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Thread: Weird allergy phobia - advice?

  1. #21

    Re: Weird allergy phobia - advice?

    Hullo my fellow allergy-phobes!! I'm soooo glad to find you all!! Although I wouldn't wish it on anyone, it's so good to see I'm not alone!! I've been suffering with this for probably 2 years now, with varying levels of intesity.. Now I'm focussed on getting better though...

    This is my first post ever, so apologies in advance for any rambling...

    My first anxiety attack was from the belief that I was going into anaphylaxis from something that was on a coat-hanger i put in my mouth (I put it in to hold it whilst I hung something on it... not some wierd fetish thing! lol).. Anyway, whatever it was that was on it burnt my tongue and tasted BAD, and then my mind started racing and I started to think I was going into anaphylactic shock - long story short - went to the hospital, found nothing wrong, went there again next day with similar things, nothing wrong... aah! *insert light bulb* panic...

    Because it all started with the anaphlaxis fear though, it's almost like Post Traumatic Stress... the vast majority of my panic attacks have been related to food/allergy fear. For a long time I only ate vegemite scrolls, vegemite toast etc, then slowly (very slowly!) introduced "Safe" foods (single ingredient foods, Steak, steak + salad/veg, etc). Then I progressed to 'unsafe' foods, i.e. curries etc. I would have one bite then wait 30 minutes before eating the meal. Hell? Yes, but I slowly progressed... THEN a few psych's and putting another coat-hanger in my mouth later, I've started to get better... I find though, whenever I stop "pushing" myself to eat unsafe foods, I regress pretty quickly. For this reason I have a list of foods I'm trying to stick to that I have to eat at least weekly - nuts being number one (this is a recent hurrah for me, as I avoided them for aaages - I've never even had a remote nut allergy, I grew up on peanut butter!) And this biggest hurrah only happened by going to the local markets (another challenge for me, having food made outside of my control) and buying 'gado gado' with peanut sauce (so not just plain old peanuts), then eating it in the emergency carpark lol It still cracks me up... I drove in, parked, then sat and ate my food in the car, listened to the radio for 15 minutes (i've shortened my 'waiting' period down to 15mins), then hung about the campus for a little while longer till the discomfort subsided... Hopefully people just thought i was waiting for someone!

    I'm the same as you amiee, prior to this I was always the adventurous one always trying new foods etc, now nada. I get bitten by a fricking ant and nearly have a meltdown on the spot swearing I can't breathe!! Bites are one thing I haven't conditioned myself to yet (how do I do this??! Just get bitten constantly by random bugs etc???) *sigh* it really gets me down sometimes... Although I've come a long way, i still have SOOOooOOoooOo far to go.. I'm yet to undertake the biggest leap of faith and actually put my unclean fingers in my mouth... I haven't done that in well over 12 months!!!

    Oh, and the best one yet - just so that maybe I can make you feel a bit better about your predicament - my friends and family get a bit of a giggle out of it anyway (although it's a nice compassionate giggle) - One of the foods still high-up on my list of unsafe foods I won't eat? Fish. Pre-panic I ate fish ALL the time, but now? Nothing... The funniest part about this though and the thing that makes it COMPLETELY irrational?? I won't eat fish for fear of swelling up and being unable to breathe, yet every morning I take a fish oil capsule!! So no, I won't actually EAT fish, but I'll quite happily gulp down a capsule of pure, condensed extract-of-fish.. gargh!! totally illogical...

    I have sooo much more to say, but I'm trying not to write tooo much of an essay!! It's so great to know you're all out there though! I think the hardest thing is thinking you're alone and a complete freak... btw this is a form of hypochondria it seems (hypo, not hyper... apparently there's a big difference?).. I've also had a squillion tests because of the anxiety stuff in the early days - asthma testing, a mirriad(?) of blood tests for all sorts of wierd and wondeful things, ECG + ultrasound + halter monitor for my heart (palpitations!), and the worst? An ear nose and throat check due to a 'lump in the throat' feeling (which I've later learnt is called 'globulus hystericus' - GREAT name...) in which they shoved a camera down my nose to check out my throat!!! I swear, that is one way to cure a fear of having a lump in your throat - i NEVER want one of those again, when I get that feeling now, it's almost instantly dismissed!! lol

  2. #22

    Re: Weird allergy phobia - advice?

