Allergies

[Neo]

Just curious on how many people suffer with allergies. Seasonal or food.

Up until last year, I suffered my entire life with seasonal allergies. Pollen, mold, dust, animal dander, etc.
As a child I would go monthly for allergy shots. I only had one food allergy (severe banana allergy) as a child, but out grew it in my 20’s. Up until last year (3-2010) I took allergy medicine (OTC antihistamine with Decongestant) almost every day of my life all year long.

In March 2010 (at 44 years old) I was diagnosed with MS. Up until this point I have never had a problem, issue or sign of MS. Heck I didn’t even have a doctor because except for my allergies I was always healthy.

Since March 2010, no more allergies, none what so ever. My entire life (since 7 yrs old) suffering with allergies and then like someone flipped a switch they are gone. For 44 years I could never smell flowers. Spring and fall were punishing because during peak pollen days the anti-histamines just weren’t cutting it.

Last week the garage needed cleaning; sweeping, going through old boxes, lots of dust and mold spores. Everything is damp here in the North East because of all the rain so I assume the mold spores are abundant. I wasn’t right for almost a week. Bad, bad week.

That started me thinking about my allergies. Could my “old” allergies now cause my MS issues to be triggered? Are my allergies and MS somehow related?

Sorry for the long post. Thanks for reading it.

[Justsayyes]

I've had allergies all my life, I have a list from the Cleveland Clinic of about 30 food allergies, however, I never had a reaction to most of the foods on that list. I suspect I grew out of most of them.

Had allergy shots for years primarily for dust. Allergy to grass and hay is pretty severe, a hay ride could close up my airway and kill me.

Had a few allergy tests recently and was told I have no allergy to animal dander. Really? That's a major change. (Don't believe it, and not wanting to test it either...)

If my allergies are triggered, I do feel particularly lousy, it can temporarily ramp up some MS symptoms.

This should be an interesting thread, I'll have to look up that potential MS treatment based on histamine. That might give us some clues to some of these questions.

I have seasonal allergies and still do. I haven't noticed any connection between allergies and flares, .

[hope32]

Interesting! I'm not sure.
As a kid, I had no known allergies. When I was in college I developed an allergy to cats and about a year ago, I developed some seasonal allergies (the pollen is terrible here in SC!). I've never noticed any relation to my MS symptoms though.

[SNOOPY]

Could my “old” allergies now cause my MS issues to be triggered? Are my allergies and MS somehow related?

Hello Neo,

There has never been any information that allergies trigger MS symptoms. I don't even see how allergies would fit in the Pseudo-Exacerbation category.

Again, there is no information that indicated MS and allergies are related.

It is not uncommon for allergies to change, return and have more than one allergy. This has nothing to do with MS. You can find this information from an Allergist

[BeneathTheLies]

I find this sort of interesting. As a child I was allergic to everything outside. If I rubbed against a bush I would break out in hives, or if I sat in the grass. At 12 I became lactose-intolerant and was up until my last flare. I was then able to eat dairy for almost 4 months before all the sudden it cropped back up. Not very pleasant at all. As for seasonal allegries I haven't had a problem this year at all.

I planned on asking my neuro about the abrupt changes with the dairy issue but now I might have to ask him about other allergies that have disappeared.

[Alicious]

I'm allergic to the world! I've gone into anaphylaxis three times, have pollen allergies, dust allergies, food allergies, and have had bouts of hives my entire life. I was diagnosed with MS last October; my pollen issues were horrible this spring, worse than ever. (I only have pollen issues in the spring now thanks to allergy shots.)

Do I think my allergies are connected to MS? No clue, but I'm betting they're not, at least not in any significant way. I think it is very normal to try and find links between medical issues, but sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

[Tawanda]

My allergies started with my M.S. - dust, mold, cat hair, etc., and their so bad that I do sinus rinses twice a day or else I am constantly sneezing (gross treatment, but it works better than anything else I tried and it's natural). Could be a coincidence, but my psoriasis also started up at the same time, too. I just think my immune system completely exploded and that these things are interconnected. More holes in my health to plug up, like it or not.

[Neo]

Thanks for all the replies. I have done a lot of reading and there have been a few studies from doctors trying to link MS and allergies, but nobody has ever proven a connection.
I have been baffled by my situation for the past year. I didn’t know a life without allergies. Then one Saturday night I’m playing XBOX, I get an intense pain on the right side of my head, the room starts to spin and a week later I’m diagnosed with MS and my lifelong allergies are gone. I realize our bodies change and it’s not uncommon for allergies to change, but 40+ years of allergies and then to stop. It wasn’t a gradual decline, it just stopped. Allergies End, MS starts.
This got me thinking about having my histamine levels checked. Maybe they were higher in the past (triggering allergies) and maybe now they are low. I know it’s probably not that simple, but I need to start somewhere.
I’m going to try to track my bad MS days, along with what would trigger an allergy attack. See if there is any correlation.