Living With Allergy

Although my childhood seems so far away, now, that I've stepped into the final part of my life, I still remember myself as being a healthy child. I liked to play, to run, to climb on trees, I was full of energy and optimistic. The only small issue I had was that I used to get very frequent cold and flu (or at least this is what my mother was thinking at that time). She took me to a lot of doctors. They tried lots of drugs and medical procedures on me, without me getting rid of those colds. Even more, my symptoms came back amplified each time, until I was suffering so much that I had to stay in bed during few days each month.

After years of pain, one doctor said to my mom that I should get tested for allergy. That was the beginning of a new life for me. I went to take the tests. The nurse made several scratches on the skin of my left arm, then poured some substances on the scratches and wrote something directly on my skin, nearby each scratch.

After half an hour, some of the scratches were all red and swollen, while others were almost not visible anymore. So, the tests showed that I was suffering from severe allergy to a few substances: dust, pollen, strawberries and apples. Some others were classified as mild allergies, and this is how I was able to explain why I was never able to eat the American goulash my mom was making - I was allergic to one of the ingredients.

This is how a new era of my life started. An era in which I was forbidden things like walks in the park on spring nights (which I used to adore, as the trees were spreading such a nice perfume), or eating my favorite fruits, strawberries.

When you are allergic, exposing yourself to the substance which triggers the allergic reaction from your body must be avoided at all costs. Repeated exposure will aggravate the symptoms and will even endanger life. I was prone to get an anaphylactic shock with each strawberry eaten. I had to avoid even touching strawberries.

Allergy has no cure. Drugs can only alleviate the symptoms, but the disease, once you got it, you die with it.Andif you didn't know it, find out that even pets can develop allergies: dog allergy to fleas can be really painful, but so easy to avoid, by simply maintaining your dog's hygiene and respecting prevention measures, like giving him anti-parasites products once or twice a year.

Allergy is in fact the reaction of the body to what it perceives as harmful substances. This reaction is produced at the blood level, the blood white cells, the leukokytes, trying to neutralize the foreign molecules which threaten life. In allergic persons, leukokytes mistaken harmless molecules like dust or peanuts, or pollen,and they mobilize their army to get rid of them from the body. This is how the secretion of a substance called histamine begins. Histamine produces all reactions that are visible: hives, rashes, running nose, swelling, itchy eyes or breathing troubles.

This is why an allergic needs to stay away from all allergens he is sensitive to. It is very serious. Life is at stake here.