Dealing with Sudden and Prolonged Allergic Reactions
If you’d rather avoid a hospital visit because of the pandemic
I have a sweet tooth. My weakest spots are ice cream, gelato, sorbet, frozen yogurt, and all of their creamy, delicious relatives. Also, chocolate. And then almost everything in the line of cookies. Okay, I have many weak spots— I’m not picky when it comes to desserts.
But something happened a few months ago. At the end of March 2020, my body started rebelling.
The Symptoms
The right side of my tongue didn’t feel right all of a sudden.
Turned out I had a mouth sore — one of those annoying, small white dots, you’ve probably had one before. I thought: This is strange, it’s been years since I’ve had a mouth sore. But this is not a big deal, right? I started eating more fruits to boost my vitamin C levels.
But this sore was more persistent than the ones I had before. It took maybe two weeks for the sore to start healing. I was glad to be rid of it, and I thought that was the end of my problems.
The next morning, I felt something strange near my throat, again on the right side. I took a flashlight and went straight to the mirror. And there it was: that annoying white dot was back. It was now on my right tonsil.
For two months after that first mouth sore, dot after dot appeared, just as the one before it healed. Sometimes two dots appeared at the same time. Always on the right side of my tongue, throat, or tonsil.
Most of the time, the only complaint I had was discomfort. But sometimes, the dot(s) would swell. The sensation wouldn’t last longer than a few minutes but it freaked me out.
Any throat-related symptom makes people twitchy nowadays, and I was really confused and a bit scared.
I tried keeping my food intake in check. Fried foods were almost totally ejected from my diet, everything I ate was home-cooked, and I consumed more vegetables and fruits than before.
I called my doctor friend and she advised me to take vitamin B. So I did. The sores felt less annoying, but they did not go away.
A friend suggested that maybe my immune system was in overdrive mode. She once had a similar episode, although in her case it was itching and swelling in the face area.
I didn’t know what to do because we were in the middle of a pandemic, and in my region, a hospital visit was (and still is) unadvised unless it’s extremely important or an emergency.
In the end, I decided to consult an ENT specialist through a telemedicine app. The doctor asked a series of questions: Was there a fever? Any other symptoms? Any trouble breathing?
The answer to all of those questions was no. And the doctor dropped the verdict. It was most likely a food allergy reaction or a case of gastric acid. She prescribed medicine for the gastric acid and a spray for the mouth sores.
The doctor’s advice for gastric acid was for me to regulate my stress levels and improve my sleeping habits. As for the mouth sores: do not eat food that is too acidic or spicy. Keep it bland, in short.
Course of Action
With that formal diagnosis in hand, I tried to plan a course of action to get better. Here’s how I finally got rid of the sores.
1. Regulating stress and sleep
I’m generally a night owl, my mind tends to open up when it’s past midnight. But I learned that irregular sleep negatively impacts my digestive system.
A research paper titled “Sleep Dysfunction and Gastrointestinal Diseases” states:
“Sleep disorders have a strong impact on gastrointestinal diseases, and, conversely, many gastrointestinal disease processes influence the sleep-wake cycle and sleep quality.” — https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4849511/
So I made an effort to sleep better. I now go to bed at 10 PM every night. Even if I can’t fall asleep, I force myself to stay put and close my eyes. Listening to calming music helps me relax and eventually drift to sleep.
It was really hard at first, but after about two weeks, my body adjusted to the new schedule. In the past, I’d snooze the morning alarm at least twice, but I no longer need an alarm. I wake up at almost exactly 5.30 AM every day. Progress!
2. Finding the probable trigger(s)
Hearing that food allergy is a possible cause, I quickly traced back everything I eat and the timeline of the mouth sores appearing.
One night, I was feeling a lot better and ate half a banana while catching up with my family. Within minutes, my right tonsil felt really itchy and a new sore appeared the next morning.
Another time, my throat went from okay to very dry after I drank a glass of milk. And the next day, a new sore appeared.
