Do you have allergies?

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What is the statistic of "alergic" people in the general population,seems that most humans are allergic to some things and maybe unaware of their alergies unless they are bad enough to need intervention.I have been told by someone I respect(seems to know a lot about health issues and is a pharmicist)that many of us develop alergies from repeated exposuers,so there would be an expected increase with age.I think our environments are becoming increasingly "toxic" and only a very small percentage of the chemicals that are in the products we use are tested for health effects.I just read recently that many things that are treated to eliminate wrinkles in cotten fabrics(specifically clothing,and bed sheets)are actually treated with fermaldihyde(sp?)which can cause insomnia in many people. So,it is more important to not have wrinkles in our sheets then be able to fall asleep on them?I love the logic of the human minds that devlope such products.I also wonder what effect the increase in hormones and genetic"frankenfood" will have on future generations alergies and health?We are all genie pigs and our own beloved King George has tried to limit the ability to sue the corporations who make a bundle on these products.(I'm not a friend of frivilous law suits but am a fan of some" fear" in corporations of being held accountable).

The most frustrating thing is when someone with fybromialgia,"Dessert Storm" illness or lesser know body break downs goes to a DR and is told it..."it all in your head",just because nobody has done the research to figure out the "cause" and there for they "logically conclude that there is no "cause" and nothing really wrong... this is not only, not good science, it is bad logic.

Nickel in jewelry- burning red, hurting ears with all earrings except yellow gold or platinum
Penicillin
Ceclor
Biaxin
Arythromyacin(sp?)
Canteloupe - swelling throat, breathing difficulties
Honeydew " "
Bee sting- swelling, redness, itchiness
Pollens- seasonal allergies are awful and trigger asthma probs.
Grasses- If I put bare skin on grass, It will turn splotchy red and itch like mad
Lavender oils- I trimmed my lavender bush last fall and ended up with bright red, swollen, itchy hands. Ouch!

Yes, it would be interesting to know what percentage of NTs have allergies. I did a few searches:

According to this site, 1 in 3 people have an allergy "at some point in their life":
http://www.homehealth-uk.com/medical/allergies.htm

"As many as 40 million to 50 million Americans may have allergies, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Allergies affect more than 20 percent of the U.S. population and allergic diseases are the sixth leading cause of chronic disease in the United States."
http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/At ... en_ovw.jsp

So we may be on to something...

and those American numbers only reflect those Americans lucky enough to have medical insurence.. as well as including some of "us" in the over all statistic,since we are not considered "aspies" but Americans.Maybe if we subtract the number of aspies and add the % of those without AS who have no medical insurence then divide by our weight and Chinese astrological sign....(*sign*,I am so bad at math )

I do think there is a connection but not sure how neurology would effect alergies.Makess more sense that it is something in our "alian genetic" markers...when we find those,all shall become clear

I wonder if constant stress leads to depletion of the immune system, and I believe allergies are an immune disorder.
Many Aspies are constantly stressed out by their surroundings, so it is a possibility.

Of course! Why didn't I see that before? It's got to be that. Thank you - something else to work on!

This thread is really quite interesting. I have allergies in general in the Spring and Winter time. I also am allergic to sulfites so I try to avoid red wine and low-quality alchohol as well as all dried fruits unless they are marked "Not made with sulfites." The sulfites induce an asthma like attack. I used to have chronic asthma but I was one of the lucky ones that went from using an inhaler 4x per day not having used one ever again since I was 17! Quite lucky. 2 of my 3 brothers have chronic asthma and their doctor has told them that people die from Albuterol. Apparently from taking it long term they often have a massive asthma attack which then responds to no treatment and they die. It happened to my mom's bestfriend's friend about 2 years ago, the lady was in her forties. But the closest I ever came to a relapse was from drinking Kijafa- Danish cherry wine. 4 glasses = trip to E.R. It was crazy. I later found out that because of the way Kijafa is made it often has a super-high sulfite content.
But in general I just keep lots of Benadryl around and and I might be considered an allergy pill addict by this point, though they've never been severe enough to make me consider exotic prescription allergy medications. I do go through periods where I take up to two tabs a day for weeks on end. It makes me kinda tweaked with my morning triple espresso
I am also allergic to kevlex (?)- a penicillin "cousin" of sorts so I am usually given Vanmycocin when undergoing operations like my emergency knee one in December when I shattered my left patella. Advice: don't do that, it hurts! I'm allergic to percodan too. The theory there of one orthopaedist is that since I've taken so many painkillers for broken bones due to my bone condition in the past, it made me allergic to some painkillers. Vicodin I'm not allergic to, but they literally have no effect on me.

Ooh, I hate Benadryl, it makes me so tired!

Oh, what are you working on?

This does seem to have some logic to it,except that I think the "stressers",social and sensory are causing the body to "think" it is being attacked and looking for possible attackers.The attackers it "sees" are "foreign"chemicals in our environments.I think that it is possible that some of these chemicals are even bonding with the cells in our bodies(at a cellular level)and causing our antibodies to attack our own bodies cells,causing further problems.(like in MS,when the body attacks it's own protective sheeth covering our nueral networkings)My boyfriend has MS and many traits of AS.Since I have only known him for 4 years,I dont know what he was like as a child but he claims all his traits are because of the MS(but he is very,very AS).There are other conditions that I wonder if they are related to AS and allergies....fybro,IBS,Fatigue syndrome,low thyroid,diabetes,arthrites.

I am not a science wiz,though I have always been interested in it.Anyone with a good background in this....Could it be that after years of body responding to stressers of AS our immune systems become stuck in overdrive and and all the constant exposure to chemicals bonding with our cells creates the hyper response to them as we get older causing the resulting breakdown in our bodies?

How to be a happy aspie. I've ordered a weighted blanket and I bought noise-cancelling headphones. I'm working on sensory reduction right now. There's a great book called "Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight" with really good practical advice for making life more comfortable re sensory overload.

I guess I should be working on social skills, too (e.g. display teeth often). I got a lot of learning to do.

soya and tofu

no, not really, but it tastes like I should be allergic to it - lol

Whooping cough vaccine is my only known immunological allergy. Of course, I have several memetic allergies.....

I've been tested three times through the years and the results are always consistently the same. My allergies are:

Almost every tree and greenery there is. The worst for me is ragweed. The allergists I've seen all told me that my allergy count to ragweed is in the millions.

According to my testing, I am severely allergic to cats. We have a cat... maybe that's one of the reasons why I always feel bad. Can't get rid of her though... she's been with us since she was 5 months old and she is 7 years old now.

Allergic to metal. Allergic to cigarettes. I'm so glad I quit smoking!

Food allergies: peanuts, calamari, dairy products (actually that's not an allergy to be lactose intolerant but I'll list it anyway), chocolate makes my tongue itch but since that is all it does, I still eat it : ) Some kind of oil that is in different foods (I haven't pinpointed it yet), cinnamon, possibly sunflower seeds, and possibly red dye.

I never had professional testing on the food, that is just by years of trial and error.

Aspartame makes me very ill, migraines, vomiting ect. Also tetanus shots, which I recently had the pleasure of getting, will make me sick for days with fever chills and headache but nothing so far life threating.

I don't think allergies are more of an Aspie thing. Almost everyone I know has allergies of some sort.


As for the immune system and allergies?


I think it would actually be opposite if your stress theory is true. That's because the reason for allergies is NOT because of an immune depletion, I believe it is the opposite. Your body is actually over reacting to a substance introduced to your body.


So if the stress that aspies have was depleting the immune system, they would likely have LESS allergies because their body wouldn't be able to even try and fight off what was introduced to it.