By now you may suspect that you have allergies you never considered. What’s your next move? ”The first thing that a person can do,” Dr. Tichenor told us, ”is pay very close attention to his or her body for a period of time – a week or a month or whatever. Try to see if there’s any health problem that can be related to certain foods or anything else in [his or her] daily life.”

”Start by learning to be your own detective,” says Doris J. Rapp, M.D., a pediatrician and allergist in Buffalo, New York. ”If you feel fine only when you’re away from home, and worse within several hours after you return, chances are that something in your house is causing the problem.

On the other hand, if you feel fine at home but ill at work, at school or when traveling, that’s a sign that you’re sensitive to something outside the home. If allergic symptoms are unrelated to where you are and never disappear with change of location, you may have a food allergy. That is particularly true if you’ve had the allergy since infancy.”

Food allergy, in fact, is a number one suspect for most people with allergy problems, according to Albert Rowe, Jr., M.D.m a California doctor who practiced with his late father and has treated allergy patients for over 30 years. Dr. Rowe feels strongly that food allergy is far more prevalent than allergies to chemicals and inhalants.

”One way to approach an unknown food allergy is to eliminate a suspected food for a period of several days and then reintroduce it in large amounts for a day and see what happens,” Dr. Tichenor told us. Chances are if you have severe, immediate reaction to eggs or seafood, you don’t need to test your sensitivity.

”Those with allergies outside the home usually experience a worsening of symptoms during the warm month of the year, indicating a sensitivity to pollen or mold.” says Dr. Rapp. ”Also, if you smell chemicals before other and either detest or crave the odor, it may indicate a chemical sensitivity.”

That kind of detective work – an investigation of your water, your home, your workplace, your prescription drugs, your clothing – is what this blog all about. ”Allegies sometimes can be relieved entirely or in part within one to two weeks by making changes in a person’s home or by altering what’s eaten,” wrote Dr. Rapp in her book, Allergies and Your Family (Sterling Publishing, 1980).

Highly sensitive people or those who are allergic to many, many things will probably have to make more and larger adjustments than less sensitive people. No doubt some people will realize that their allergies are complex enough that they need to see a doctor to help them with their avoidance program.

If you want to make an appointment with a clinical ecologist, write to the Society for Clinical Ecology for the addresses of physicians in your general area who can try to help you.

A couple of final points. If you are currently being treated for asthma or other allergic problems, it’s important that you continue taking your present medication or shots unless otherwise advice by your doctor. And if you have medical problems unrelated to allergy, they should treated.

In the event that you go to an eye doctor, a gynecologist, a primary care physician or any medical professional for other matters, he or she will have to know about your allergies and how they’re being handled. It’s a good idea to take along a list of what you’re allergic to.

If your second doctor doesn’t believe in your sensitivities, or dismisses them as unimportant, don’t hesitate to ask your allergy doctor to refer you to someone who is more receptive.

There’s no sense in going to a doctor who’s going to disregard factors that you know are harmful to you. One last word of encouragement. Allergies are a special challenge. But as you’ll discover as we go along, they can be licked. No one promises that will be easy. But chances are it will be worth it.