Medical Emergency and the aftermath. Very interesting way I am living now.

[kojack]

So, on Christmas eve, I went into anaphylactic shock. I was having allergic reactions to something for a year and a half and could not figure it out.  This last one was very hard on myself and my family.  I started having the normal reaction of hives, itchy skin, and shortness of breath, but this one hit me way different.  I was passing out on the bed and not staying conscious. 

 

My wife went to call my oldest son to come home and bring me to the emergency room, but things went down hill fast.  I felt like I was going to shat myself (the last conscious thought that I had) and I bolted to the bathroom.  Got in there and collapsed and that was it.  I was out. She called the ambulance to help me.  I cannot remember anything after that until I could hear one of the paramedics say "I am going to give you a second epinephrine shot. I agreed.  They put the blood pressure cuff on me and hit the button.  The second paramedic said "oh my god".  At that point I said what?  she said I am not allowed to tell you anything.  So they got me to the point where I was able to get to the stretcher to get in the ambulance.  She called in my vitals.  my bp was 55/30.  

 

I get to the hospital, and the ER doctor on staff told me after I was somewhat stabilized that if the ambulance was 2 mins longer I would be dead or they would be using the defibrillator on me.  It was the lowest BP that he has seen in 10 years of anyone who wasn't dead. 

 

My son who completed a human kinetics/sports/recreation degree in university looked at me and said stop eating wheat.  Well he was right.  I have wheat allergies that do not show on an allergy test. I cannot drink alcohol anymore (Cannabis is fine, thankfully since I use it to combat arthritis and ADD. I just got my official prescription for it) and I have to watch the label on every food I buy now.  But I am thankful that I am here, and we know what to do.  The doctor gave me epi-pen prescriptions and another new drug called Ruupaul (YASSS- Work it!).  

 

I have lost over 20 lbs since this happend and I am breathing much better because of simbicort and the fact that I am not having complete body inflammation. 

 

All in all it was an eventful past few months.  I am happy to be coming out the other side alive, healthy and well. 

 

Just wanted to give you all an update why I have not been around in a long time.  

[ryan]

I wondered why you were gone, so glad your ok and doing better. thank god. I will pray for you buddy. I know people are going through alot and its a part of life but dang can it be hard sometimes. welcome back 🙂

[raptorddd]

15 hours ago, kojack said:

So, on Christmas eve, I went into anaphylactic shock. I was having allergic reactions to something for a year and a half and could not figure it out.  This last one was very hard on myself and my family.  I started having the normal reaction of hives, itchy skin, and shortness of breath, but this one hit me way different.  I was passing out on the bed and not staying conscious. 

 

My wife went to call my oldest son to come home and bring me to the emergency room, but things went down hill fast.  I felt like I was going to shat myself (the last conscious thought that I had) and I bolted to the bathroom.  Got in there and collapsed and that was it.  I was out. She called the ambulance to help me.  I cannot remember anything after that until I could hear one of the paramedics say "I am going to give you a second epinephrine shot. I agreed.  They put the blood pressure cuff on me and hit the button.  The second paramedic said "oh my god".  At that point I said what?  she said I am not allowed to tell you anything.  So they got me to the point where I was able to get to the stretcher to get in the ambulance.  She called in my vitals.  my bp was 55/30.  

 

I get to the hospital, and the ER doctor on staff told me after I was somewhat stabilized that if the ambulance was 2 mins longer I would be dead or they would be using the defibrillator on me.  It was the lowest BP that he has seen in 10 years of anyone who wasn't dead. 

 

My son who completed a human kinetics/sports/recreation degree in university looked at me and said stop eating wheat.  Well he was right.  I have wheat allergies that do not show on an allergy test. I cannot drink alcohol anymore (Cannabis is fine, thankfully since I use it to combat arthritis and ADD. I just got my official prescription for it) and I have to watch the label on every food I buy now.  But I am thankful that I am here, and we know what to do.  The doctor gave me epi-pen prescriptions and another new drug called Ruupaul (YASSS- Work it!).  

 

I have lost over 20 lbs since this happend and I am breathing much better because of simbicort and the fact that I am not having complete body inflammation. 

