To diagnose it here is a problem. Mine are fatal. anaphylactic shock, lungs swelling (or Quinke swelling - another name for acute lung swelling).
The last idea I've got from top 1 American allergy hospital I did not like. Let's bring you into emergency room, give you some and see if you die, at least you die in an controlled environment. thanks, no.
In Europe docs use blood test to see if your blood react on such and such drug. Here they say we can do penicillin only, that one I already know, almost killed me.

yours did not kill you which is already a good thing. Carry epipen, always, period. got yourself one with 2 in the package, one with you, one home. your doc supposed to have your allergies on the top of your file, that's the rule/law name it. If they do not, change him/her.

Hi, I see this was an old post when you answered ?1234 but an important one. I react or over-react to a lot of medications, pain, antibiotic and a lot of others. Anything from itchy skin, itchy eyes, ears, throat, rashes, hives to anaphylactic shock. My Dxing Dr. in 1994 said I have reactive air-ways syndrome and disease and not to do any inhaling tests, my reactions can be so swift and sever they might not be able to stop it in time, they kill people like you. I have moved to the other end of the state and now see a Dr. clinic at our hospital. They refuse to put my list of reactivities at the front of the file. A nurse gave me a print out of what I react to to keep in my wallet and show at Dr. appointments. I have prescribed eppie pen(two pack), an auto in-haler, and due to environmental reactions I take benadryl(dye free)4x's dy. and always have extra in case more is needed. You must be your own advocate and not let anyone make you apart of their routine for their convenience. If being a pain in the butt is necessary than so be it, you live for another day. When they go home at the end of the day I would like to too. Best wishes for all of us.

pretty much on your own is a well put statement. I did change the country even. one thing I find here is that many tests are not available because many docs are freaking out about lawyers etc, so the only test they would off is a challenge test aka ok let's see if such and such substance will kill you. I do not like that option. Europe and Russia do leucocytolysis test. in vitro test how does your blood react with a drug in question. Here in us that's a no except of penicillin. why - no idea, seems stupid

I had some blood test but they said they could not test for all the possibles though they were able to find I was no longer allergic to bees, Yea. If I might ask...what was the name of the hospital that gave you that wonderful invitation to death? I'm in e. Iowa near a University hospital and clinics.

http://www.nationaljewish.org/
National Jewish medical and research center.
supposed to be top1 allergy and asthma hospital in US

the test you are talking about I had done I think. that one from med stuff covers penicillin only.

wow, I looked that up and no kidding....I am so sorry you had that experience from them. I have felt blindsided from the medical community I thought were going to help but wow that had to be a landslide. I was told in '94 that avoidance was the only treatment for my environmental and medication situation but it is almost impossible to exist without exposure or fear of Dr's. Medically it is a nightmare. Penicillin was the first antibiotic I reacted severely to. Getting S.S.I. which took me seven years was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. I felt raped, pillaged and plundered. Where do you go for help? that's where I am now, searching again. I thought I would try to contact my original Dxing Dr. this week and let him know how things are now and what he might suggest.

I have been wondering how DoveLy is doing. I hope well and not needing anything for pain.

However bad it sounds, but 90+% avoid that trigger is the right advice and in many cases the only one. No one knows why some substance triggers our immune system to attack our own body on the cell level. Thats like with cancer they do kill the immune system so it does not kill the other cells. Each one of us carries the most powerful bio weapon known our immune system. It is trained to fight since the day we are born and before that, it is very powerful and does the job indeed. Allergy is one of the case of how the job is done. From our point of view it is the mistake of the system, same as depression is, same as pain is. After being a lab rat interesting case for a while with a family history of anaphylaxis I had advantages and disadvantages of having access to the latest research. Some help a little some damage and you live with the damage. Can feel real ugly about it, but at the end it does not help at all. I was told not once there is no cure, I had to live with consequences of cutting edge drugs being administered and monitor some parts of my body early if they turn into something nastier or not. Ill be in dear need of painkiller/anesthesia in several month due to delivery. And I can not tell it does not scare me. It does, great deal, because if killed not 1 will be, there will be 2 killed. I should have scanned the class of drugs, but I just did not expect US be not advanced in this area. I do avoid my triggers now, I manage my pain with my diet, my environment, my exercise aka yoga. And 6 years ago I was unable to breath in 2 weeks after coming back to one city in 2 more weeks I was in the hospital, I was unable to walk upstairs without stopping breathing at all, I was told if I will not take heavy doses of steroids I die etc. I did stay away of steroids because of one of my friends, saw what did they do to her, they do destroy you body, and not asthma or allergy kills you, the drugs do. And the I had to teach my body how to breath again, I moved, I started with 10-15 steps on the stair stepper (can get one of those in a thrift store real cheap, just have to look). Just start moving even if it hurts. And stop eating what causes you depression, it is not a disease, it it what our diet causes, what we put in that comes out. If you are not allergic to fatty fish start eating it, if you are find yourself an vegetable source of those omea-3 like flax seed (ground them, we do not digest the seed as is). It may not be possible to teach your body to do not hurt, but it is possible to improve it. And it starts when we decide. Now for me it is difficult to decide again, the pain level brought me to the breaking point last week, but it has to be done because Ive being there already and there is only way to step over that pain.

