Allergies Are Nothing To Sneeze At!

After my cooking fiasco, which lead to an ER visit, I kept waiting for the prednisone side effects to take effect. Having researched the medicine online-where almost every disease and medicine you read about are fatal- I was actually excited to learn I would have feelings of euphoria and a better appetite. After the scare, I was terrified and afraid to eat anything. But no, that was too much to hope for. In fact, without exaggeration, the side effects I experienced convinced me that I would end up back in the ER under Nurse Ratchet’s inspecting eye and gracious bedside manner.

After muscling through the bad side effects of prednisone, it was finally time to call the allergist.  I made an appointment to find out which culprit: shrimp, Indian spices, or muscle relaxant caused my almost demise.  The nurse said to bring a list of all my allergies.

And so I did.  I gave the doctor enough sheets of paper to cover the world at least once as well as the recipe for Moglai Shrimp.

He exhaled after reading my extensive list and looked over his bi-focals at me.  “Seems the only thing you’re not allergic to is water.”

“That would pretty much sum it up.”

“My partner is Indian,” he said, taking the recipe.  “I’ll be right back.”

When he returned to the examination room, he said his partner agreed that there wasn’t anything suspect about the Moglai and in fact most Indian spices are used medicinally.

“So, what caused the severe allergic reaction then?”

“Definitely the muscle relaxant.”

Great, I thought, I have a doctor’s excuse:  No yard work or vacuuming the house!  Certainly no tasks for a girlie-girl like me, and now I have permission to just play lady. How great is that?

“I would recommend that you get allergy tested to see what foods you should eliminate from your diet.  You need to carry an Epi-Pen in your purse, just in case this happens again.

I scheduled the allergy test immediately.  The nurse did a scratch test with only fifty items from my long list. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to test me for any of the Indian spices or muscle relaxant, but when she came back into the examination room, she saw one area on my back that was inflamed and indescribably itchy.

This has to be the shrimp, I lamented.  My favorite food.  How am I going to give up shell fish?

“Pleeeease don’t tell me it’s the shrimp,” I pleaded.

“Actually it’s not.  It’s…celery.”

“Celery? You’ve got to be kidding.  My body reacted to celery?  Like who’s allergic to celery?  It’s ninety percent water and ten percent fiber.  I eat it in salads and never had a reaction.  And besides, there was no celery in the Moglai Shrimp recipe. So, now what?”

“I’ll get the doctor.”

Still stretched out on my stomach on the table, the doctor entered. 

I looked up, “Well?”

“The tests show that you can eat shell fish and everything else on the list.  Stay away from celery.”

“But what do I do now?  You couldn’t test me for Indian spices or the muscle relaxant.  The test was inconclusive. So, what do I avoid?”

He shrugged his shoulders.  “Whatever it is, you might not be lucky the next time.”

“Lucky? What do you mean?”

“With a reaction as severe as yours, the next one could kill you.”

I left the office more confused than ever. Celery! And called my internist.

At his visit, I showed him the recipe and told him what had occurred. 

“No, you’re not allergic to the muscle relaxant. You’ve taken it for years without side effects.”

Darn, back to household chores.  I thought I could milk this one forever. No such luck according to him.

He looked at the recipe.  “Most of the spices are in many foods, so it isn’t the Indian spices.  Wait!  It could be the Cardamom. That spice is unusual and isn’t in Mexican food or any other dishes.  That’s it!  I’m positive.”

So, who do I believe?  One for the muscle relaxant…One for Cardamom.  I need a tie-breaker.  I made an appointment with one more doctor. She was absolutely certain the culprit was: Shrimp.

“But, I’ve eaten shrimp my whole life and sometimes 3-4 times a week.”

“Doesn’t matter.  Some people have an allergic reaction to foods they’ve eaten for years.  Stay away from shell-fish.”

“But…but, the allergist said the shell-fish test came out great.”

“It’s up to you, but I wouldn’t.”

Thoroughly confused, I drove home convinced I needed to give up Indian food, shrimp and the muscle relaxant. I couldn’t take a chance.

One week later, I received a bill from my allergist.  Five hundred dollars.  My eyes widened: FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS for an inconclusive test?  Is he serious? 

I’ve got to tell you…between the testing and that bill…Allergies Are Nothing to Sneeze At!