 

All in all it was an eventful past few months.  I am happy to be coming out the other side alive, healthy and well. 

 

Just wanted to give you all an update why I have not been around in a long time.  

congratulations to youand your son that pin point the cause and that your health is back.. am glad you are doing ok. 

[kojack]

2 hours ago, raptorddd said:

congratulations to youand your son that pin point the cause and that your health is back.. am glad you are doing ok. 

Thanks.  It was scary for quite a while.  Took him a day of thinking to figure it out.  Then I was lying in the hospital bed and he said it to me.  Then I started thinking back to what I ate before every attack.  Yep. Pizza 2 times (check), a nice wonderful burger (check), a large cinnamon bun (check), a mcdouble (check).  A sandwich with whole wheat bread, deli meats and mayo (check check check).  I stopped wheat right away and started watching everything that went down my stomach.  Knock on wood, I have only had one reaction since, and that was to test our theory.  I ate some perogies and sure enough, hives again. 

 

I gave me some fuel for my passions again too. Photography, videography, travelling, mountain biking, kayaking and computers.  So, there was lots of good that came from it as well. 

[Meaker]

Unfortunately the tests kind of suck so when my partner had issues we cut out foodgroups ourselves to figure out it was a dairy allergy.

[TreeTopsRanch]

Holy Molly..I thought allergy's could make you sick but not actually cause a death. You were lucky to escape that fate. Wonder why the Doctor couldn't diagnose the wheat issue?

[Meaker]

16 minutes ago, TreeTopsRanch said:

Holy Molly..I thought allergy's could make you sick but not actually cause a death. You were lucky to escape that fate. Wonder why the Doctor couldn't diagnose the wheat issue?

 

Yeah they can be fatal, they are to be taken seriously. It's always frustrating when people dismiss the concerns as being needy (This is aimed at people in general, not you) rather than being a serious concern.

[kojack]

6 hours ago, TreeTopsRanch said:

Holy Molly..I thought allergy's could make you sick but not actually cause a death. You were lucky to escape that fate. Wonder why the Doctor couldn't diagnose the wheat issue?

It's a crap shoot.  My son was telling me to not eat wheat for a while because of inflammation issues I was having/ am having.  Then, after the event, he said you really need to stop now.  I was thinking more environmental than food, that's why the Doctor wasn't pinpointing anything. 

[Aaron44126]

21 hours ago, TreeTopsRanch said:

Holy Molly..I thought allergy's could make you sick but not actually cause a death.

 

Agree with the above, a lot of people have mild allergies to certain foods or other things (myself included) but there are some cases where it can be really serious.  I had a coworker with a nut allergy who had to be super careful about all food (checking packaging / etc. like @kojack mentioned), because having the allergy triggered could lead to a situation where it was hard for him to breathe, which could get dangerous very quick.

[raptorddd]

@kojack i know it was scary but didnt want to make you remember that episode

 for food i have only seen it on tv bee stings those are more comon i guess.

[kojack]

5 hours ago, raptorddd said:

@kojack i know it was scary but didnt want to make you remember that episode

 for food i have only seen it on tv bee stings those are more comon i guess.

They are all fairly common.  My mother has a severe allergy to shellfish.  My folks were driving back from florida a few years ago, and stopped at a hotel with a restaurant.  She ordered cod au gratin (no shellfish), and my dad had steak.  About 15 min into their meal, she started having a reaction.  They were lucky and had her epipen.  Turns out the chef who was preparing her food cut her fish and the next tables scallops with the same knife.  Boom.  Stabbing herself with the Epipen to reverse the reaction.  It can happen that easy. 

 

Same with me and wheat now. Worst thing is I only developed this allergy in the past year and a half.  I could pound back pizza and burgers with the best of them before.  NOPE now. 

[ryan]

But your ok now?

 

Place was quiet without you here. @Etern4l hasn't posted in weeks. Hoping he's OK. Did you end up finding the reason like celiac.? Chrons?

[kojack]

7 hours ago, ryan said:

But your ok now?

 

Place was quiet without you here. @Etern4l hasn't posted in weeks. Hoping he's OK. Did you end up finding the reason like celiac.? Chrons?

