The dangers of hidden allergy
Let’s start with a little quiz. What do the following symptoms have in common?
The answer may surprise you - allergy. Yes, allergy. To most people "allergy" usually means stuffy or runny nose (e.g. hay fever), but an allergy can manifest in a number of ways and can cause all of the above symptoms and many more.
Actually, people who do have hay fever should consider themselves lucky, because at least they know that they have a problem. Of course, most of them try to deal with it by consuming large amounts of various chemicals known as anti-histamines. This is unfortunate, because with the right treatment they can very easily get rid of the problem once and for all.
Most allergy sufferers are not so lucky, because they have absolutely no idea that they are affected. In fact, they will enthusiastically deny and reject the very notion that they have allergies, because they don't suffer from sneezing or a nasal drip.
What they fail to recognize is that an allergic reaction can manifest itself in a number of ways. In fact, many chronic nonspecific problems and complaints (weakness, fatigue, etc.) are related to an increased sensitivity to molds, pollen, dust, grass, weeds, foods or other substances present in our environment. The reason patients are so sure that they are not allergic is simple - their allergies are delayed and/or "hidden."
Statistics
Let’s look at statistics. About 55 million Americans, that’s 22% of the entire population, suffer from one or more forms of allergy, which makes this condition a major health problem.
Allergic rhinitis or hay fever, the most common form of allergy, affects about 25 million people. Simple math tells you that the rest (about 30 million) don't have hay fever but some other form of allergy, with symptoms that are not confined just to the nose and throat. However, since the symptoms are not typical, they are either unrecognized or misunderstood and most of the time inappropriately managed.
Before talking about specific symptoms, let us briefly review the mechanism of an allergic reaction.
Mechanism of allergy
To become allergic to any substance, you must first be exposed to it. It can enter your body with the air, food or water. You can also absorb it through the skin, as in the case of poison ivy. Alternatively, it can be introduced through an injection, for example an antibiotic or an insect byte.
When your body encounters a foreign substance, the immune system begins to manufacture antibodies to protect you. Most of the time this is good and that is how you fight various infections. But, if you are overly sensitive, your immune system overproduces the antibodies. They spread throughout the body, accumulating in different tissues and wait for the offending substance, ready and willing to protect you.
The substance that causes overreaction of the immune system is called an allergen. The first encounter with an allergen does not produce any symptoms. But if you become exposed to the same allergen again, the production of antibodies is activated and this causes the release of various inflammatory chemicals that produce your allergy symptoms.
The main inflammatory chemical is called histamine, that’s why anti-histamines are used to mask the symptoms of allergy. You notice I said mask, not treat, because taking anti-histamines does not cure your allergy, although they do improve the symptoms.
To complicate matters further, allergic reaction can be immediate or delayed. If you eat strawberries and "break out" in 30 minutes, the association is easy to make. But what if you have a headache a day or two after you eat steak? You would have to be a psychic to figure out this connection.
Unfortunately, many allergies are of this type - delayed, and therefore hidden. Consequently, you may have a number of symptoms, many of them allergic in origin, and be blissfully unaware of the real cause of your suffering.
Symptoms of allergy
The symptoms depend on what area of your body is mainly involved, in other words, where most of the antibodies accumulate.
Nose: congestion, sneezing, post-nasal drip, watery discharge, chronic sinus condition
Eyes: itching, redness, swelling and tearing
Ears: fluid in the ear, recurrent middle ear infections
Lungs: shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing, bronchial asthma, bronchial congestion, tightness in the chest
Skin: itching, rash, hives, eczema, dermatitis, psoriasis
Stomach: cramps, bloating, gas, irritable bowel syndrome, spastic colon, ulcerative colitis, vomiting, diarrhea
Joints: rheumatism and arthritis
Mental and emotional: depression, confusion, forgetfulness, insomnia, anxiety, nervousness and other emotional imbalances
Nonspecific: headache, fatigue, dizziness, hyperactivity, frequent urination, decreased resistance to infections. (In general, if you have the same infection more than once a year, look for hidden allergy.)
Many allergic people are usually sensitive to several (sometimes numerous) allergens. It means that you can have different reactions and symptoms, all seemingly unrelated to each other. And unless you or your doctor think of allergy, the reason for all of these symptoms will remain a mystery.
Allergy treatment
Treatment of allergy involves more than just taking an anti-histamine medication, such as Seldane or Claritin. Of course, this will help your symptoms, but it will do nothing to correct the underlying causes of the problem.
To really treat the allergy, you need to correct various imbalances that cause the immune system to overreact. And, most of the time, this requires professional help. For best results, you should get an evaluation by a doctor who is trained in the proper recognition and treatment of allergy.
Neutralizing dose therapy
Immunotherapy is considered the best and the most definitive allergy treatment. The End Point Titration and Neutralization method is a variation on the standard immunotherapy and is recommended by the American Academy of Environmental Medicine. This is the technique that I use to treat my patients. It is especially useful in cases where avoidance of allergenic substances is difficult, for instance during the pollen season, or when multiple food allergies are present.
It works on the same theory as vaccines or homeopathy. When you receive a vaccine, you actually get a very small amount of a microbe that in large amounts can cause an infection. But instead of getting ill, your body develops immunity against this microorganism.
A neutralizing dose is a tiny amount of a substance that will block an allergic reaction when you are exposed to large amounts of the same substance. When taken under the tongue or injected, this dose will bring about relief from the allergic symptoms.
After the symptoms are controlled, your treatment dose becomes progressively larger. This process is called desensitization and, depending on how you react, it may take from several months to a few years. The good news is that eventually you will be able to tolerate exposure to the allergen with only a mild reaction or no reaction at all.
This treatment works with many substances, including dust, pollen, molds, mites, foods, chemicals, perfumes, cigarette smoke and others. Just like the traditional "allergy shot", the neutralizing dose can be administered by injection. However, it can also be given as drops under the tongue.
There are many advantages of using the neutralizing dose method over the traditional allergy treatment.
Conclusion
If you have chronic symptoms that you can not explain, if your problems baffle your doctor - think about allergy as a possible cause. Get an evaluation by a doctor who is skilled in the diagnosis of allergy and can use the neutralization method. There is an excellent chance that you will be very happy with the results.