As mentioned in my previous blogs I have only been suffering from anaphylaxis for just over 4 years. However, those 4 years have been one massive learning curve. I quickly learned that people can be extremely insensitive. Sometimes they try to give you advice about your allergies, thinking it is helping you, but the reality is it is only making things worse for you. Most of the time people do not mean to not understand they just find it exceptionally difficult.
I did not grow up with anaphylaxis so from the word go really I was in charge of my own condition rather than my parents. I was the one who had to make others aware of my diagnosis and try to get them to understand. It has truly not been easy and even now, 4 years later, it is hard to get people to truly take it seriously.
I think one of the main issues people have is they think it is a simple case of just avoiding food that has the allergen in it, Whilst this is a major part of stopping allergic reactions from happening it is not the full picture. People often fail to realise that even trace amounts of the food can cause issues. People also can not seem to get their heads around the fact that it is not just ingesting the allergen that is a problem, but often people have the issue of their allergy being airborne or a contact allergy where simply touching something or even breathing in the allergen itself can cause major issues.
If I were to think about what the hardest part of living with allergies has been, in my personal opinion it would have to be the lack of understanding others have. A lot of the time they truly think I am just plain over-exaggerating when I look at the packaging on something and say "I cannot eat that as it may contain nuts". Trying to explain it is more than not like talking to a brick wall, or it will go in one ear and straight back out the other. It gets extremely frustrating as we are not talking about a simple reaction that involves a rash, we are talking about a reaction which if not treated properly could have dire consequences.
Just the other day I was at in my boyfriend's flat. Like me he lives in student accommodation and shares with 6 other people. We were in his kitchen/living room and 2 of his flat mates as well as one of their friends were their. We were all having a drink together and one of his flat mates had asked someone to go to the shops to buy him peanuts. I said to him could he refrain from buying peanuts as I have a severe allergy to them. I went away for 20 minutes and came back to him eating a bag of peanuts. I stayed well away from him and made sure not to touch things he had come into contact with.
I think one of the problems with trying to make people aware is anaphylaxis as a condition is not very well known. For the most part people know allergies exist however more often than not they associate an allergic reaction as being an itchy rash or even as hayfever. Whilst these are both annoying they are not considered to be life threatening.
Thursday, 22 January 2015
Wednesday, 21 January 2015
25 Gift Ideas for someone with allergies
I asked the allergy community on new ideas for blog posts as I love other people's input when it comes to something which is set out to help other people. One of the suggestions that arose was "gift buying for people with allergies". I know the struggle it is for other people to buy me gifts. They find that "normal" items to buy people such as chocolates, flowers, make-up, cosmetics etc. are off limits. Here's some ideas on things to buy. Of course it does all depend on the gender as well as the age of the person. It also depends on the person's personality and likes and dislikes. If you were going to buy the person something edible or a cosmetic product then it would be best to ask the person what they know they are safe with so as to ensure their safety.
1. Chocolates/Sweets the person can eat
2. Handbag/rucksack
3. Purse/wallet
4. Book
5. Diary
6. Game console game/computer game
7. Cosmetics they can use
8. Bed wear (e.g. pyjama's, slippers, woolly socks, dressing gown, onesie etc.)
9. Underwear
10. Socks
11. A gift voucher for a shop they like
12. Money
13. Photo frame/photo album
14. Headphones
15. Board game
16. A toy
17. A cup/mug
18. Personalised things (such as things with their name on it, their date of birth, their wedding day etc.)
19. A subscription to an online game they play
20. A DVD/CD
21. Jewellery
22. Duvet cover, bed sheets, pillow cases etc.
23. Alcohol
24. A trip to somewhere special (such as a theme park, a theatre trip, a tour of somewhere etc.)
25. Shoes/clothes
1. Chocolates/Sweets the person can eat
2. Handbag/rucksack
3. Purse/wallet
4. Book
5. Diary
6. Game console game/computer game
7. Cosmetics they can use
8. Bed wear (e.g. pyjama's, slippers, woolly socks, dressing gown, onesie etc.)
9. Underwear
10. Socks
11. A gift voucher for a shop they like
12. Money
13. Photo frame/photo album
14. Headphones
15. Board game
16. A toy
17. A cup/mug
18. Personalised things (such as things with their name on it, their date of birth, their wedding day etc.)
19. A subscription to an online game they play
20. A DVD/CD
21. Jewellery
22. Duvet cover, bed sheets, pillow cases etc.
23. Alcohol
24. A trip to somewhere special (such as a theme park, a theatre trip, a tour of somewhere etc.)
25. Shoes/clothes
Monday, 19 January 2015
Allergy induced bullying
Bullying is a very unfortunate part of life that happens to the majority of us at some point or other. That does not mean it is acceptable but in today's reality it happens more often than I would care to think about. Like so many others, growing up I suffered bullying for many years. It was mainly emotional bullying that would focus on my appearance. My weight was openly criticised by so many people around me as well as other things I found myself being very self concious about. One thing I never thought someone would bully me about was my health issues, in particular my allergies. How wrong I was. It has happened more times than I even want to remember but I remember every incident so vividly like it's a tape re-playing constantly in my head. It made me isolate myself. It began to make me feel so ashamed of my conditions. I just wanted to fit in so I began to become careless with my allergies. I would not bother looking at labels when amongst company my own age because I did not want to seem strange to others, I did not want others to comment. It took a few years for me to finally realise that the people who truly matter are the ones who know about your conditions but do not comment negatively about them. They are the people who take notice and look out for you.
