Allergy treatment, what do you think?

JimiTime

First time poster here. I grew up with bad hay fever as a child which gradually got better through adulthood, however a few years ago I found I had a really bad reaction to animals, or their dander i was told. I love animals, and I was raging that I couldn't get a cat and a dog in my new house (my mum loved animals too, but never liked them in the house, so we never had pets). The doctor gave me a prescription for 'Zirtec', as alot of my friends have animals, and an evening in their place would result in sneezing fits, runny nose and really itchy eyes. However, 'everytime' I took it, the next day Iwould feel really low, i.e. Not depressed, but really down, so I stopped taking them.
I'm in my new house over a year now, and the neighbours cat regularly pays us a visit. We'd let him in, but I'd just flare up. I then decided to try something. I thought 'Could I make myself immune to this'. So Instead of banning the cat from the house, I kept letting him in. I'd sometimes actually just bury my nose in his fur and take a deep breath:D:o. Low and behold, I'm not allergic to animal dander anymore. I could inhale a dog and cat and not a snot in sight:)
Anyway, I'll cut to the chase. Is there a premise for this? I.E. Are allergies known to pass when one exposes themselves to the allergen enough?

Thanks,
J.

AtomicHorror

JimiTime wrote: »

First time poster here. I grew up with bad hay fever as a child which gradually got better through adulthood, however a few years ago I found I had a really bad reaction to animals, or their dander i was told. I love animals, and I was raging that I couldn't get a cat and a dog in my new house (my mum loved animals too, but never liked them in the house, so we never had pets). The doctor gave me a prescription for 'Zirtec', as alot of my friends have animals, and an evening in their place would result in sneezing fits, runny nose and really itchy eyes. However, 'everytime' I took it, the next day Iwould feel really low, i.e. Not depressed, but really down, so I stopped taking them.
I'm in my new house over a year now, and the neighbours cat regularly pays us a visit. We'd let him in, but I'd just flare up. I then decided to try something. I thought 'Could I make myself immune to this'. So Instead of banning the cat from the house, I kept letting him in. I'd sometimes actually just bury my nose in his fur and take a deep breath:D:o. Low and behold, I'm not allergic to animal dander anymore. I could inhale a dog and cat and not a snot in sight:)
Anyway, I'll cut to the chase. Is there a premise for this? I.E. Are allergies known to pass when one exposes themselves to the allergen enough?

Thanks,
J.

I should say first of all that I reckon doing what you did was risky and I really wouldn't recommend it. Whilst anaphylaxis is rare for inhaled allergens, you could still have had quite a severe reaction. Actually I what I should really stress is that I am not a medical doctor at all, I'm an immunologist, so take what I say with that in mind.

So, basis. Not really, or at least there's no data I know of on the matter. I'd be happy to be corrected on that. You can't make yourself "immune" to an allergic response as allergic responses are a form of immunity. There is a form of treatment for allergies that involves gradual introduction of the allergen to the patient over a series of increasing doses. However, this is administered by injection and that is an important distinction. Antigens introduced by injection will tend to trigger new immune responses or push established ones along a different "direction" to the manner they are pushed when we inhale them. So the patient is just as "immune" to the allergen as they were previously, but now they produce something more like an antiviral or anti-bacterial response to allergen rather than the anti-parasitic response that also causes allergy. By inhalation we would not expect the shift in the immune response needed to stop your allergies. In fact, if my understanding of the mechanism of the immunotherapy I've just described is correct, then your method may actually have some capacity to reverse the conventional therapy and restore allergy.

How sure are you that you are no longer allergic to cat dander? I'm not suggesting you go test this out, but have you considered any other factors which may have resulted in the reduction of your symptoms? For that matter, were you previously tested by skin-prick or similar allergy test for allergy to cat dander? The problem with a single anecdote is that, assuming you really have changed something, the actual cause could be any one of countless factors. This is why we do such large and carefully controlled trials when we are looking for new therapies.

JimiTime

AtomicHorror wrote: »

I should say first of all that I reckon doing what you did was risky and I really wouldn't recommend it. Whilst anaphylaxis is rare for inhaled allergens, you could still have had quite a severe reaction. Actually I what I should really stress is that I am not a medical doctor at all, I'm an immunologist, so take what I say with that in mind.

