidden and didnt even smell. Meanwhile I began to get bad sinus problems and infections and kept going to the doctors who just gave me nose sprays and antibiotics. Nothing worked and eventually we found the real problem was a flat roof which was leaking full of mould but water was not leaking into the room.
Also my husband and I run a business and before Christmas we discovered that the building was a 'sck building' and the next door unit was full of mould and the spores had been coming through to our unit so we have had to move the business Like you I have recently been diagnosed with hypthyroidism . I thought it might be connected because I read a story of some 'mould victims' on the internet who developed it. Although our house is now clear I still have bad sinus problems and headaches and have just been referred to a consultant for chronic fatigue. I feel like I have flu all the time, nauseaous and headachy. I recently saw an allergist but he only gave me double antihistimines and 6 weeks later put my problems down to stress because they didnt work. Although I am suffering from stress as well and had a major panic attack after going into a mouldy building. (the sinus probs have caused me to completely lose my sense of smell. My main problem now is that I can hardly leave the house as a lot of buildings and house make me ill quite quickly. The doctors I have seen seem to have trouble understanding all this. I dont think they realise how dangerous mould can be. Oh yes and my dentist has to use vinyl gloves as well! How do you cope from day to day. I feel like my life has fallen apart. Keep in touch Bella - you are the only person I have spoken to with the same problems as myself. Gill

[Southern_Belle]

Gill,

Wow, it's scary how similar we are huh. Our house was on a lake! I will never live on the water again. I never knew though that mold and hypothyroidism could be linked but I was diagnosed with the thyroid thing shortly afterwards. How do I cope... Well I have chronic pain every day. Mostly from the headaches and the fibro. I'm just so very tired. I'm sure you know where I am coming from. There is just no energy source! I also have this foggy brain of mine which I never had before. I obviously can't work. Luckily I don't financially have to. I am the married mother of 2 boys. I do feel like at times I haven't been the mother I would have liked to have been because I have been bedridden for days due to fatigue. I also have had bouts of extreme anemia. My thyroid goes up an down through the years. As a matter of fact I just went to the endocrinologist today and got a different dose of synthroid again as my tsh has changed yet again. It gets so old. I try to go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time. I really try not to take naps. I eat healthy, stay away from caffiene, only have maybe a glass of wine once a month and stay at home. The only thing I don't do that would benefit me is exercise. I really must start doing that, but when you are exhausted how do you begin? Haven't figured that one out yet! Yes, let's keep in touch, you too are the only other person I know that has been through such an ordeal.

Bell

[GillT]

Hi Bel. Thanks for replying. I wonder where you are living. Its a long way from me anyway! We live by the sea and the air is quite damp. We are going to move but dont know what would be best. The country ?pollen, animals, the town ? traffic fumes etc. I certainly cant live anywhere near woods or in a valley. I found I was getting ill after walking in woodland and guess its the woody spores and damp.
I cannot drink alcohol at all now[:( Really strange as I used to love drinking wine. Your symptoms sound so similar. I used to do so much - I am an artist - also helped with my husbands business, looked after a handicapped child some hours a week for social services , ran the house and looked after my boys. Now I can only just about cope with running the house and cooking. My brain is foggy and I cant concentrate as well. I can watch a whole tv programme and not really get what its about! I am sure the hypothyroidism has been brought on by our problems as I read about some families affected by mould on the internet and they also developed thyroid problems. I am lucky I did not get put on all those steroids but have definitely overdosed on antibiotics. My worse problem is that there seem to be so many places I cant go or I get ill (I think that is why I developed the anxiety and panic attacks - being scared a place would affect me). Do you find that you cant go to places? At the moment I am just staying at home with my hepa air filter running! I do go for walks though as I love walking. However they are not nearly as long as they used to be and its a huge effort now. You could start just doing a very small amount of exercise as it might make you feel better psychologically?? I dont know what your doctors are like but the ones here just seem to treat individual symptoms and dont seem to understand the whole story. I dont think they do allergy shots but maybe thats just as well.
Hey Ive got two boys as well. Luckily they are quite grown up 18 and 21 and one at university. I dont know how I would cope if they were young. Dont worry about the boys - they will always love you no matter what. No one is the perfect parent - you just do the best you can.
Sometimes I just seem to drag myself through every day and feel quite depressed. Do you feel like that. So much has changed. I've even completely lost my sense of smell due to the sinus problems. How long ago did your problems start? Do you think there is hope for improvement. I'm not sure the doctors can tell us. Gill

