Aaaagh

[Seraphina]

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OMG !!! It seems that everybody on k9 has an allergy. I developed allergy first when i was in my 30's and at that time I did not know one single other person who suffered from them. I did not know what it was I was allergic to. in the end i found out it was a sheep skin i put on my bed. So i woke up sneazing and choking, took some antihistemine and when felt very dopey went back to bed and cuddled to the sheepskin! (w00t)

Now almost everybody seems to be suffering from asthma and allergies. Last year i had to rehome my cats because my allergic reaction to them got so bad I could not breath at all. Fortunately, I am OK with the Whippets. The licorish tea sounds great, how much of it do you have to drink?

I am sorry you have to find a new home for your Whippet, can you post a picture of her?

Somebody here might like her. There are always people asking about available dogs :luck: :luck: :luck:

 

[~elizabeth~]

Yes, I keep being told I should drink licorice tea, it's good for all my various ills apparently, endocrine and inflammatory. I just have a pathelogical dislike of the taste :x

licorice health info

 

[Seraphina]

Kitty, are you sure you are allergic to the dog and not the shampoo or flea rinse? If you had no problem until you washed her, I would comsider that possibility. Doesn't matter how well you rinsed her there would still remain traces in her coat. Maybe try to get your husband to wash her again, thoroughly scrub her without using anything, or a product you are using yourself without any problem.

It just seem strange that you had the dog for 10 days without any reaction :luck: :luck: :luck:

 

[jue332]

What an awful situation for you

I really hope you find a solution, good luck :luck: :luck: :luck:

Julie

 

[Seraphina]

Yes, I keep being told I should drink licorice tea, it's good for all my various ills apparently, endocrine and inflammatory. I just have a pathelogical dislike of the taste  :x licorice health info

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Thanks Elizabeth, I see if I can bring myself to drink licorice tea. I am so glad there is somebody else who feels about licorice the way I do :x I always felt like total freak, as all my friends love it

I just wondered if i should offer some to people coming to visit, if they say they are allergic to animals. Although, i find that not many people have problems with the Whippets.

 

[jaq]

Glad to hear that you are going to give the liquorice tea a go. The ‘Yogi’ brand which is probably the widest available – tastes wonderful and spicy with only a hint of sweetness. I have found that even people who hate herbal tea really enjoy it – and it is a nice caffeine-free alternative to normal tea and coffee.

Jaq x

 

[posh totty]

hi, i am allergic to horses dogs and cats and yep thats exactly what i have got! but i use flixonase from the doctors and touch wood i am also building up my natural immunity too, i cant breathe and have passed out with horse dust but since i started using the flixonase i have found such and improvement! many health shops also have very effective pet allergy remedys, didnt get on with standard antihistimines? may be worth a trail round the shops? also betterware do an antiallergen spray which has helped loads? not sure if this any help but i hope so.

 

[~elizabeth~]

tastes wonderful and spicy with only a hint of sweetness.

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You mean it's not like boiled down licorice allsorts? :x :x :x :x :lol: I might give it a go. My parents eat a lot of it, but I notice on that link I posted it interfers with ACE inhibitors which they're both taking for their heart problems.

This allergy/autoimmune stuff is very difficult, I don't think there's a great understanding of it in the medical profession either. I was told categorically by one GP if I hadn't been allergic to cats before, I could n't become so.

As far as I can see, your immune system can get confused at any stage of life, common triggers being viruses, bacterial infections, pregnancy or just extreme stress, and start to identify harmless substances as potentially lethal. If you have the right genetic background, it can get even more confused and start attacking your own tissues causing the various kinds of autoimmune disease.

I personally decided I wouldn't give in to it, I couldn't live without the animals and it just wasn't practical to avoid visiting all friends and relatives with cats forever either, and in my case brazening it out seems to have worked.

 

[kitty]

hello kind people.

Licqorice tea! yes, I have some in the cupboard. It's great for clearing the gunk out of the airways.

it doesnt STOP the asthma for me, but it stops my chest from feeling so bunged up.

Seraphina,I thought it might be the shampoo too. So we washed her with a different one, a few weeks later - same thing. I wish I hadnt washed her at all!!! I think it was all the loose fur that came off from the shampooing?

I've found somewhere that sells drinkable MSM with vit C and I'm going to get that.

Tanya I did the allergy spray - think it really has helped loads. I wake up in the night breathless, but before, I actually woke up having a full blown attack, which was scary...

I think that Flixonase looks interesting - a steroid for the nose.. ( googled it..) so I will ask the pharmacy about that - worth a try.

moriarte you are so kind, thankyou.

Since I wrote this post here, I feel I've broken my isolation bubble about this problem - I've been avoiding phoning my parents because I knew they'd confront me on it and I'd cry! :b So at least I'm getting a bit more accepting of the possiblity of rehoming her. Before I was in denial about how it and how ill I felt.

So thanks so much everyone, for that.

I will post a pic of her soon - got some in my camera. She is a big whippet, and ver very very very good girl. She is lying on the sofa behind me as I type.

 

[~elizabeth~]

Before I was in denial about how it and how ill I felt.

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I know that feeling. I was very lucky that OH was supportive on this one, persuaded me we'd do what ever was needed to sort it out (and promptly went out and started looking for houses to buy so we could get out of the lethally musty basement flat :thumbsup: ), but most other people, parents and inlaws thought we were mad. You do need a lot of support from family if you decide to battle through, there will be times when someone else will have to take over care, cleaning etc completely if you're having a particularly bad spell, so it's not an option for everyone (most OHs seem to be genetically programmed to avoid this sort of thing :- " mine has been told he's 'letting the side down' by being so domesticated :b ).

:luck: :luck:

 

[kitty]

moriarte! unfortunately my OH is not programmed to clean. :blink: So that isnt an option...

I dont know, I just rang the GP cuz I need more ventolin, and she said the flixonase is good for hay fever symptoms, no good for asthma.

"Your allergy strategies are not working." she said, rather BRUSQUELY.... :sweating:

It's ridiculously hard to face up to it, isnt it, moriarte. I'm spluttering away, clutching at straws here.... and the dog is wagging her tail and flattening her ears at me as I come down the stairs..

 

[~elizabeth~]

I dont know, I just rang the GP cuz I need  more ventolin, and she said the flixonase is good for hay fever symptoms, no good for asthma.

Flixonase/Beconase are brilliant for the hayfever symptoms but no, they won't work for asthma. I think they helped calm the streaming eyes a bit though and I do wonder if the tiny amount that must get into your system has a slight calming effect on other parts too (it's not supposed to, 'topical' steroids supposedly only work on the bit directly sprayed).

I was lucky, I only had the asthma mildly and only had one attack I needed the spray for. I might have done differently if the asthma had been bad, irritation is well, irriating but asthma attacks can be dangerous.

"Your  allergy strategies are not working." she said, rather BRUSQUELY.... :sweating:

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No, GPs are not sympathetic. They think palliatively, ie do whatever is needed to remove symptoms and the simplest answer from their viewpoint is to remove the allergen source.

Have you talked to the rescue people about it?

 

[kitty]

No, I havent - they were fantastic people, but I wouldnt want her to go back to a kennel situation. I suppose they would put her on their site again, and people would come to seee her at mine instead of at theirs, as if I was fostering her. There's no painfree way of doing this, is there..

 

[June Jonigk]

Hi Kitty

So sorry to hear your problems - I hope you manage to overcome them. I developed an allergy to dogs after living with them all my life, and working in a vets for 12 years. It got much worse in 2001, and it was then I had the test to see what I was allergic to. Imagine my horror when they said dogs and grass - we went whippet racing most weekends on grass! Our 5 whippets used to sleep in bed with us, but the doctor said they shouldn't as I could develop allergic asthma. They now sleep downstairs, and we do get a much better sleep.

I had tablets for headaches, and surprisingly I stopped sneezing, so I have stayed on them since, but I am waiting for an appointment to see an immunotherapist. One of my dogs is allergic to housedust mites, and has immunotherapy injections every month, so hopefully I will be able to have the same.

The asthma side sounds awful. It would be such a shame if you had to part with your whippet, but if it affects your health you have to put yourself first. Easier said than done I know, and I don't think I could ever part with mine whatever - but if I developed the asthma side, I suppose I would have to think about it.

Good luck in whatever you decide, and I hope you feel better soon. :luck:

 

[kim & Tilly]

Im really sorry for you and hope you make the choice which is best for you and your family and your dog....

Im sending you a great big hug :huggles: , because i cant do any thing else for you :b

I hope it works out ok :luck:

 

[~elizabeth~]

I am waiting for an appointment to see an immunotherapist.

Is that through the GP? I had epd immunotherapy privately for a while, sadly it didn't help. The form used in the US seems more effective, but it wasn't available in this country when I was looking for treatment 10 years ago, I don't know whether thinking has changed on this since then.

immunotherapy page

 

[~elizabeth~]

Also, some underlying conditions can exaccerbate allergies, and explain some instances of sudden onset. The real cause of mine was underlying autoimmune thyroid disease, to some extent the allergy symptoms were masking this (as the dryness causes irritation in skin and mucous membranes ie your sinueses, eyes etc) while it was subclinical stage; if you feel you have any other symptoms that might fit in with this, ask for tests, it's a greatly underdiagnosed disorder, esp. in women.

 

[~whitecross whippets~]

i also wanted to add that when i had tests they told me they were a waste of time cos allergies can come and go so fast...but at the time mine showed an allergy to other things besides animals therefore even if my animals went i cant get rid of dust etc...so it wasnt like the problem was solved...like i said in an earlier post my allergy to dogs has improved over the years but to cats it got worse??..looking on the bright side though at least my husband does all the dusting and dog grooming! (w00t) oh and i cant cope with sawdust so he cleans all the rabbits/cavies too! (w00t)

 

[kitty]

thankyou kim & tilly!

moriarte, I just read the symptoms of autoimmune thyroid disease and I dont have the symptoms. my mother and sister and niece have thyroid problems though... I better start eating more sardines..

I did read about the desensitisation before - as you say - it seems to be working well in America, but not here - so they must be doing it differentl,.which is not good. I have a desensitisation remedy from the homeopath, but... I cant tell if its doing me any good - it doesnt appear to be.

June - that must have been a bit of a shock, after 12 years. It's as if your system had suddenly had enough, or something.

I wonder what the immunologist is going to come up with.

 

[Seraphina]

Just had my first cup of licorice tea :x ....I think I keep it for visitors with allergies