For completeness' sake

[ilai]

I went to an allergist today and got a series of skin tests. Here are my results:

Foods I am not allergic to:

• apple
• egg white
• strawberry
• wheat
• corn
• banana
• soybean
• carrot
• tomato
• oat
• celery
• egg yolk
• rye
• milk
• crab mix
• codfish
• brazil nuts
• chicken
• shrimp
• cashew
• almond
• pork
• lobster
• peanut
• black walnut
• beef
• clam
• hazlenut [sic]
• English walnut
• tuna
• salmon
• pecan
• rice

Foods I am allergic to:

• Dust mites

Okay, technically that was not a food (even if I might inhale them in my sleep--you're welcome, I'm sure you needed that image). But the two dust mite allergens did produce impressive welts on my arm. And I got to watch a five-minute educational video that was a thinly-veiled advertisement for a certain brand of pillow and mattress covers whose name I will not deign to acknowledge.

Comments

[lakmiseiru.livejournal.com]

Speaking as someone with a strong dust mite allergy, I had pillow covers for about 15 years, and have not had significantly worse allergies since removing them. Vacuuming regularly, changing the sheets, and not having wall-to-wall carpet, on the other hand, are substantially more effective... yet harder to sell you things for :^)

[ilai]

Good to know :) The nurse administering the tests did say that all I really needed was a pillow cover and that I might not bother with mattress covers since recent studies have cast their effectiveness in doubt.

That said, I really do need to clean my room more often than "once in a blue moon". *vague pang of embarassment* The allergist looked at my welts and was surprised my nose wasn't constantly stuffed up.

[superjeannie.livejournal.com]

I am glad you are not allergic to hazlenut (sic).

[ilai]

Hee :)

[lokiect.livejournal.com]

this doesn't really surprise you at all, right? Good to know anyways.

I have some brazil nuts with your name on them ;9

[ilai]

Nope, not a surprise at all. But now I know and... knowing is half the battle?

How did you get my name on the brazil nuts? Did you get a soldering iron?

[lokiect.livejournal.com]

they were genetically engineered to spell out "ian" on the inner skin ;9

[jennyelfenmass.livejournal.com]

I got the same video when I got my test results back about the high allergy to dust mites. Mine also showed allergies to Brazilian nuts, pecans, pistachios, walnuts, and hazelnuts/filberts. As well as grass (that one caused me to redo all the tests surrounding it), cats and dogs.

I have found that pillow covers do help with my allergies. My eyes don't hate me quite so much these days.

[ilai]

Oof, that must have been a really severe allergy to grass. Do you take anything for it, or is it more of a "don't roll around in grass" kind of thing?

Now that you mention it, the pillow that my parents gave me had some kind of anti-mite claim on it, though I use another pillow as well so I don't know if it really works. Maybe tomorrow will be laundry night.

[jennyelfenmass.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was funny how big that one got. My allergist could see it very clearly from 10 ft away. "I know what you're allergic to!"

It appears to be more of a "avoid cut grass" thing. I take claritin when I know I'm going to be around allergens. That seems to work well enough for the environmental allergies at least.

[narya.livejournal.com]

Heh, that's quite the list! Guess I won't be making you any dust-mite-cookies anytime soon.

[ilai]

O_o But those were my favorite! *whimpers*