Posted 7/10/2013 6:44 PM (GMT 0)
Hi all,
This forum has been a lifesaver. I have been a two-year process with allergy and neurology doctors trying to track down what I was having severe allergic reactions to.
The first time one hit I had just eaten an apple ... my heart rate went through the roof, I was super dizzy, my throat started to close and my eyes became little pin drops. I am allergic to penicillin so I knew I was having a reaction to something and called 911.
The medics came and said I couldn't be having an allergic reaction because my heart rate should have dropped, not increased .. one leaned in close to em and asked if I had ever had a panic attack (no, I haven't).
They took me to the hospital any way where they started running a few tests and decided I might have a pulmonary embolism (I had just come back from a 16 hr. flight and one leg was slightly swollen).
They did a CAT scan, came back normal - I had another 'high heart rate episode' and they then thought I was having a stroke. They admitted me into the stroke unit overnight and did 2 MRIS.
After all that - they said a disc they found in my neck that was bulging probably had hit my vagus nerve and caused the initial symptoms.
Well - needless to say, they were mostly wrong (from this thread it sounds like the vagus was involved for another reason).
Two weeks later - I ate another apply and had the exact same symptoms. This time I drank a LOT of water, took Zrytec, stayed calm and it passed after a few hours ... ugh.
Why apples?? Because though sulfite is banned from being sprayed on vegetables in the US -- most of our produce comes from overseas and it's not regulated.
I got dosed another time from grapes.
Any way - I am still trying to find a decent allergist (none here in NW Ohio) and headed up to the Univ. of Michigan in a few months.
Wish me luck and thanks for this forum!