2001, I called a doctor in Berkeley. He agreed to see
me. After a short meeting, Dr. Smith
said ( reassuringly that we would get to the bottom of this. I giggled and told him, with no disrespect, I
have been told that before! He sent me
away with a battery of test to be taken; the first, blood. He said do the blood test and let’s get the
results before you do all the other tests.
10/23/01 Blood was collected.
10/30/01 Phone call from Dr. Smith “quit eating and
consuming all forms of DAIRY! You are killing
yourself! That day I stopped eating all dairy. Soon thereafter, off all meds and my seizures
miraculously stopped. Who know... a
dairy allergy. (Now, what I have not shared was in the prior ten years doctors told me to eat cheese for protein... every two hours! Well, that only kept me in a sick state. No doctor has verified or confirmed this, but, when I was my sickest, my "mean" blood sugar fasting was below 60. Well, your organs STARVE at that low of a blood sugar. My system was attacking the allergen, dropped my blood sugar and wella, seizure!)
I can't be the only person who has had this type of
experience, and if I didn't continue to explore options, I would still be on
anti-convulsive meds and not having the full life I now live.
Until about two years ago, this was my little secret. If you were having Grand Mal Seizures and
didn't know the real cause of them, wouldn't you be living with a huge secret
too? Now I realize how important it is
to share my story… I know I am not the only misdiagnosed person living with an
allergy that causes me to have seizures when the smallest amount of dairy was/is
consumed.
Thanks for letting me share your story with my readers, Darla! It is my hope that by you sharing your story that others will gain strength to ask questions and get all the facts before starting treatments, especially if they suspect food or other allergies. Bless you!
ReplyDeleteHi Julie. Long time no talk. I have tried contacting Mayo Clinic, Stanford and anyone who would listen to my challenge and to my surprise, if you don't perfectly fit into the study, specialty, etc., They don't call back to discuss or learn from my documented findings. How many people are miss diagnosed and using in correct blood tests that say your allergic to nothing?
ReplyDeleteHello, Darla!
DeleteI wonder the same thing. I think anything that is not hives or anaphylaxis tends to get labeled as "intolerance", and is deemed as somehow less severe an issue. I personally disagree. Intolerances can lead to allergies (hives and anaphylaxis), can have worse symptoms (as in your case as you would likely have been viewed as "intolerant" because you didn't have classic symptoms), and can definitely impact quality of life. I wish doctors would focus on foods/allergens as a possible cause for any medical issues that are not immediately identifiable as something else. I also think diet impacts health far more than doctors tend to think, but I digress.
Good to hear from you again, and I hope that you have some success soon with those you are reaching out to!