Oh....congratulations for the baby. Is it your 1st? Yes, you have many reasons to have that worry. Such a history. Yes, the ugly truth is U.S. Dr's are just people. Then there are the ones who have a god complex, I have seen it. "there is something wrong with that woman's head" one said when I refused steroid treatment. If I were a sheep I'd go to the vet! I am stubborn by nature and nurture. I am taking the stuff not them. So if I already know what will happen(these things were in my records) or worse why on earth would I do that to my self so they can see it first hand? In my lifetime I have seen people of all walks of life, at their worst, at home. Dr.'s are no different. I have worked with them away from work. That is a sweeping statement I know, OK some are truly driven to help people. Anyway, have you considered hypnotism to help with birth? also warm water birth? Hopefully yoga will help you with stretching your muscles

You are so right about diet. I try to eat as originally as I can. I also use a product for sweetener when I need one, it is Agave Nectar, organic of course, from the pure juice of the salmiana variety of the agave. It has a low glycemic index. Very good stuff for a sweet tooth. ; ) I use flax, yes ground, in many foods I will have to tell you about my breakfast shake. Also, fatty fish but Pacific only the colder water the better but the Pacific is cleaner. I am considering going to a supplement fish oil because I now worry about the contamination factor. Eating lots of fruits and veggies very good. And yes to the exercising too. I always feel better even if I had to force my self to do it. Everything in moderation(almost).
peace to our bodies minds and souls

went to physical therapy. see what it does, hope for some improvement. with birth I may a surgery anyways, so will see what kind of plan docs will come up with. that presents an interesting challenge for their anesthesiologists crew.

when is your due date ish? I will keep you in my thoughts and I believe you'll keep the Dr.'s on their toes

just to chime in and say i have sensitivities to most meds out there, especially those that are petrochemical derivatives.

this causes all sorts of problems, even though i have too many health issues to begin with anyway. i believe it's from having cfids for so long, plus the exposures to virus and pollutants that got me there.

it's very hard to find a doctor that understands and is willing to work with you, instead of calling people like us 'non-compliant'. i've also looked a lot into alternative therapies with meditation, diet, and herbs.

these help but i still need to take meds for certain things, at the lowest dose tolerable. after a year i found a combo of herbs/meds that work for me, but it was a long process. i still have side effects but they are manageable and not life threatening.

good luck and you seem like a fighter to not give up so easily. what choice do we have, really, but to balance our sensitivities with our health. on this journey to wellness i realized that the drug companies really push their stuff and try to promote heavy reliance, which is good for no one in the end anyway.

i hope you can find something to help with your pain soon. best wishes to you!

NikL, I had no idea what med's of any kind were made of, other than chemicals. I just knew what they did to me. I have found new life here on D.S. I really had begun to feel like a slowly deflating tire, tired tire at that. Not any more, I feel strength and resolve returning. Non-compliant, yes, that is what I jokingly referred to as being "Benised" by the Dr.'s, from the Seinfeld show, Elaine going to several Dr.'s about a terrible itching rash, classic interaction(or lack there of)with our Dr.'s. Yes,l234, you have strength of knowledge, and persistence to help guide you. Peace to you in the coming months. Strength to all of us.