A Peek At My “Allergy Attack”
Anaphylactic Shock: an extreme, often life-threatening allergic reaction to an antigen to which the body has become hypersensitive.
If you follow my Instagram account you’ll know I experienced an allergy attack (aka Anaphylactic Shock) a week & a half ago. I don’t use that horrible technical term because I WILL FREAK OUT – so I’ve been calling this incident an allergy attack & I’m sticking to it.
I was eating at a restaurant downtown. My first meal of the day, & on the way back to the car we stopped in a little boutique shop. I started feeling my stomach cramp, ran outside, my ears started itching, decided to go home to get an allergy medicine, but on the way to the car noticed my throat hurt & I started coughing. When I got to the car my eyes, tongue, and face were swelling fast. Then my feet started itching & full body hives. I knew that was bad & different from my regular allergies. We rushed to the urgent room – 4 min away according to the GPS. And I was injected with EpiPen. From the first symptom to the EpiPen, was probably 10 minutes & I don’t know if I could have functioned a minute longer. So that’s fucking scary.
I’m not sure if I’m ready to talk about it much more than this. Every time I do, I relive the fucking horrible traumatic experience & I’m not sure I’m stable enough to go there.
I will say, every doctor & allergist I’ve spoken to has had trouble figuring out what caused it. My meal was basically noodles. No meat, nothing weird. I’ve never had a food allergy before. So we’ll see. I apologize for saying fuck a lot. But it’s the only word that runs through all my sentences when discussing this experience.
I WILL do an entire update & post on this once I figure out more. I have an allergist currently running my blood sample for FOOD, CHEMICALS, & AIR allergies – when those results come back, hopefully something will look like an obvious reason I had this attack, the unknown is my worst nightmare. I’ve cried a lot thinking about that.
Before this attack, I’ve already been in combat with anxiety on a daily basis. So to have this fucking attack strike me is incredibly defeating.
To address the positive:
- I handled it like a warrior, I managed to stay calm & get where I needed to be. I navigated the situation in the best way it could’ve been handled. Even in moments where my anxiety peaked. Which made me SO proud, of myself.
2. I believe everything happens for a reason – I’ve always said that to other people, I always end up thinking that way myself, and I’m currently reminding myself of that right now. I was in the best scenario for this attack – with Wafiq. Near the car. 4 minutes from an urgent room, that wasn’t busy, & w doctors that made me feel taken care of. I’ve already imagined the 1,447,573 other ways this could have happened. Not to mention, what could’ve happened in the future if I didn’t look into this NOW.
3. I’m probably going to get very skinny. Because rice w some iceberg lettuce is about the extent of my diet until these results come back. Don’t worry, I’ve been eating plain chicken too.
There’s still a LOT of fear. I noticed everyone around me was scared, which scared me. I’m used to dealing with panic & anxiety. I rely on everyone else telling me things are fine & I use their faces as reassurance. This experience couldn’t do that for me.
So… I’m waiting a few weeks for results of my allergy testing. But one allergist told me this attack could be random, it may never happen again, it may happen tomorrow. We don’t fucking know. I’m going to hope the tests point to something specific – & I’ll never eat it again!
Today was my first day, back to business as usual. I can’t stay inside & scared forever, even though I’ve considered it, so here I come!
Before I sign off – I need help. 1. If this has happened to you or a friend, tell me! I feel alone. (Msg, Comment, FB, Insta, Email, katie@missbassmaster.com) 2. My face & lips blew up during this attack & since minimizing back to normal I’ve noticed CRACKS + DRYNESS all over my precious face skin. If anyone has excellent mask recommendations, moisturizers, or tips that I can use, I’d appreciate the assistance! I’m going to work hard on getting my skin refreshed & making sure I pamper myself. FEEL GOOD THINGS. I will also be doing some Shopping Therapy soon (maybe I’ve already binged.)
I’m so happy to be back writing, I LOVE IT!
Be thoughtful today,
Xx
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