RECOGNIZE AND SELF-TREAT YOUR ALLERGIES

How Can You Recognize an Allergy by Looking?
These are the characteristic appearance changes:
Pushing nose upwards or wiggling it.
Dark red, black or blue eye circles
Bags under the eyes
Licking lips vigorously, causing rash about mouth.
Unusually red cheeks,
Unusually red and/or hot earlobes
Wiggly legs
Problems breathing air out of the lungs
Clucking throat sounds ( generally a milk allergy)
Scratching the creases of the arms and/or legs. This occurs near the time you eat an offending food but the rash does not appear until the next day.

What Else Can Indicate an Allergic Reaction?
Your pulse, breathing and ability to write can change when you have an allergy.
· Learn how to take your pulse. If the entire body and circulatory system has gone into an alarm state, the pulse and blood pressure can change.,
· The pulse, at rest, can increase from a normal of 60 to 86 to over 120-200. The beat can also become unsteady and irregular. Ask someone who knows to show you how to do it.
· The blood pressure can also increase to abnormal levels.
· If the lungs or breathing is affected, the ability to breathe deeply can diminish. Get a Peak Flow Meter. Call 1 800 787 8780, It is simply a plastic tube with a gauge on it. If your breathing levels falls over 15 % (for example, from 400 to 340), try to figure out why, where, when and why.
· If the brain is affected, it is possible for the writing or ability to draw or walk normally to change significantly.
· If you belch, notice what you taste. That is typically a food that is causing your allergy. The abdomen can also swell after eating an allergic food or beverage.
· Mucus from allergy is colorless or white; in contrast infection causes green, yellow or gray mucus. Check with your doctor.
· Hives are itchy white raised spots with a pink halo. These spots look like a mosquito bite. If the hive has an obvious bite hole in the center It is due to an insect. Allergic hives do not have this.

So What Can You Do About It?
Simply keep saying, "what did I eat, touch or smell just before the above changes occurred?" Ask yourself : Was the change due to something inside or outside, a food or a chemical? Allergenic dust, mold, pollen and foods typically cause symptoms in 15 minutes to an hour. In contrast, chemicals tend to cause changes in appearance, actions and how someone feels in seconds to minutes.

Some food allergies, however, can cause delayed reactions in 6 to 48 hours.
1. Milk or daily can cause recurrent otitis or ear problems,
2. Dairy, wheat or other foods can cause colitis.
3. Fruit juice or milk are common unsuspected causes of bed wetting in children over five years of age.
4. Beef, pork, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplant and/or wheat often cause arthritis.
5. If a food or beverage causes an allergy, you can take 1-2 tsp of baking soda Trisalts ( health store) or Alka Aid. Also you can use an antihistamine and/or asthma medicine. Usually these would stop most allergic reactions.
To prove the above, just stop these foods for 7 days in all forms and then eat the food being checked on an empty stomach, the first thing in the morning.. Symptoms typically develop within about 8 to 48 hours.
Never eat a food that you know makes you sick. There is no reason to do it.Be sure to check with your doctor before you try the above.
Using the above tips, many, on their own, have recognized and pinpointed the exact causes of their illnesses,
To obtain more information, write to drrapp.assistant@ gmail.com.


Doris J Rapp, MD
Board Certified in Pediatrics, Allergy and Environmental Medicine.