Out-Grow Allergies

[pbsml]

Just a quick question here...

Since one can "grow into" allergies, does anyone know if you can grow out of them too?

I've had lactose intolerance for about 12 years, maybe which was caused from glutening up all the time, who knows.... but in the past 2 years, I've started to get an allergy attack when ingesting any dairy... ie. my throat swells a little... it feels like I get a lump in my throat which can hurt into my back. I've always assumed it's an allergic reaction at least.

I find this new gluten intolerance than much more restricting since I can't have dairy either... I wish I could just go back to the day when Lactaid was a good friend and I could still deal with the dairy products.... man, i used to love my cheese.

thanks!

[GlutenFreeManna]

I have a similar history with dairy. When I was a baby, dairy made it difficult to breath. My mom was told by the doctor to limit my dairy intake, but that I would "grow out" it eventually. I remember consuming dairy products from middle school on to adulthood up until about my mid to late 20's with no real issues (I am now 30). Now if I drink milk or eat ice cream I start coughing, my sinuses get congested and I have difficulty breathing. Sometimes I cough to the point where I throw up and then I can breath better. Now here's the interesting thing: from middle school until recently I have always had asthma and seasonal allergies. The number and severity of the asthma attacks increased as the years went on. Last year I was at the point where if I walked into a room and someone was wearing a heavy perfume I would have trouble breathing and need to leave immediately to get a few shots of my inhaler.

When I stopped the dairy I stopped getting asthma attacks. I also had very few allergy problems this year. I am still allergic to dust, but didn't have as bad of a reaction to the pollen. This is completely based on my experience and my opinion, but I don't think you "out grow" allergies. I think your body just suppresses them (reacts in a different way?) for a while until they become a serious problem again. I'm not an expert in immunology so I won't speculate on what is going on with the antibodies, etc. But perhaps your body is able to fend of the allergen for a certain amount of time but then at some point if you have other illnesses going on (like gluten intolerance) you lose the battle. I believe that even though I didn't seem to have an immediate reaction to dairy throughout my teens and most of my twenties, dairy was primarily responsible for my asthma.

Now, after 6 months dairy free, I am finding I can eat yogurt and low lactose cheese without a problem, but if I drink cow's milk or eat ice cream I won't be able to breath well for a few days (if I manage to get it down without coughing). I also can't eat tons of cheese. I eat yogurt everyday, but if I eat cheese for several days in a row (even cheddar which is low in lactose) I will have a harder time breathing, I'll go back to snoring and I risk an asthma attack again. Strangely I also developed the more common lactose-intolerant reactions (cramping pain, bloating, etc) when I went gluten free.

[pbsml]

vey interesting...

I'm also 30, and it sounds like our schedules were pretty similar with growing into them. It definitely makes sense though... that perhaps something like Celiac would cause our bodies to suddenly react differently to certain things.

Thanks for the response...

[butterfl8]

On an allergy related topic (but can't help with the food), I had hives from grasses and weeds when I was 18, and have been taking allegra for seasonal allergies ever since. This year, got hives again, and today will be visiting the allergist to find out what happened!! I know from various online reading sources that you can develop new allergies as life goes on, and my mom and sister treated thier seasonal allergies with shots. But I've never heard of a natural "grow out of" allergies ability. Maybe I'll have some answers later today--we'll see how I feel too!

-Daisy

[txplowgirl]

I have always had allergies and asthma and almost twice a year I would get a bad case of asthmatic bronchitis really really bad. Nothing I would take or do would help. I've been gluten free for a little over a year now and that helped quite a bit but it wasn't until I took dairy and soy both out that everything stopped and I mean stopped. When I ingest dairy, even a little. My sinuses start killing me to the point I can't breath and 2 out of 3 times i'll start getting that wheezy feeling which will sometimes lead to an asthma attack.

If I really screw up and get all three at once, my throat will swell, nose starts running, major migraine, fatigue, coughing, asthma attack, etc. You name it. Since avoiding all of those I have not had an asthmatic bronchitis episode once. Yippee!

[scarlett77]

When I was 7 or 8 I broke out in hives really bad and after seeing an allergist and going through the whole battery of tests found out I was allergic to lemons, pollen, dust, and some plants and trees (particularly varieties of pine trees). I took daily prescription medication until the age of about 18yrs. Since then I no longer have a lemon allergy, and am only mildly sensitive to pollen & dust (not even enough to take ANY medication for it). I do, however still have a pine tree sensitivity so we use a fake tree at Christmas. I also developed an allergy to honey that I figured out about 10 years ago. But the honey allergy is only topically so I can EAT it...i just can't TOUCH it. It is the weirdest thing.

[kayo]

I 'outgrew' some allergies; food, pollen and animal. Though maybe it's not a matter of outgrowing per se but having a stronger immune system which can handle the exposure.

I did allergy shots as a kid, took meds, neither of which worked. Then in my 30's these allergies lessened and lessened and are now gone (or suppressed to the point they don't cause me grief).

I have wondered if those allergies were 'oral allergy syndrome' and not true allergies in their own right which could explain how and why they disappeared.

[butterfl8]

Well, I went to the allergist, and left feeling totally annoyed and frustrated. So I have nothing useful to contribute. Except that skin testing for food allergies is not reliable. Yep. That is all I got from my afternoon. Okey dokey. Bye.

-Daisy