    I forgot to mention - I have two weapons when it comes to my conditioning/exposure training:

    1. Mentos/Minties or Extra Mint chewing gum
    After I eat, if I'm feeling a bit anxious, I eat one of these to a)remove the flavour from my mouth (so I can pretend I didn't really eat whatever it was) and b)to actually MAKE my mouth tingle, so that at least it's tingling for a reason and I don't stress or freak about this feeling. VERY important as your mouth usually tingles after eating anyway due to the stimulus on your taste buds and nerves, yet in the past this has caused me to have a panic attack and believe i'm going into a-shock

    2. Showers.
    The art of distraction featured highly in the early days of exposure/conditioning myself... (and not distracting my mind by trying to read etc because my mind is WAY to smart for that and just ignores the fact that I'm trying to expertly divert it's attention) but to distract my body from any sensations that might be occuring in it. If there is something going on, I just won't feel it and therefore I won't freak out about it.

    Ultimately, if I was actually going into anaphylactic shock, these distractions wouldn't work and there would be other telltale signs (swelling, hives etc) that minties and a shower won't get rid of...

    Just thought I'd share in case it helps!

    Oh, and last (but definitely not least), when I'm trying to do my exposure foods, I try and mix them with 'safe' foods so I can try and trick myself that I'm not really eating them (i.e. the gado gado with peanut sauce, as opposed to having peanut butter or plain peanuts- snickers or picnic bars are great for this too!).

    Good luck!! Unfortunately the only way to get over this is to keep exposing ourselves to it until we stop having this fear. I have to say, my concious mind seems to believe that this is all illogical and irrational and that if I've never had a bad reaction to anything, then why would I suddenly just go into anaphylactic shock with no precursory adverse reactions to the offending food, but some part of me argues with that and manages to rationalise all the fear... Actually, I read something once which made a lot of sense... it was about a guy who was on the brink of comitting suicide when he had the thought, “I can’t live with myself any longer.” And then a question came to him, “who is the “I” that can’t live with “myself”, and why is it that they feel differently?”
    That's how I feel sometimes - "I" knows all of this is rubbish and that I'm not actually going to go into anaphylactic shock, but "myself" won't let me listen to that reasoning and therefore keeps me living in fear... Unfortunately, "I" doesn't have a very loud voice or has had a 2 year bout of laryngitis or something... hmph..

    (sorry! another essay...)

  3. #23

    Re: Weird allergy phobia - advice?

    Hi Everyone,
    I'm in the right forum to ask for help. I have horrible allergy phobias. I've had two allergy incidences from food (horseradish) with hives, swollen lips, rashes, and several due to antibiotics that I was allergic to. The food allergies happened over 15 years ago, the antibiotics just within the last couple of years. I'm so afraid of eating, drinking or taking medicines that I'd rather starve on vacation than to risk having a complication. Vacations are strained, going out to restaurants is stressful and if I go to a friends house for dinner, I always have to ask what is in everything. If I'm flying, I won't eat during the entire flight (sometimes 15 hours and longer) since I have this fear.

    I've been tested at the allergists and the only thing we could come up with is horseradish allergy. Everything else has been negative. I have one antibiotic that I'll take but anything else, I will not.

    I know this is very unhealthy to have this much stress, but can't find a solution to it. How have you dealt with this? Counseling? Stress control?

    Thanks!

  4. #24
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Posts
    1,484

    Re: Weird allergy phobia - advice?

    Hi
    I carry epi-pen where ever I go,I am allergic to bees wasps and hornets.
    Petra x

  5. #25
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Posts
    895

    Re: Weird allergy phobia - advice?

    hi kv 1961, try reading some of my recent posts, you are not alone x x
    __________________
    can't even go the nuthouse cause she's allergic to it!!

  6. #26

    Re: Weird allergy phobia - advice?

    I am having the same exact problem. It started about a month ago. I have always had a fear of medication but not of food. I have had anxiety since 2005. This is all so new - fear of food? all food? I love food!!! I am so glad to read that I am not the only one. How do we fix this? I am scared to death!!! I think I may go to an allergist about the chances of anaphylaxis happening to me. I get such conflicting info on the net. I have never had a food allergy or food reaction ever. I do have IBS and milk makes it worse but that is it. Nothing to warrant this fear. I found a list online of hypoallergenic foods that allergist start people on when they are doing their elimination diets. These are safe foods. I had a panic attack yesterday after eating grilled chicken and steamed rice. (on safe food list). I am starving! I ate plain oatmeal for breakfast and lunch. Then I ate left over taco's for dinner. I have had that 3 nights in a row. Corn tortilla,meat, cheese. Its safe.
    HELP!!!!!

