Got a call from Dr. Calm's office (my immunologist) today and I definitely have an "alpha-gal" mammalian meat allergy. The hamburger I ate a few weeks ago was the cause of my anaphylactic reaction. The jury apparently is still out on the c-kit mutation test for mastocytosis. No more mammalian meats or mammalian meat byproducts or fats allowed!
When I had the EMG done for the radiation induced lumbosacral plexopathy (try and say that three times in a row really fast - not hardly possible) Dr. Welby commented on my occipital nerve stimulator, saying I was a really special person to have one of those, meaning he didn't see THAT too often. I told him my theory that I am the "nexus" of weird diseases, and I really want the merry go round to stop and let me off! Well, now I have one more weird disease!
Guess my tick bites here in southwest Missouri (not far from Arkansas) have set me up to be fatally allergic to beef, pork and other mammalian meats! Trying to have a sense of humor about it, I started getting a list together of new things I cannot eat:
Platypus
Whale
Dolphin (well, tuna was already off the list so no accidental dolphin eating here)
Venison
Rabbit
Squirrel
Possum
Elephant
Mice
Antelope
Bison
Elk
Seal
Manatee
Sea otter
Polar Bear
Dog
Cat
Tiger
Musk Ox
Apparently I could be a cannibal, because human meat does not contain "alpha-gal" nor do the higher apes like chimpanzees and gorillas. Ummm, baked gorilla - no thanks. I think this about makes eating out in a restaurant impossible as I am about out of foods that cannot be cross contaminated in a kitchen.
Proteins I can still eat (deadly allergic to seafood and fish so they are off the list):
Snake
chicken
Alligator
Chicken
Turtle
Chicken..
Turkey
Chicken....
Grouse
Chicken......
Parrot
Chicken........
Lizards
Chicken...........
Quail
CHICKEN...........
I think I'm getting carried away with chicken, which is the protein I eat the most of anyway.
You know, when something is restricted from your food list you start yearning for it even when it is something (like beef and pork) that you don't really eat that often. I also started thinking of things I eat or take that have mammal protein in them - gelatin capsules for pills, pancreatic enzymes for digestion, refried beans, tortillas, jello, lunch meat - ouch!! Too much for The Headache to handle!
My mom was doing better by this afternoon with her dizziness. Hoping this means the antivert is working, and it is only an inner ear problem. She is perking up a bit, more like her regular self. This at least seems to be going well! Yeah!
This week has not been good for me healthwise. Monday evening I was trying to sleep and in a lot of pelvic and back and leg pain. I drifted off and was dreaming I was screaming in pain. I woke up and I was actually laying there screaming "EEEEEEEEEEEEE" so I guess it wasn't a dream. I did medicate and have stayed home the last two days partly because my Mom needed help, but also because I am in an incredible amount of pain. In addition to the pain I am extremely nauseated and I have hives in batches several places on my body. I went without pain medication most of today and the nausea was still there so the "medication is to blame" theory bit the dust. I fear The Belly may be riled up in addition to everything else. This is messing with my need to do things and be at work and concentrate and I am not happy about it one bit. Pain pain go away, come again another day!!!
I think Karma is working against me for some reason, or maybe it is because the evil thought crossed my mind that I might have wanted to eat a duck billed platypus for dinner or chow down on a poor manatee. The ghosts of all those future chickens I will be eating are going to haunt me now!
Sometimes you just want to throw your head up in the air with your arms and yell "What next?" You are my posterchild for handling medical problems. Hope things get better soon, you win the lottery and you can have a full time chef to prepare your nonmammalian meals and cater to your every whim. Hugs.
ReplyDeleteOMG! I totally did not think it was going to actually be a beef allergy!
ReplyDeleteNess: That's my retirement plan - win the lottery - me and several million more people unfortunately. I think I am the posterchild for the National institutes of health rare disease database!!!! I'm just going to go down the alphabet there and start figuring out which one is going to be my NEXT disease!
ReplyDeleteJessica: And the icky part is the tick bite/tick saliva part of the immune response. ewwwwwwwwww. tick saliva. reminds me of the old joke: Going fishing? Yep. Got worms? Yep, but I'm going fishing anyway. Mine would be got tick saliva goobering up your immune system? ewwwwwwwww again!
I'm sorry to hear you have a severe allergic reaction.
ReplyDeleteI've eliminated red meats on my Ayurvedic diet and have really seen the difference in my body and with my migraines. I now stick to white meat and freshwater fish, and stay away from leftovers.
I'm sorry! What a pain in the butt! It's nice to see you (still) keeping your sense of humor about you.
ReplyDeleteHope you are feeling better soon!
jasminepw: I work with a Hindu lady and she does not eat any meat from "hooved" animals - mostly eats chicken and fish.
ReplyDeleteI stay away from leftovers also because histamine levels rise the staler the food gets. Because of the fat content I rarely eat beef or pork but occassionally (and that is what got me in trouble) I like a hamburger - real hamburger. Quoth the winny, nevermore!
Emily: Yes trying to keep some balance in my out of balance psyche!
Other foods a gal from Australia said I could eat were ostrich and emu (which are like Red Meat in texture and taste supposedly) which I had not thought of. Sorta BIG CHICKENS!
Ones I thought about today I won't be able to eat anymore: Muskrat, capybara, giant sloth, anteater, unicorn, chupacabra, yeti, and sasquatch meat.
Not good tonight - been a long week of feeling out of sorts. Hoping for a better tomorrow!