 

Yes, I am fine now. It's just your run of the mill severe allergy. No different than a shellfish allergy.  Celiac is Gluten intolerance.  It makes you have upset stomach, poop liquified stuff, and what not.  My allergy wants to kill me. 

[Eban]

That really sucks!

I mean, I know we (humans) used to live without bread and pasta, but it is such a staple in my life now. I couldn't imagine not eating hamburgers

 

Have you ever tried rice flour bread? its full on disgusting

how about corn bread? Does that have any wheat in it?

[Aaron44126]

Cornbread is (usually?) made with regular flour so I'd be worried about that —

 

Still, there's probably options for "alternate breads".

 

Anything labeled "gluten free" shouldn't have wheat.  ("Gluten free" is a bit more broad than "no wheat" but it would by definition exclude wheat.)  So, there's probably some stuff to try there, I've never experimented in that area myself...

 

Even rye bread might be OK, but you'd have to make sure it is really just made from only rye flour and not a mixture of rye and wheat.

[raptorddd]

4 hours ago, Eban said:

That really sucks!

I mean, I know we (humans) used to live without bread and pasta, but it is such a staple in my life now. I couldn't imagine not eating hamburgers

 

Have you ever tried rice flour bread? its full on disgusting

how about corn bread? Does that have any wheat in it?

you have to make sacrifices. ive stopped consuming coffee, chocolate, coke and any other sweet drinks the sweet drink i just did it because i wanted to just plain water.

i rather feel ok then consuming that a feeling panic attacks.

[jaybee83]

7 hours ago, Eban said:

That really sucks!

I mean, I know we (humans) used to live without bread and pasta, but it is such a staple in my life now. I couldn't imagine not eating hamburgers

 

Have you ever tried rice flour bread? its full on disgusting

how about corn bread? Does that have any wheat in it?

 

exactly my thoughts when i saw this thread. then again, STAYING ALIVE is a pretty good motivator if u ask me lulz.

 

id probably move back to asia to switch to rice based dishes for the rest of my life, otherwise i wouldnt be able to fully enjoy the local food here in "wheaty" europe 😄 

[kojack]

8 hours ago, Eban said:

That really sucks!

I mean, I know we (humans) used to live without bread and pasta, but it is such a staple in my life now. I couldn't imagine not eating hamburgers

 

Have you ever tried rice flour bread? its full on disgusting

how about corn bread? Does that have any wheat in it?

I can eat all of it.  just using wheat free substitutes.  

 

As for the gluten free items, most are wheat free but some product indeed do have trace wheat amounts.  I read the label of EVERY item I purchase now.  Slows down the shopping process but is therapeutic as well.   I have had most every type of bread and pasta in our aera and 99 percent of it is really good.  I even made my own homemade pizza dough using Bob's Redmill flour.  Next time for that one I need a stand mixer with dough spiral and add some salt as well.   

[Sandy Bridge]

Glad you made it, that was a scary situation.

 

And yeah, there are a lot of good wheat and gluten free options nowadays.  While it was much less dramatic, my dad has been gluten free for a couple of years now, and while he also has to pay attention to what he buys, the substitutes are pretty good nowadays.  We still have lasagna occasionally when we meet up, but gluten-free, and he's been baking quite a bit more, most often with King Arthur's measure-for-measure gluten-free flour that lets him use the same recipe as the original.  He's said that the main downside is the gluten-free alternatives are more expensive, but it's obviously not worth being penny-wise but pound foolish when it comes to health.

 

Rye is one that theoretically should be fine so long as the problem is wheat specifically, but rye does contain gluten.  Less than wheat, but for someone who has a gluten allergy, it's still a no-go.  It's interesting that some of the gluten-free products have trace wheat amounts.  That seems... wrong?  Reminds me of someone I once knew who was severely allergic to corn, though.  He said you wouldn't believe how many products contain corn in the United States, and not just food but even cosmetic products like shampoo sometimes contain trace amounts of corn products.  At least wheat and gluten allergies are more common and thus more commonly labeled, but I'd still expect "gluten free" to not contain wheat.

[kojack]

1 hour ago, Sandy Bridge said:

Glad you made it, that was a scary situation.

