Like most people who are new or unfamiliar with allergies, you either brush off your symptoms or chalk it up to a minor cold. But when you start to feel sickish on a recurring basis, you begin to question what’s going on with your body. I lived my childhood and into my early adulthood with allergies and food intolerances until I finally decided to take control over my health and figure out why I felt the way I did. It took several years to find the answers I was seeking, but I finally found the right balance that works for me in order to stay and feel healthy.
I tried many things from food elimination diets to juicing, cleanses, taking over-the-counter allergy and cold medicine and more. But it wasn’t until I finally got tested for allergies and understood my allergens and food intolerances were the root cause and triggers that were making me feel miserable. Had I been properly diagnosed earlier, I could have:
Avoided the sore throats and sinus infections. I’ve learned that by cutting out the triggers that increased inflammation in my body, I could reduce that feeling of having a cold.
Avoided dairy to reduce my acne that I’m now scarred from. Acne was another way of my body letting me know milk was having an adverse affect on me.
Had more energy and felt less tired because of the brain fog affects my allergies were having on me.
Minimized the dry itchy skin and skin rashes that left me so uncomfortable in my own skin.
Avoided taking unnecessary medications to mask the effects of the allergies vs addressing the root cause.
Some things to look for if you’re trying to figure out potential triggers for you:
How long it took before symptoms appeared
Did food come into contact with your skin?
How long it took before your reaction(s) went away?
What worked to address your reaction(s)?
Were there any new environmental factors you were exposed to?
Any new or different medications you took?
Finding the right doctor for me was difficult. I wanted someone to work with me, listen and treat me as a unique individual to address the root cause. I didn’t want a generalist that was quick to prescribe and minimize how I was feeling. In the end, I ended up taking an online allergy test to get answers to my specific food and environment questions. This led me to eating a plant based diet and has minimized my flare ups by 90%! Researching and becoming the expert of your body is the best advice I can give when going down the journey of discovery.