I remember my first incident of bullying due to my allergies. I was in my 2nd year at high school. This was before I developed severe allergies but still suffered annoying allergies to food colourings which would make me come out in massive blotches which in turn would leave me scratching my skin, sometimes to the point where it would bleed. A boy in my class at school knew about my allergies. There was a bottle of blue food colouring sitting on a shelf. He grabbed hold of it, opened it and tipped it over my hand when I was not looking in his direction. I automatically turned around and on realising what had happened I asked why he just did what he did. He laughed at me and that encouraged others in the class to laugh too. He looked at me and said "you're a liar. Nobody has allergies to food colouring. Stop being such an attention seeker". I tried to get on with class when the bell rang however within 30 minutes I had to ask to be excused to the school office. My hand had swelled up and my body was covered in my usual itchy, blotchy rash. I was sent home from school and after a lot of antihistamine I began to feel better.
Other instances have occurred that are not commonly thought of as bullying. I remember dating a boy who had a best friend who also liked me. I would frequently end up in hospital due to not only my allergies but my severe asthma too. I would have to cancel going out with the boy I was dating because I was too unwell. I would receive phone calls off his best friend shouting at me down the phone, telling me that I was faking it for attention. He would say I was just being over dramatic and nobody is that sick. When I would end up in hospital he would laugh at me and tell me I was just being a drama queen. I remember going out to eat with the two of them. Before ordering my food I let the waitress know about my severe allergies. She left and the boy said to me that I was an embarrassment. It is just a peanut it is not going to do anything to me and I should stop being so stupid. I remember being constantly upset because off all the comments he would make. At the time I felt so helpless and like I did not know what to do. Looking back I realise what I should have done. I should have just walked away from the situation. I should have let him know that he cannot treat me like that.
I am now nearly 21 years old and I look back on the years with my health conditions. I used to hide them away like I was ashamed off them. I used to fear people knowing about things. Now I look at it all like "these are a part of my life that are not going away". If people treat me in a negative manner because of my health issues then they do not deserve to be part of my life. I did not choose this lifestyle, but I have learned to live my life around it all. Everyone deserves to be treated nicely. Nobody deserves to be isolated and made to feel like they are any less of a person because of a condition which is out with their control. The stronger person is the one who can admit that yes they may not have the life of others their age but they are not different, they are still a person. Food allergies are a major annoyance. They can be a massive inconvenience to your life but you are still a person and don't deserve people to be horrible to you.
I remember my first incident of bullying due to my allergies. I was in my 2nd year at high school. This was before I developed severe allergies but still suffered annoying allergies to food colourings which would make me come out in massive blotches which in turn would leave me scratching my skin, sometimes to the point where it would bleed. A boy in my class at school knew about my allergies. There was a bottle of blue food colouring sitting on a shelf. He grabbed hold of it, opened it and tipped it over my hand when I was not looking in his direction. I automatically turned around and on realising what had happened I asked why he just did what he did. He laughed at me and that encouraged others in the class to laugh too. He looked at me and said "you're a liar. Nobody has allergies to food colouring. Stop being such an attention seeker". I tried to get on with class when the bell rang however within 30 minutes I had to ask to be excused to the school office. My hand had swelled up and my body was covered in my usual itchy, blotchy rash. I was sent home from school and after a lot of antihistamine I began to feel better.
Other instances have occurred that are not commonly thought of as bullying. I remember dating a boy who had a best friend who also liked me. I would frequently end up in hospital due to not only my allergies but my severe asthma too. I would have to cancel going out with the boy I was dating because I was too unwell. I would receive phone calls off his best friend shouting at me down the phone, telling me that I was faking it for attention. He would say I was just being over dramatic and nobody is that sick. When I would end up in hospital he would laugh at me and tell me I was just being a drama queen. I remember going out to eat with the two of them. Before ordering my food I let the waitress know about my severe allergies. She left and the boy said to me that I was an embarrassment. It is just a peanut it is not going to do anything to me and I should stop being so stupid. I remember being constantly upset because off all the comments he would make. At the time I felt so helpless and like I did not know what to do. Looking back I realise what I should have done. I should have just walked away from the situation. I should have let him know that he cannot treat me like that.
I am now nearly 21 years old and I look back on the years with my health conditions. I used to hide them away like I was ashamed off them. I used to fear people knowing about things. Now I look at it all like "these are a part of my life that are not going away". If people treat me in a negative manner because of my health issues then they do not deserve to be part of my life. I did not choose this lifestyle, but I have learned to live my life around it all. Everyone deserves to be treated nicely. Nobody deserves to be isolated and made to feel like they are any less of a person because of a condition which is out with their control. The stronger person is the one who can admit that yes they may not have the life of others their age but they are not different, they are still a person. Food allergies are a major annoyance. They can be a massive inconvenience to your life but you are still a person and don't deserve people to be horrible to you.
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