allergique
Apr. 28th, 2004 02:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jinianIt really is too bad I didn't have a camera with me yesterday afternoon so I could document my exact reaction to allergy testing, but don't worry, I didn't.
They left the exam room doors open in this office when none of the staff were inside, so my first impression of the place was hearing the long outward breaths and coughing of the asthma patients getting their lung capacities tested. My second impression was of the older teenage boy across the hall fussing up a storm about his allergy test; he would blow out sputtering like a donkey, presumably over the hives he couldn't scratch, and whine to his mother every ten seconds. It turned out that he was far more annoying than the hives, actually.
To test for inhalable allergens, the nurse draws a series of lines on one's arm in ball-point pen, then puts dots of different solutions on the endpoints of the lines. Once one forearm is dotted, she takes a small instrument made of curved metal out of its sterile packaging and pokes the dots with its spork teeth, wiping it in between. The other arm goes the same way. Then one is left alone for fifteen minutes, so that the hives may come into full flower and itch like bastards. The doctor evaluates them for size and stature, and then sends the nurse back in with the blessed alcohol wipes and magic antihistamine tincture, thank god.
My largest reactions were to grass. I still have slightly swollen pink places on my arm where those were, and a little itchy soreness to go along with them. This is after the magic stuff and going back onto Allegra. At the time, they were about one centimeter across, though not perfectly round, white and raised a millimeter off a field of bright red. My whole left arm was a misery. Luckily, the animals and fungi were all on the right arm, and none of those caused a reaction, so it was just the one. (I told the nurse, though, when she noticed I'd switched from knitting to reading, that I'd realized I wasn't supposed to scratch, and there I was with pointy metal things...)
It turns out I am allergic to:
Yesterday was emotionally just awful for no good reason, so it was really great that everyone in the office was so kind. The nurse was funny and sympathetic, and told me stories about being in school at the UW and having O-negative blood. Everyone wanted her for their research studies, and they'd come up to her constantly with phlebotomy gear and a pleading look. Heh.
(Most helpful person yesterday was Wim, who actually fixed the problem causing me to be nonfunctional and then helped me get to my appointment and consoled me lots. Honorable mentions to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dustbath and Eli. Thank you, good people.)
They left the exam room doors open in this office when none of the staff were inside, so my first impression of the place was hearing the long outward breaths and coughing of the asthma patients getting their lung capacities tested. My second impression was of the older teenage boy across the hall fussing up a storm about his allergy test; he would blow out sputtering like a donkey, presumably over the hives he couldn't scratch, and whine to his mother every ten seconds. It turned out that he was far more annoying than the hives, actually.
To test for inhalable allergens, the nurse draws a series of lines on one's arm in ball-point pen, then puts dots of different solutions on the endpoints of the lines. Once one forearm is dotted, she takes a small instrument made of curved metal out of its sterile packaging and pokes the dots with its spork teeth, wiping it in between. The other arm goes the same way. Then one is left alone for fifteen minutes, so that the hives may come into full flower and itch like bastards. The doctor evaluates them for size and stature, and then sends the nurse back in with the blessed alcohol wipes and magic antihistamine tincture, thank god.
My largest reactions were to grass. I still have slightly swollen pink places on my arm where those were, and a little itchy soreness to go along with them. This is after the magic stuff and going back onto Allegra. At the time, they were about one centimeter across, though not perfectly round, white and raised a millimeter off a field of bright red. My whole left arm was a misery. Luckily, the animals and fungi were all on the right arm, and none of those caused a reaction, so it was just the one. (I told the nurse, though, when she noticed I'd switched from knitting to reading, that I'd realized I wasn't supposed to scratch, and there I was with pointy metal things...)
It turns out I am allergic to:
- No animals.
- No fungi.
- No trees except "mountain cedar", the only conifer they tried, which is actually a type of juniper (I had to look this up myself, they had no idea). That one got a huge reaction. I expect it at least extends to other Cupressaceae, our local so-called cedars, and maybe to more conifers than that.
- GRASS GRASS GRASS, which I knew considering I get blotches if I lie on it.
- Mugwort, which I haven't heard of before.
- Ragweed, which we don't have here. It certainly explains why I was so sneezy in late-summer Minneapolis, though. This was a big reaction too.
- Sagebrush, which also doesn't grow here, but which must be what I've reacted to in eastern WA and OR.
- Yellow dock and scotch broom, though not too badly, at least. They're common weeds in this area.
- Histamine control, which is good or they'd have had to redo the test.
Yesterday was emotionally just awful for no good reason, so it was really great that everyone in the office was so kind. The nurse was funny and sympathetic, and told me stories about being in school at the UW and having O-negative blood. Everyone wanted her for their research studies, and they'd come up to her constantly with phlebotomy gear and a pleading look. Heh.
(Most helpful person yesterday was Wim, who actually fixed the problem causing me to be nonfunctional and then helped me get to my appointment and consoled me lots. Honorable mentions to
dustbath and Eli. Thank you, good people.)
