You know, a lot has happened in the few short months since I began this blog. I want to lay it all out there in case it may help someone else, so I’ll start by saying self awareness is important. Self awareness can save your life, and help you live your life. I have struggled with my own awareness my whole life in multiple different ways. It took going to a counselor to make me realize that I wasn’t self aware. Anyway, it can save your life and help you live it- here’s how it has helped me.

I had noticed for several years that I was having some digestive trouble, felt sluggish and tired all the time, and I’ve had an inflamed rash on my face. I tried changing face washes, staying out of the sun and avoided putting things on my skin to attempt to help with the rash. I tried supplements and medicine to quell the digestive issues. I spoke with my doctor who thought it could be a couple of very simple conditions, and then that it might be a super scary one. I was referred out to a different doc who ran even more tests than the first one, only to be eventually told that I didn’t have enough symptoms for them to diagnose the autoimmune disorder they thought it might be. Dead end. A friend once told me that no one else will stand up for you and no one else will defend your health. It was a great piece of advice.

I was in denial about food being the cause, but I was having so much trouble and feeling so sickly and tired, I gave it up. As a last resort, I started to pay attention to what foods I ate prior to having reactions. I ended up narrowing it down to a few select foods- cereal with regular milk, some pastas with alfredo sauces and cheese, things containing butter and (a big indicator) Caesar salad dressing… my absolute favorite dressing for salad. Man, I loved that stuff. But, I started to notice that my throat got a little scratchy and my breathing was a tad labored after consuming the salad dressing. After consulting with my doctor and giving it a shot, I found out that I could eat these foods with minimal (if any) reactions if I took Lactaid capsules, and thought it was all good. I was excited that I could finally eat these foods without a reaction. I’d hoped that I just had an intolerance to dairy, and that I could keep treating it and eat what I wanted.

Out of curiosity and wanting to find out what the heck was going on, I decided to have my doctor refer me to an allergist. I was suspicious of a dairy allergy because of the correlations with food, but was really hoping it was just an intolerance or that I was simply wrong. I got the appointment (thankfully) shortly after meeting my deductible for my insurance and they were able to get it all done that day. I was relieved that it wouldn’t be a multiple appointment thing that would drag into January.

My appointment rolled around and I was a little nervous. I don’t enjoy going to doctors anyway, but I was worried about how the test would go and what they’d find out. Not the worst thing to worry about, but I enjoy food. I was worried that I would be allergic to several main food items and would end up having to barely eat anything because of them. They came in and did the first round where they just very lightly scratch the surface of the skin with the allergens. Couple of minutes went by and my arm lit up in a couple of places. No food allergies on that one, just environmental. Whew! So they ran the next testing round of injections on the lower part of my arm. I could see that one or maybe two of the food allergies flared up and I was itchy as all get out.

They came back in and verified that I had a dairy allergy, but was not allergic to wheat or eggs. I was glad that I could still have the latter two… but the dairy. Oh boy. I was told that since I was having some reactions I should try to cut dairy completely out of my diet. They also decided to prescribe an allergy epi pen because of the reaction I had to the salad dressing. I was floored about having to stop eating all of my favorite foods, but at the same time was relieved to know what was going on with my body. I was also nervous about having to keep epi pens on my person at all times, and having to potentially use them. Me and needles do not get along. I had no idea that it was that bad- allergies have never really been a thing in my life and I’ve only known one other person who has food allergies. After the year I had trying to figure out why my body was acting the way it was, I was glad it was something that (somewhat) simple. Especially when the other thought was that I had an autoimmune disease.

So, pay attention to your body. Pay attention to the little signs that something just isn’t right. You never know if you might save your life, and in the end save yourself time and money.