[Southern_Belle]

Gill,

I live in Florida, so I am surrounded by water. But we don't live on it now, we had to move. My boys are older now too, 20 and 13. I got ill 10 years ago, so I have been battling this quite awhile. The sad part is my 13 year old has really never ever known me well. It's quite sad actually. When they were giving me enough steriods to kill a horse I was bedridden for 3 months, my mother lived with us to help out. Of course, he was only 3 at the time and had his own issues with asthma, that horrid house was probably the problem! Anyway, you are right about the exercise, but the fibromyalgia makes me hurt all over and my shoulders and neck are so tight all the time I am in constant pain, be so glad you don't have that. I also have no sense of smell due to sinus and allergy issues. Lost it long ago. I have never been diagnosed as clinically depressed but I'm sure I have been at times. I have only been diagnosed as having anxiety but I've had that since childhood. I don't have issues with leaving my house. But, like I told you I'm on medication, I've had issues with being in a car before and flying (hate it) etc. I've come to realize that for me, I have no room for improvement, this is my lot in life. I've dealt with this for too long. It's funny tho, I didn't have any food allergies growing up nor did I even know I was even allergic to mold! I also did not have sinus issues until I was in that work situation and moved into that house. I also had a somewhat lower immune system than my brother and sisters because I was a 2 month premie but other than that I was normal. Now I know that because I had eczema I was prone to allergies because that is in the asthma family (thus that is how my son Spencer got it) so says the doctors, but I was never ill before with allergies until the exposure to mold. So, I just really don't know what happened to me. I do know tht one other person just fell out of her chair at work and had to be rushed to the hospital. The funny thing is Gill, is that I was working for a Home Health Care facility (a branch of a hospital) can you believe it! It was a brand new building and part of a hospital at that. If I had known all the costs I would have endured I think I would have sued. I have never been the same. I so hope you cope better than I have. I'm sorry to hear your brain gets foggy too but it's nice to know I'm not alone, makes me not feel so crazy, if you know what I mean. They thyroid thing can really make you feel ill.

Bel

[GillT]

I really feel for you Bel.Its terrible feeling ill every day. I was the same as you - just grew up with asthma,hayfeverand eczema. Not good but nothing like this feeling all the time. I developed the latex/food allergy (then the severe anxiety and panic attacks) about 5 years ago and the mould allergy, the worst, 3 years ago. Sometimes I think im going crazy as I cant work out if my symptoms are due to allergins, chemicals, stress or the menopause or chronic fatigue syndrome. (Im 51 and get hot flushes which doesnt help). How old are you? Ive always got the chronic sinusitis though but the allergy specialist just gave me antihistimines which havnt worked and now seemt to have given up. Also thyroid tablets. What meds do you take for your problems. I saw a doctor who gave me lots of food suppliments (Very expensive and I havnt noticed a difference!) I am lucky that at least I can do a bit of walking and so on. I tried a drink on Saturday night as well (just one) but even one drink seems to affect me next day. I dont have much caffeine but am going to try and cut it out completely and see if that helps. Trouble is Im rather keen on chocolate and think that caffiene is in that as well.....

That is terrible that you were working in a new building. We were the same when we moved into this house. It was all newly done up and we could never have known about all the mould in the flat roofs coming into the house. Trouble is it takes so long to realise what is happening and by the time you have worked it out it is all too late.

We live near the sea and are going to move but not sure where would be the best place. Everywhere, seems allergic to me! If you are near fields you will get moulds when they cut the hay and traffic fumes also not good.

I also am stressed about car driving although with some good reason as there is some pretty bad driving going on. In the past 4 years we twice booked holidays abroad and then I couldnt go I kidded myself I was ill but it was definitely the fear of flying. I think the whole thing is really stressful. I am always worrying about whether I can go in certain buildings and places as I can be really ill very quickly if there is mould. Not just sneezing or wheezing but feeling really ill and my doctors dont seem to understand that bit.
Where do you live now then? Is it hot and sunny. I always think of Florida as quite humid. Where I live in Cornwall (the south-west bit of England - right at the end!) is quite damp. Maybe I should move to a desert! Gill