Mystery solved!!!

My recent trip to the hospital effectively turned me into a paranoid restaurant patron. I remember trying out a local chinese buffet and asking two different staff members to confirm that I would not risk any problems due to cross-contamination. The available fried rice had shrimp in it and, of course, that meant that I could not eat it. They brought out a new container that had no shrimp in it (I asked them to confirm that they hadn't simply picked the shrimp out before trying it) so I loaded up my plate and sat down at the table.

I half-heartedly began to eat, keeping a keen eye on my watch - at that time I was figuring that if I was OK ten minutes after eating something, I'd more than likely be fine. My mind played tricks on me. I felt an itch in my throat which quickly went away. I wondered if my breathing was fine or if I was getting a little wheezy. A mind is a very powerful thing and it can certainly make you think things are happening that really aren't.

Enough time passed and I was convinced that I would survive another meal. I told my girlfriend (who turned out to be my future wife) that I would no longer go to any restaurants with her until after I figured out once and for all what it was that was triggering the increasingly serious reactions. Fortunately, she agreed.

Another appointment was booked with my allergist. A few weeks or couple of months passed and I found myself explaining to the doctor what happened this time around. To make a long story short, another round of tests yielded no new results and the doc threw his arms up and said he could not understand. He referred me to another allergist in the hopes that he might find something that had been missed each time I had been previously tested.

When the date of that new appointment finally rolled around, I headed out hoping that I would learn once and for all what it was that could cause my demise. The test started off like every other one. Recognizing minute reactions to the various allergens was old hat for me until... it felt like my arm had caught fire immediately after one specific little stab into my forearm. The nurse gave me the typical instructions - sit still and wait for the full effect to take place so a determination of what affects me can be made. It was twenty excruciating minutes.

The doctor came in to take a look. In and amongst the little mosquito bite-like welts on my arm was one whopper - the one that hurt like I had never experienced before. He informed me that it was the pine nut that was causing that welt, but just to be sure, he wanted to do it one more time!!! I could have belted him one but that would not have been wise. The nurse came back, set my right arm on fire (figuratively, of course!) and it was soon confirmed that it is the little pine nut that I would have to avoid at all costs for the rest of my life.

What the heck is a pine nut!? Research showed that it is a seed that is found inside the cone produced by certain pine trees. This little seed can be found in French and Italian cooking and can be used whole or crushed into a powder, effectively making it visually undetectable when scanning a plate for potential hazards.

Did this discovery solve the mystery of what had been happening to me over the years? Yep! While I had never been able to find out what common element was present every time I reacted, I now could. The owner of the restaurant that provided the soup for our seniors luncheons at work had insisted that there was no clam juice or shellfish in his foods... the chef at the restaurant had confirmed that my salmon had not been cooked along with a lobster or shrimp... the client's house had not seen shellfish for weeks prior to my getting sick. All concerned had inquired about pine nuts being a potential allergen for me but I had dismissed it as a possibility because I had been tested four or five times with no indications that it might be!

But now it was clear - shellfish could cause me discomfort and would trigger the mildest of reactions. Pine nuts, on the other hand, were as poisonous to me as Clorox Bleach, if not worse.
On one hand it was good to once and for all know what I needed to avoid. On the other hand, I now had to be ever so vigilant because pine nuts can be so difficult to detect and identify.

So now what?

Sitting around in the emergency room, panicking on an escalator

Going to the hospital by ambulance certainly has its advantages. There's virtually no wait - though I was not the #1 priority upon arriving as I "met" the pedestrian from the previous post. Her needs at that moment were much more important than mine. Once she had been moved to the operating room (I guess) it was my turn.

It seemed that while I was still very puffy due to the hives that covered me from head to toe, I was stable and had to wait for an ER physician to come to my bed and check me out. Knowing that I was going to be OK had the effect of turning the next half hour into what seemd to be hours due to utter boredom. I asked my father who had now just arrived to go get me a newspaper or something to read while waiting.

Moments later, a doctor came to speak with me and more fully explained what had happened to me. I had experienced one of the worst possible anaphylactic reactions to something I had eaten, and had been mere minutes away from major trouble. It turns out that all actions taken to that point had pretty much saved my life. We no longer were dealing with what first seemed like minor inconvenient reaction after leaving that downtown restaurant...

After quizzing me about what I had eaten and once he heard that there was a progressing history of allergic reactions to food, he advised me to get tested. Upon explaining that I had already done so and nothing seriously dangerous to me had been identified, nor had any common thread in any of my incidents been identified, he impressed upon me that it was imperative that I get to the bottom of what was going on.

I was given a prescription for Prednisone - no more Benadryl for a week for me - and was cautioned that this particular drug had interesting side effects: weight gain due to constantly being hungry or not being able to feel full, as well as some mental effects. I seemed to make it through the week without too much trouble, though I could not have predicted what would happen the first day I left the house after finishing my prescription and feeling somewhat normal once again.

While I can't remember why I went to the shopping centre, I distinctly remember having an overwhelming sense of fear and anxiety as I stepped onto an escalator. I had driven the short distance to get there without any incident, but as soon as I set foot on the moving staircase, I immediately felt some sense of impending doom! More interesting was the fact that I almost had to have this little internal debate where I rationalized that I had been on that escalator dozens if not hundreds of times in my life and everything would be fine, yet the "other side of me" was having this irrational mini panic attack that wouldn't go away. By the time I made it to the bottom I was fine, shaking it off with a new-found understanding of how people with mental disabilities must feel at times, with a distinct lack of ability to control one's own thoughts. I was very thankful that I had worked with mental health issues at the office over the years and could easily cope with what I hoped would be a simple blip. It was.

Anyhow, the bottom line was that once the medication had been taken and time had a chance to heal my body after a wild experience, it was now time to figure out once and for all what was doing this to me. Back to the drawing board...