So, basis. Not really, or at least there's no data I know of on the matter. I'd be happy to be corrected on that. You can't make yourself "immune" to an allergic response as allergic responses are a form of immunity. There is a form of treatment for allergies that involves gradual introduction of the allergen to the patient over a series of increasing doses. However, this is administered by injection and that is an important distinction. Antigens introduced by injection will tend to trigger new immune responses or push established ones along a different "direction" to the manner they are pushed when we inhale them. So the patient is just as "immune" to the allergen as they were previously, but now they produce something more like an antiviral or anti-bacterial response to allergen rather than the anti-parasitic response that also causes allergy. By inhalation we would not expect the shift in the immune response needed to stop your allergies. In fact, if my understanding of the mechanism of the immunotherapy I've just described is correct, then your method may actually have some capacity to reverse the conventional therapy and restore allergy.

How sure are you that you are no longer allergic to cat dander? I'm not suggesting you go test this out, but have you considered any other factors which may have resulted in the reduction of your symptoms? For that matter, were you previously tested by skin-prick or similar allergy test for allergy to cat dander? The problem with a single anecdote is that, assuming you really have changed something, the actual cause could be any one of countless factors. This is why we do such large and carefully controlled trials when we are looking for new therapies.

Thanks AH, appreciate the response. I was never allergy tested, but it was extremely obvious that I was allergic to cats and dogs, due to my vicious reactions anytime I was in their company. As I said it happened how I described, the cat would come in, I'd rub it for a while, and within around 30 mins I'd be sneezing, itchy eyes, itchy face etc. Some times were worse than others. I did what I said, start letting him in more, then burying my head in his fur and breathing deep:o:) Now I have no issue at all with cats or dogs. Maybe it was just coincidence?? But it seems highly unlikely to me. It certainly seems that my increased exposure has had some positive effect. I can tell you that sometimes the cat will come into me in the morning and jump up on the bed and sleep and there's not a peep out of me. Before, I would have wanted to peel my face off with the itch. What do you reckon?

AtomicHorror

JimiTime wrote: »

Thanks AH, appreciate the response. I was never allergy tested, but it was extremely obvious that I was allergic to cats and dogs, due to my vicious reactions anytime I was in their company. As I said it happened how I described, the cat would come in, I'd rub it for a while, and within around 30 mins I'd be sneezing, itchy eyes, itchy face etc. Some times were worse than others. I did what I said, start letting him in more, then burying my head in his fur and breathing deep:o:) Now I have no issue at all with cats or dogs. Maybe it was just coincidence?? But it seems highly unlikely to me. It certainly seems that my increased exposure has had some positive effect. I can tell you that sometimes the cat will come into me in the morning and jump up on the bed and sleep and there's not a peep out of me. Before, I would have wanted to peel my face off with the itch. What do you reckon?

I reckon there are too many unknowns in the story to make any call on a causal relationship between what you did and the outcome. I would say incidentally that without allergy testing humans have a terrible record for assessing their own allergies. Even when they seem plain and obvious they can in fact be linked to unexpected (and repeated) events that were merely related to the assumed trigger. To properly assess what was going on here, you'd have needed some decent allergy testing before and after, some tight controls on the "treatment process" and of course, several thousand other people all undergoing the same process or an alternate one as a control.

It's also very very possible that this represented some manner of placebo effect. That is not to diminish the result at all, but merely the mechanism that underlies it.

This is all a roundabout way of saying "I dunno", as there's just not enough information. Nor can there be without a large scale randomised, double blinded and controlled trial.

JimiTime

AtomicHorror wrote: »

I reckon there are too many unknowns in the story to make any call on a causal relationship between what you did and the outcome. I would say incidentally that without allergy testing humans have a terrible record for assessing their own allergies. Even when they seem plain and obvious they can in fact be linked to unexpected (and repeated) events that were merely related to the assumed trigger. To properly assess what was going on here, you'd have needed some decent allergy testing before and after, some tight controls on the "treatment process" and of course, several thousand other people all undergoing the same process or an alternate one as a control.

It's also very very possible that this represented some manner of placebo effect. That is not to diminish the result at all, but merely the mechanism that underlies it.

This is all a roundabout way of saying "I dunno", as there's just not enough information. Nor can there be without a large scale randomised, double blinded and controlled trial.

