My bloody allergies and a visit to Dr. Kaulsay

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I felt a slight sting on my face yesterday and thought “oh no, oh no…”
I know what it means!
It means my allergies are going “HI JOYCE ! WE’RE GONNA HAVE A PARTY ON YA!!!”

I went to bed with my face stinging despite washing it with gentle face cleanser and applying Avene (it’s what my aunt uses cos she has allergies too) and woke up this morning with tiny yellow pimples all over my lower face…

Looking bad is one thing, but having it hurt and sting and itch adds to the whole damnation of it all!

I used to have great skin. In fact, i would have an average of ONE PIMPLE per year since i was old enough to HAVE pimples.
I now know i was taking my great skin for granted… once i hit my 30th birthday, i started getting allergies on and off all over my face and body.

It’s surprising how many girl friends have been casually handing me out allergy pills and cream when i feel an itch coming while we’re out for meals or drinks. Every time i voiced out my surprise how PREPARED they all are for allergies, they merely replied, “Welcome to your thirties.”

AHHHHHHHHHH

I know around seven girl friends who all contracted allergies the moment they hit 30.
Why did noone tell me of this before?
Or maybe i couldn’t care less cos *i* didn’t have it then.
Well look at me now… bursting out in angry rashes all over my body!

At one point in London when it was really bad, i told my uncle, “It seems to be going down every time i drink. Maybe i’m allergic to sobriety!”
His reply: “YOU WISH.”

You know what my worst fear is?
That i’m allergic to alcohol!!!
I don’t think so… (i mean, come on… it’s me, how can *I* be allergic to alcohol) but who knows the funny games the Universe plays on you nowadays.

So anyway this morning i was desperate.
I vowed to run to either a Chinese herbal medicine shop or a Western skin doctor as soon as they opened.
I was so eager that i called the clinic at 8:45am and they hung up on me :p
Guess that’s too early for them.

Aps and Jia Wei both told me about Dr Kaulsay, who has a clinic next to Victoria Station and is apparently an expert in allergies, so i drove there this morning.

Anyway the interesting part of this post is what i’m about to tell you.

After showing the doctor my allergies on my face, shins, stomach, and arms; he looked all serious andย asked me about my family’s history with life illnesses. I had to think for awhile and said my grandmother has diabetes, and my grandfather passed away from a heart attack.

“How old was he?”
“I dunno, maybe 65?”
“Did he smoke?”
“Yes.”
“That’s still bad.”

Then he proceeded to tell me how allergies are due to my genetic inflammations acting up, and how they are all signs to future diseases i might suffer from in the future. The reason he asked me about my family’s medical history is because of my genetic make up that obviously comes from them. He mentioned how life diseases are caused by many factors in our environment nowadays and how any of these factors can trigger allergies (which are what i presume sound like warning signs now) be it food, medication or products that are wrongly advertised by companies to be “healthy”. < I must add how he gruffly disapproved of how institutions mislead the public to take all sorts of things when they can be bad for them. I was slightly taken aback as to how passionate he seemed about the subject.

Then he said something i CAN do, is to take this genetic mapping test so he can explain to me the dos and don’ts about my own personal lifestyle habits so i can “switch off” the inflammations that are acting up, before they possess a greater danger to me in the future.

I actually know about this genetic mapping test from Jia Wei, who said she wants to take it too. And i know Serena has taken a similar one on Jln Yap Kwan Seng. They take a swab sample from inside your mouth and send it to Australia where the results are returned within 3-4 weeks. Once you get your results, the doctor has private sessions with you to explain in full length and detail on whatever it is that you need to know (obviously i don’t know what i’m talking about here cos i haven’t had the test done before!).

I asked how much the test cost and he said RM3K.
I didn’t even bother to hide how much i thought that was and went, “Whattttt!”
Tak maintain langsung haha.

I do plan to return to get it done, as i really can’t be plagued by my allergies like this for the rest of my life.
And the thought of being at risk of diseases i could avoid is scary.
Also, i have more time to research and ask around.

For now, he gave me some cortisone cream and tablets to make the allergies go down.
The cream is awesome! Ok it’s quite bad for you… cos it’s a steroid cream and i can’t use it every time i have allergies. But for now i just want to get the damn thing off my face so i applied it and wala it’s reduced impressively in 12 hours. (The cream has 1% cortisone in it btw.) However when i applied it onto my bodily rashes they became bright red spots 0_0 At least the ones on my face didn’t become like that i suppose.

Ok so that’s my allergy story.
If you have allergies, fret not, you are not alone.

I have officially joined the Allergy Club. (Somehow i wish that was the Alcohol Club instead. Oh god please do not let me be allergic to alcohol and all my favourite foods of any sort! I’ll be GOOD.)

 

6 Responses to My bloody allergies and a visit to Dr. Kaulsay

  1. Mitchie says:

    I feel you, I really do..I’ve developed an allergy towards honey last year when I was 34! Out of nowhere, wham bam! My lips will puff up and the entire surface of my lips will turn scaly with very tiny little bubbles around the edges, bright red rimmed puffy lips (not the most attractive thing to have *sniffs*). And you know what? I LOVE honey ๐Ÿ™ I have anti-histamines with me all the time in my little wristlet these days for emergencies/accidental honey intake in food/drinks..I did an allergy prick test too and found out I’m also allergic to mold and yes, mold is everywhere (airborne) for God’s sake. My skin flares up in hives if I get too close, and there was once it was so bad that I was gasping for air due to a tight airway caused by the allergy. Seriously sucks. Take goodie care, Joyce!

  2. Joanne says:

    Recently I have developed allergy towards nuts, eggs and mango! Of all food, egg and mango are my favourite! Le sigh~

    My lips crack and skin starts peeling off. I’m surviving on steroid cream too. But I will not apply unless is really serious.

    The doc advice was not to take any allergy test as it might not be accurate. Allergy comes and goes, he said. If I’m lucky, it might go over…one day.

    Totally feel you so I hope you will not be allergic to alcohol and yeah, food especially! Take care ๐Ÿ™‚

  3. ipohgal says:

    women tend to have allergies when they pass a certain age because of hormonal changes which affects their skin. many people find relief when they start taking evening primrose oil supplement cause that balances out the hormonal changes they may have. good luck n don’t fret. try to make a diary of the food/things u come in contact with, and if u can catch the trigger, u can control ur allergy.

  4. Did you know it’s possible to be allergic to beer? In a recent study from Italy, they found a 45-year-old man who was indeed allergic to 36 different types of beer, and that there were two types he could safely drink.

  5. sam says:

    Go easy on steroid creams.. they can cause skin bleaching… it’s more obvious if your skin is tan

  6. JoyceTheFairy says:

    sam: sigh i used it sparingly and not even every day… but i’ve already got white marks! ๐Ÿ™ ๐Ÿ™ ๐Ÿ™

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