Anaphylaxis Shock Is A Big Deal

Take a look at my new best friend.  Nice huh?  Not really, but when you eat something you should not or come into contact with something you shouldn’t, this thing is a big deal.

I have a latex allergy.  Never knew that food would contain latex, but latex is a natural rubber that is frequently cross-reactive to the proteins of foods, and they are very similar to that of latex.  With that being said, not only do I have to watch out for latex like gloves, balloons, band aids and such, but also I have to eliminate these foods from my diet:

Banana, apple, pear, mango, avocado, carrot, peach, rye, chestnut, celery, plum, wheat, papaya, cherry, grasses, kiwi, pineapple, ragweed, potato, strawberry, mugwort, tomato, fig, hazelnut, melons, grape, walnut, apricot, soybean, passion fruit, peanut, nectarine, cherimoya (whatever that is).

So what brought this about?  Well over the past year, some unknown to me and some I knew about, I start having reactions to certain types of food.  Nothing big, bumps on my tongue and such.  That started to escalate to my tongue swelling and throat hurting.  On Sunday, it happened twice, that was enough to get my attention.  Long story short, doctor visit, Epipen and long to and not to, do lists. 

I am at this new stage of life.  Not thrilled, but I might lose some weight through all of this and that is the ONLY plus.  No french fries and ketchup is the definite minus of all of this.