The worst reaction had to do with honey. I don’t even particularly enjoy eating honey — I think it’s way too sweet. But when I started getting mouth sores, my mom sent me a special toothpaste that contains honey. She said it was good for mouth sores. My mom usually knows what she’s talking about, so I used the toothpaste.
After only 36 hours, there were scars on my right tonsil. And this time, it stung, almost like when you accidentally cut your finger while cooking.
The Realization
Everything clicked, piece by piece. Those were the main triggers; throw in chocolate too. This came as a shock to me because I’ve been eating and drinking all that stuff ever since I can remember. I never had this problem before. Can you go from having no allergies to being allergic to a bunch of common foods?
After doing some research, both on the Internet and by asking some of my doctor friends, I know the answer is: yes, that happens. Some people develop allergies later in life.
My next question was, why? Unfortunately, no one has the answer to that yet. Our bodies are intricate systems, and any imbalance can cause weird reactions.
This is what Mayo Clinic says about food allergy on their website:
Most food allergies start in childhood, but they can develop at any time of life. It is not clear why, but some adults develop an allergy to a food they typically eat with no problem. — https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/food-allergy/expert-answers/food-allergy/faq-20058483
Fortunately, the sores are gone now. Unfortunately though, with the physical recovery comes another symptom — this time it’s in the mind. Remember when I said I have a sweet tooth? And remember the triggers to my allergy?
It hit me that maybe I won’t be able to eat any more delicious ice cream, no more birthday cake, no more cookies dipped in milk…
Technically, I can still eat desserts. But milk, bananas, chocolate and honey are present in most recipes I like.
Realizing the changes I had to make was almost worse than the sores.
I craved sweet treats more than ever. I imagined that delicious Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and the cinnamon rolls I like so much. I even dreamed about eating chocolate-flavored cereal dunked in lots of milk. I can’t even count how many times I opened the refrigerator and reached for a glass of milk. But tragically, my current snack is just the plain old cornflakes — not honey-glazed and without milk!
Looking Forward
When the COVID-19 situation is better, I’ll have to make an appointment with a specialist to determine what exactly is causing these symptoms. I’m lucky because my allergic reaction is not life-threatening. If we find out the real cause, I’ll know how to move forward.
A few months from now, I might try to slowly reintroduce myself to these delicious-yet-allergy-triggering substances. Small amounts first and then I’ll see whether I can continue. Apparently, in the medical world, this method is called oral immunotherapy:
Oral immunotherapy (OIT) refers to feeding an allergic individual and increasing amount of an allergen with the goal of increasing the threshold that triggers a reaction. — https://www.aaaai.org/conditions-and-treatments/library/allergy-library/oit
The following article explains immunotherapy and desensitization in the case of peanut allergy. It offers me a ray of hope in these dark, ice cream-less times.
Some Final Advice
If you ever start experiencing strange and mostly-harmless symptoms, don’t dismiss the possibility of a food allergy, even if you’ve been eating that same food for years and never had problems before.
Here are the steps I recommend you take if you’re in a situation like this:
- If you have any trouble breathing, go to the hospital immediately. Pandemic or no, this would qualify as an emergency.
- If the symptoms are mild like mine, you need to take detailed notes of what you’re experiencing. Recording my symptoms made things much easier when I finally talked to the doctor. I couldn’t have a face-to-face consultation, so it helped a lot in speeding up the assessment.
- Keep close track of your food intake. If you’re able to find the probable trigger, stay away from it.
- Consult a doctor. Explain your condition, going into as much detail as possible, so they can prescribe the right medicine and advice.
- Improve your daily habits. Even the small changes I made, like forcing myself to sleep better, helped me get rid of the sores. It may take time for your mind to feel the benefits, but trust me… your body will soon thank you for the change.
Finally, try not to be like me, imagining those delicious allergens too much. Stay away from temptations — eventually, you might be able to go back to your favorite treats!