 

And yeah, there are a lot of good wheat and gluten free options nowadays.  While it was much less dramatic, my dad has been gluten free for a couple of years now, and while he also has to pay attention to what he buys, the substitutes are pretty good nowadays.  We still have lasagna occasionally when we meet up, but gluten-free, and he's been baking quite a bit more, most often with King Arthur's measure-for-measure gluten-free flour that lets him use the same recipe as the original.  He's said that the main downside is the gluten-free alternatives are more expensive, but it's obviously not worth being penny-wise but pound foolish when it comes to health.

 

Rye is one that theoretically should be fine so long as the problem is wheat specifically, but rye does contain gluten.  Less than wheat, but for someone who has a gluten allergy, it's still a no-go.  It's interesting that some of the gluten-free products have trace wheat amounts.  That seems... wrong?  Reminds me of someone I once knew who was severely allergic to corn, though.  He said you wouldn't believe how many products contain corn in the United States, and not just food but even cosmetic products like shampoo sometimes contain trace amounts of corn products.  At least wheat and gluten allergies are more common and thus more commonly labeled, but I'd still expect "gluten free" to not contain wheat.

I agree.  I have had to change my soap etc to all natural versions. But yes. Alot of gluten free things still contain trace amounts of wheat.  Under the guidelines for the Celiac organization of Canada, You can have a certain amount and be labeled gluten free. 

[kojack]

I have been watching everything going into my body since this happened.  So I started dabbling with resturants since my son loves McDs nuggets.  We went to the M in Walmart here, I ordered a 1/4 pounder with no bun and a fries. 12hrs later a breakout.  Went to the pizza place where I started having my massive outbreaks, and ordered their gluten free cauliflower crust pizza...bang...10 hrs later breakout....Seems people don't understand when I tell them I have a severe wheat allergy and my food cannot touch any flour, buns etc.  They assured me it was cleaned off....NOPE.  The McDs, in the mall here does not have enough frier space to have a separate fryer for Gluten free people. So, my fries were cooked in the same fryer as the nuggets, mcchickens etc.  

 

I am basically playing Russian roulette when I go out to eat now.  Thank god I have my overland refrigerator so I can keep everything I need to eat fresh when we travel. I know of 3 places I can eat without worry while on the road. 

[raptorddd]

9 hours ago, kojack said:

I have been watching everything going into my body since this happened.  So I started dabbling with resturants since my son loves McDs nuggets.  We went to the M in Walmart here, I ordered a 1/4 pounder with no bun and a fries. 12hrs later a breakout.  Went to the pizza place where I started having my massive outbreaks, and ordered their gluten free cauliflower crust pizza...bang...10 hrs later breakout....Seems people don't understand when I tell them I have a severe wheat allergy and my food cannot touch any flour, buns etc.  They assured me it was cleaned off....NOPE.  The McDs, in the mall here does not have enough frier space to have a separate fryer for Gluten free people. So, my fries were cooked in the same fryer as the nuggets, mcchickens etc.  

 

I am basically playing Russian roulette when I go out to eat now.  Thank god I have my overland refrigerator so I can keep everything I need to eat fresh when we travel. I know of 3 places I can eat without worry while on the road. 

in my opinion i would rather not go to restaurants and risk it. better to eat at home and should be healtier.

[Eban]

5 hours ago, raptorddd said:

in my opinion i would rather not go to restaurants and risk it. better to eat at home and should be healtier.

 

I've worked in several restaurants....100% agree

Sure its nice to eat out sometimes...but...not too often

 

 

[kojack]

13 hours ago, raptorddd said:

in my opinion i would rather not go to restaurants and risk it. better to eat at home and should be healthier.

We like to travel, so eating at other place is sometimes the only option. I have a new app on my phone called find me gluten free.  It's an invalulable tool for me now. I know where I can safely eat.  Most times its not fast food.  

 

THe only fast food place I can eat locally is Dairy Queen, even then I have to order it without a bun and use my own. 

[raptorddd]

On 8/23/2024 at 4:24 PM, Eban said:

 

I've worked in several restaurants....100% agree

Sure its nice to eat out sometimes...but...not too often

 

 

i usually dont eat at restaurants or any food cart on the streets. thats a catchy song LOL,