I’m sure that the title of this seems a bit dramatic, and I guess in some ways it is; however, it’s not overstating anything. Currently as of my writing this my allergies are at the point where one could probably call it more of an illness. I can not eat, touch, or breath raw plant matter without reacting to it, and that includes pollen in the air. I know many will think this sounds a bit like Oral Allergy Syndrome, so did my allergist when this all started, but it’s not. If I eat any kind of raw plant matter (herbs, fruits, vegetables, oils, &c.) I will have a reaction of some type; if it’s going to be just a minor event or full on anaphylactic shock depends on how raw (or rather how well cooked) the offending substance is. If I touch the oils/juices of a plant my skin will break out in hives. Then recently (2016) I had to start wearing N95 masks outside (or in rooms with open windows) because my lungs seem to take damage (probably breaking out in hives) from breaking the pollen in the air; and no, it’s not asthma, I know what an asthma attack feels like and this isn’t the case and the pain/restricted breathing from it lasts a lot longer. I’ll give the full back story and timeline on all of this in a later post.
I’m mostly making this blog as a way of coping with it all, and just getting what I’m going through out there without burdening anyone to having to listen to it. Maybe even, if I’m lucky, I’ll be able to find people who can help me with research and leads on what may be going on. Who knows.
Life and death with pollen 