Allergic Reaction from A to V

Allergy can disguise itself in any of dozens of different ways. Yet once you know how to recognize allergy – and what to do about it – you stand an excellent chance of feeling well again. That’s what this section is for – to help you identify all the masks of allergy.

The common problems of wheezing, itching and digestive upsets are discussed here in full, of course. But while allergies most often the nose, lungs, skin and stomach, doctors are learning that there’s no reason to assume that allergies ignore the rest of the body.

Thanks to the insight of several pioneering doctors mentioned in the following pages, people are learning that the same allergy that’s causing their asthma, hay fever, eczema or hives may be spilling over to other parts of their body, producing seemingly unrelated discomforts.

The truth is that many stubborn or unexplained health problems, from high blood pressure to overweight, may be caused or aggravated by allergy. For instance, say you have eczema but you also get nagging headaches frequently. Good detective work of the type described in the earlier reveals that both milk and enzyme containing laundry detergents contribute to your skin trouble.

You eliminate them and within a few weeks your aczema clears up considerably – but not completely. Reading the entry on headaches (a problem not usually thought of as a symptom of allergy), it occurs to you that you may also be allergic to citrus fruit. So you avoid oranges, lemon and all other forms of citrus.

Both the eczema and headaches disappear completely. You may not have eczema or headaches, of course. That’s just an example of how the information in this section can be used to help anyone with sensitivities to food, inhalants or other allergens find more complete and lasting relief from all their symptoms.

And in a way, the people who benefit most from allergy detective work are those with less clear cut forms of allergy – fatigue, muscles aches, ringing in the ears and the like. They've probably consulted half a dozen or more doctors but have found no explanation or effective treatment.

And when people have a health problem that defies diagnosis, they react in one or two ways. Some imagine the worst and convince themselves that they have cancer or some other terrifying disease. Others worry that they're just imagining their aches and pains and that they've turned into hypochondriacs.

And still other people try to tough it out the best they can. But all tend to grow more depressed and frustrated by the day, their lives ruled by nagging, mysterious complaints. And that’s too bad. Because so many people might find complete relief from chronic health problems by using a guide like this to figure out how allergies are affecting their condition.

Like most people, you’re probably so accustomed to thinking of allergies in terms of sneezing, wheezing and itching that you’ll be surprised to learn that allergies can show up as so many different ailments. Few others allergy books even mention those health problems or discuss them in depth that we present here.

We hope you and your family will find this section as useful and interesting as the rest of the book. Since avoidance is usually the cure, the more you learn about your individual – and very unique – form of allergy, the better your chances for a complete recovery.

As one doctor told us, ”People become very smart when they're sick.” Of course, allergy isn’t the only possible cause of many of these conditions. Many can be caused or aggravated by infection or other disease.

It's wise to get a medical checkup in order to rule out other causes, especially in infants and children or anyone who is chronically ill. Yet, even if you find that some of your health problems are not allergies, you’ll soon see that treating them will build up your defenses and make treatment of allergy all the more successful.

Here the list of allergic reaction: