
Allergies Support Group
When the immune system responds to a foreign substance in an abnormal way, it is classified as an allergy. When the body first contacts the substance, it will not cause any reactions, but the immune system will start to produce antibodies to it and subsequent contact will trigger more dramatic responses. Depending on the allergy, the response could be mild or very severe...
As I have gotten older and have had more and more exposure, I developed Latex food cross sensitivities that really had an impact on my diet. Following the correct diet did solve a lot of digestive annoyances. When I check in, I ask to have the dietitian come to see me. Dietitians must be the loneliest medical profession with the fewest amount of challenges. I have become friends with the one at the hospital I go to. She sits down with me and literally special orders my diet.
When I was in ICU last month, they had to move me to a private room on the medical floor after only 14 hours. While they were careful and did not have any latex come in direct contact with me, the dust from the latex products was in the air and had an adverse effect on my breathing. Since I was there for heart and lung problems, they put me on a telemetry heart monitor.
The best part of all this? I always get a private room now. They have to avoid having any latex dust around me and since I have autoimmune problems, they do not want me to be exposed to any other illness. Shoot, they even make sure they keep my door closed. I have a rescue inhaler in case of emergency.
As for tying the band around my sleeve for a blood draw, I've never had any problems with that. I do have problems with the bandaids and paper tape. Some of the adhesives have latex in them.
I think being persistent, not nasty, is the way to go. Sarcasm, threats to people that are trying to do well by you, is not a good thing in the big picture. I do think reporting errors to supervisors is how we all learn. Advocating for ourselves is tiring but necessary. What I worry about is when or if we cannot speak. I've thought about wearing a bracelet or necklace warning of the latex allergy. Would people read it in time? Ha!
Now, the other side of it is trying to locate those latex free gloves when I need them at work. Very frustrating when they cannot be found.
I agree, it shouldn't be the burden of the patient to keep his/her hospital room latex free. This is the job of the hospital and its staff. In reality though, we must always be assertive (not aggressive) about it.
i swelled up had a uti and yeast infectin and such an allergic reaction that my vagina swelled up so bad with hives and hurt in my gut i thought i was dying...
so yes i know how dangerous it can be to have this allergy to latex and that is why i let all medical ppl know this the first thing when talking to them...
now days they have latex free gloves and tournaquet and tape too..i am allergic to all types of tape but paper...
when i had that bad reactin to latex with the condome i was given a shot but it didn't help in my arm so i had to have another down below before the swelling stopped and i was out of it.