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Dr. Mom's Allergy-Related Tips
Page 1


  • If your pulse rate goes up 20 beats per minute (or more) after you eat, something in that meal is "alarming" your system.
  • Hiccups after eating are a sign that you were allergic to something you ate. (Duh, I know, but sometimes, you just don't think of it.) Take note of the menu and then take baking soda.
  • A teaspoon of baking soda or an Alka Seltzer (tm) can stop an allergic food or drug reaction. Use caution if you have kidney or sodium problems. But it can save your life!
  • There two ingredients in most shampoos and conditioners that cause allergic reactions in 35% of Europeans (and presumably their ancestors). If you experience, red ears, itchy neck or hair loss, check the bottles for methyl/iso/chloro/thio/zol/ inone (in-own), or the same thing without the methyl. (I have broken down the syllables so you can pronounce it.) Call the manufacturer and tell them you won't buy it until this chemical is removed.
  • Apthous ulcers (the craters in your mouth) are usually due to a food allergy. Chocolate, tomatoes and citrus are the most common offenders. ( If you stay off the food for 6 weeks, it may stop reacting in you.)
  • Very Important! Antihistamines do NOT help allergic food reactions. Baking soda does. If you are taking an antihistamine for inhalant causes, take the antihistamine before exposure to the inhalant.
  • If it lasts more than two weeks, it is NOT a cold. It is allergy.
  • Cross reactions are fairly common. If you're allergic to egg, you should also be cautious with chicken. People who are ragweed sensitive should be careful with melons. Milk and soy or milk and beef may cross-react. So does aspirin and ibuprofen. About one third of the sufferers will react to a related allergen. The reaction is usually not the same. EG. eggs upset my stomach, but chicken makes my nose stuff up. Ragweed gives me asthma, but honeydew and cantelope give me a scratchy, sore throat. (Fruit reactions will often make a person's mouth burn or itch.) Knowing about cross-reactivity would have saved my Bryn from months of screaming and cracked bloody feet when he was a toddler. After I discovered that it was due to the soy formula, the allergist said, "Oh yes, there is a 30% cross-reaction between milk and soy." Why did he wait nine months to tell me that?!! Anyway, I couldn't put this all in a tip, but knowing about the phenomona gives you a good place to start checking when you develop new symptoms.
  • Coughing spells ARE a valid manifestation of asthma, all by themselves. Also, in the case of 2 AM asthma attacks, think "low blood sugar". Try a piece of candy first.
  • If you have stayed off an allergenic food completely for six weeks, that allergy may be gone now. EXCEPTION: peanut and shellfish. Don't even risk it!!

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    More Health Tips that have been on past emails from me.

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