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Fear of allergic reaction/anaphylaxis

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Posted 2/26/2015 2:30 PM (GMT 0)
Good morning everyone (or noon/night depending on where you are),
I have a question: Does anyone else have this fear? Mine recently developed over the last few months because I had a "reaction" back in December after eating a bunch of Indian food (and it probably wasn't even an allergic one). I'm getting better about eating food again but going out to restaurants gives me nausea just thinking about it. I'm hesitant to take pills now - even pills I've taken before. It's blown way out of proportion. I even went to an allergist soon after the night it had happened and he did some skin testing (which all came back negative) and tried very hard to reassure me that I had nothing to worry about and that whatever happened that night was probably just a fluke type thing or an esophagus spasm. But for some reason it's just not enough to fully get rid of the fear.

I've gone out a few times to try and conquer this fear and I do OK but I want to go back to not even thinking about it, like I used to before the incident happened. Has anyone else dealt with this? What was the outcome?
Anyone with allergies, could you reassure me that even if say I DID have some kind of allergy I wasn't aware of, that it's not as bad as I'm playing it out in my mind?

Thank you :)
Posted 2/26/2015 3:15 PM (GMT 0)
Hi WingZero

Good morning to you to.

I understand how you are feeling because at the later part of last year I seem to develop an allergic reaction to something but I never found out what it was and this is now causing me anxiety.

I think what has happened is this reaction you had has caused a spike in your anxiety and this may take a while to get over. It is good that you had some tests done and they came back all clear that is good news and you now need to believe in those results.

I think you now need to address your anxiety a good way to doing that without taking medication is to do some talking therapy such CBT or Mindfulness Meditation your doctor will know all about these so I would make an appointment with them to have a chat about how best to treat your anxiety.

In the meantime have a look at our resources thread for some useful links to self help guides.

Hibee
Posted 2/26/2015 4:59 PM (GMT 0)
WZ.,

This is not an uncommon fear, and one that I have had on occasion when trying a new food or medication.

I agree...your doctor or therapist could help you with the phobia by doing some exposure therapy and/or CBT.

If you think you would like to check out some self-help for this as well...let me know, and I will look up some resources for you on this concern.;)

Keep posting!

S.C.
Posted 2/26/2015 5:05 PM (GMT 0)
Hi there,

I've had this fear quite recently actually. I'm allergic to most antibiotics and my doctor wants me to try a new one and I'm just terrified that I'll have a terrible reaction.

I want to see an allergist, but my understanding about testing for antibiotic reactions is that you get injected with some and then basically sit there with the doctor standing by with an epi pen to make sure you don't react. This sounds like torture to me, so I'm not sure what I'll do.

I totally relate.
Posted 2/26/2015 5:49 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the replies everyone. Can someone with allergies tell me what it feels like? I want to put this in perspective.
Posted 2/26/2015 9:27 PM (GMT 0)
yes!!! me too. i have gotten a huge hive on my face in the last few months and i can't attribute it to anything specific. have always had it off and on but this time huge! just one. weird.

i won't take some cough medicine i have because i'm afraid i will have some weird reaction. it's called perles and it's a numbing thing so numbing scares me. ha numbs part of your throat muscle or something to control the reflex. eek

you're not alone. and i have voicebox dysfunction which i'm afraid is caused by something allergic, who knows it could all be stress.

if you find out anything that helps, let me know. told myself tonight, i'm going to just take the darn medicine and see what happens. ha
Posted 2/26/2015 10:01 PM (GMT 0)
The weird thing is, I didn't have hives or anything! The only time I have EVER had "hives" was once when I was a kid and I stepped/made contact with something on the beach and my leg broke out in some blisters or something. The only thing that really happened that night was for a moment, I had trouble swallowing, and then my heart started racing and I really needed to use the bathroom. I made the mistake of going online mid-panic attack and the first thing that came up was an anaphylactic reaction, which is basically impossible considering the timing (a good 1/2 hour had passed since the last thing I had eaten). Not just that but you'd think the reassurance from an actual allergist would be enough... Haha.

I hope this will go away someday.
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