Fair enough. I suppose it answers the question anyway. i.e. There is no known premise (apart from that IV one) that exposing oneself to the allergy will bring the allergic reaction down. Well whatever it was, hallelujah, no more allergy:)

ZYX

JimiTime wrote: »

First time poster here. I grew up with bad hay fever as a child which gradually got better through adulthood, however a few years ago I found I had a really bad reaction to animals, or their dander i was told. I love animals, and I was raging that I couldn't get a cat and a dog in my new house (my mum loved animals too, but never liked them in the house, so we never had pets). The doctor gave me a prescription for 'Zirtec', as alot of my friends have animals, and an evening in their place would result in sneezing fits, runny nose and really itchy eyes. However, 'everytime' I took it, the next day Iwould feel really low, i.e. Not depressed, but really down, so I stopped taking them.
I'm in my new house over a year now, and the neighbours cat regularly pays us a visit. We'd let him in, but I'd just flare up. I then decided to try something. I thought 'Could I make myself immune to this'. So Instead of banning the cat from the house, I kept letting him in. I'd sometimes actually just bury my nose in his fur and take a deep breath:D:o. Low and behold, I'm not allergic to animal dander anymore. I could inhale a dog and cat and not a snot in sight:)
Anyway, I'll cut to the chase. Is there a premise for this? I.E. Are allergies known to pass when one exposes themselves to the allergen enough?

Thanks,
J.

Certainly done very commonly. When I was young if someone was allergic to a particular animal their parents usually bought them that animal.

JimiTime

ZYX wrote: »

Certainly done very commonly. When I was young if someone was allergic to a particular animal their parents usually bought them that animal.

And did it work?

VerMscg

Hey All,

I used to suffer very bad from IBS. I went for a full health check up as i felt i needed one. I am living in waterford and went to a medical clinic in drogheda that came highly recommened to me. did a lot of research as i always though it was my food that was causing my IBS.
the clinic is based drogheda they do allergy testing (think she meantioned clinics in all around dublin), also they have a machine to check what organs may be under stress from foods e.g. intestines/liver, cholestrol (which i didnt realise was high), blood sugar, iron levels, blood pressure, my arteries, %body fat and BMI, vitamins/minerals etc. I was very impressed.

They treat anything thats needs to be treated holistcally which suited me as i don't want to take medication when i can avoid it. it takes two hours and you get results der and then, its a lot to take in but they send out detail report. takes two hours, think some evenings they open till 8 r 9. it cost 210 have to say best money i have ever spent.

Sitric

This is not the clinic you mean is it?
<edited by moderator>

A good friend of mine bitched at length to me about how much it costs for a consultation with her GP, in the same conversation she told me both herself and her husband have visited this clinic more than fifteen times for "treatment"

She also showed me her "report", her liver, synovial membranes (this was my favourite one), kidneys, in fact elements of all her body systems seemed to have been "measured" using this machine and were showing a steady improvement with each visit. The electromagnetic radiation level (and we all know that's bad) was steadily decreasing with each visit. I would love to have a copy of the template for this report!


Atomic Horror, thanks for a very informative post. With regard to desenistization therapy, is lifelong treatment needed to maintain antibody levels?

Sitric

Apologies

VerMscg

Sitric wrote: »

This is not the clinic you mean is it?
<edited by moderator>

A good friend of mine bitched at length to me about how much it costs for a consultation with her GP, in the same conversation she told me both herself and her husband have visited this clinic more than fifteen times for "treatment"

She also showed me her "report", her liver, synovial membranes (this was my favourite one), kidneys, in fact elements of all her body systems seemed to have been "measured" using this machine and were showing a steady improvement with each visit. The electromagnetic radiation level (and we all know that's bad) was steadily decreasing with each visit. I would love to have a copy of the template for this report!


Atomic Horror, thanks for a very informative post. With regard to desenistization therapy, is lifelong treatment needed to maintain antibody levels?

Doesn't sound like the same clinic. You only need to go the once.

aidan.connolly

There is currenlty trials going on in the UK, where allergy suffers who react to nuts, are been give small amounts of nuts every day. My understanding is that he has had some success.
A couple of the patients are now consuming 15 peanuts a day without any problem.


However, I don't think I would chance it with my child.