    I forgot to add that I just told my counselor about it and he made me take that 500+ question psych test, draw a tree, a person, house. Said he would see me next week. Maybe I am OCD not just anxiety. Only meds I take are ativan 0.5mg prn for anxiety.
    Last edited by anx2005; 07-01-11 at 04:55.

  7. #27

    Re: Weird allergy phobia - advice?

    Hi,
    8 years ago I had an anaphylactic shock from a penicillin injection,( I had pnuemonia) luckily for me I was in the emergency dept of our local hospital so they had all the drugs on hand to help me, the next night I went into respiratory arrest and was intubated for 3 days. It took quite a few years for it to come out, but it did eventually, I now suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. The sight of an injection just freaks me out to the point my husband had to take me to the dentist to get a filling, I was beside myself I was in tears,(my last four fillings was done without a needle) the dentist said he deals with this behavior all the time. New medication I am frightened to take, but I am in a dillema because I am also frightened of chest infections and I am allergic to penicillin. I am also reluctant to eat peanuts, yet I am not allergic to peanuts and I find myself not eating certain things because I may have a reaction. I have been to psycologists (which haven't helped me), I saw a beautiful lady a few months ago that helped me lots, she did EFT (emotional freedom technique), it's tapping on various points on your head and chest etc it helped me to take away all the negative emotions which were attached to that situation. I am not cured but I am a lot better. I have been on mirtazipine for 3 years which was a God send for me. I am currently coming off mirtazipine I have gone cold turkey this is day No 6 for me, doing OK so far.

  8. #28

    Re: Weird allergy phobia - advice?

    what is so bizarre to me is that I have no food allergies. I have never had an anaphylactic reaction. If I had the experience you did I don't know that I could mentally recover. Kudo's to you!!!! I make up this weird crap in my head for no good reason.
    I drank some prescribed liquid codeine this summer for a cough and totally started feeling bizarre after about 30 min. Like out of my mind. Then I ate some shrimp/rice sweet sour bowl at work and totally started flipping out- cold chills, tachycardia, sweating.
    Ever since then it has been in the back of my mind- the "what if". Now it is full blown anxiety to eat anything. So bizarre.

    On a positive note- the posts on this site have helped tremendously. Since I found out the only real true cure is to just eat the dang food I have been forcing myself to eat. I am still just eating plain oatmeal for breakfast and lunch at work. I am afraid to have a reaction or panic attack over eating at work. At home I have tried pizza, hamburger, french fries, burritoes, loaded baked potato. So thank you all so much!!!! I am excited to be eating something. Last weak I thought I was on a path to starvation. Of course every day is different. Yesterday I was more gutsy than today.

  9. #29
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Posts
    895

    Re: Weird allergy phobia - advice?

    Anx2005, keep pushing yourself. it is important to keep momentum. think about it like driving a car. you push down too hard on the accelorator (rush yourself) and you might veer off course and crash... you take your foot off and you start to slow down and eventually stop... so just keep your foot on the peddle constant. try a challenge every other day, once you have started to build up what you are eating write everything down... you can eat so far -

    oatmeal
    pizza
    hamburger
    french fries
    burritoes
    baked potato
    shrimp
    rice
    sweet/sour
    grilled chicken

    look at you! i too was very fearful about eating at work. don't worry about pushing yourself there yet - one step at a time. it got to the point where i was too scared to even drink water at work. now, by breaking it down into mini challenges, i can accept a cup of tea off of my colleague and leave my drink at my desk without me seeing it and still come back and drink it!!

    Good luck, x
    __________________
    can't even go the nuthouse cause she's allergic to it!!

  10. #30

    Re: Weird allergy phobia - advice?

    no shrimp or sweet and sour stuff. I am afraid of that.
    I tried bacon tonight! Woo Hoo. Baby steps. Thanks for the response. Its nice to know it is possible to get passed this!

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