Aachoo!! Aachoo!! pass me the tissue someone!
Okie.. letz see how much is 56+24? Hmm can you imagine so many shots (injections) in a day?? Well I had hmyday with the allergist and believe me it was bad…
To start off, incase you don’t know, Houston is one of the most allergy prone places in US…the chemical industries, the smog, the trees, the pollen.. whatever, half the people in Houston complain of allergies every spring, once the trees start pollination… and I have always been a sneezer… I’ve been allergic all her life.. an inherited trait.. popping cosavils, and allegras I survived and then finally she decided to dig down to find the cause of the allergies…and so I got a skin test done for allergies today. The test is very simple in concept, to identify what you are allergic to, your skin is exposed to allergy-causing substances (allergens) and then is observed for signs of an allergic reaction. A list of 56 allergens were chosen and they are just injected in the top layer of your skin… first 56 points along the inner arms were marked and then started the injecting part..It really wasn’t painful .. just a mosquito bite sort of sensation… but imagine at 56 points along your inner arm.. and then I had to wait for 20 minutes to see the reactions.. that was the tough part.. due to the allergens, the skin starts itching and you cannot scratch or more the arms.. painful, itching, irritating.. you name it and it was felt… and then you could see red bumps developing at 56 spots along the arm.. then Marisa (she was my nurse.. and she did a great job) started measuring the bumps.. it was clear from the reactions that I was really really allergic to dust mites (a variety of them), house dust, a few types of grass and trees, fish and surprisingly, chicken and egg whites and pecans!!! The arm was cleaned and an anti-itch cream applied.. gosh the hand looked bad…
and then the secondary testing started.. this is more scary than the first, the allergens which did not show clear reactions the first time (in my case 24 of them including cat hair, dog hair, mold etc) are injected on the upper arm right below the first layer of skin and it is a little painful – 12 on each arm… and another 15 minute wait.. a couple of allergens tested positive … Marisa has made a list of them and I’ve visit with her allergist scheduled soon…
well the skin-allergy tests are no fun.. but it beats sneezing and managing a runny nose without knowing what is causing it.. now that it is medically proven I am allergic to dust, so it is the perfect excuse to escape from household chores.. poor R…
Pooh's Den » Blog Archive » Allergy Awareness
May 5, 2010 at 8:14 pm[…] have previously written about my allergy test experience here. But in short, around 60 allergens are pricked with a tiny […]
Pooh’s Den » Blog Archive » Allergy Awareness
November 10, 2008 at 8:16 pm[…] have previously written about my allergy test experience here. But in short, around 60 allergens are pricked with a tiny […]