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Reply: Latex allergy -Need help

I was first diagnosed at University when I started having this weird rash. I was told by the...

Posted by FrGeof

I was first diagnosed at University when I started having this weird rash. I was told by the University's Doctor to simply "avoid the gloves and keep elastic away from you." I was never fully serious about my sensitivity at the time and didn't have any knowledge about cross-reactivity or other sources of latex in the environment.

Ten years ago I ended up in the ER and when I mentioned my Latex allergy, the Nurse got very excited and handed over a single page of "new" information and that's the first I learned of the cross-reactive foods list - at the time it listed five or six foods (it's dozens now). I knew that I needed more information and ended up falling into a Yahoo Group NRLA support group that has really helped me figure out how to live day to day with this allergy.. lately we've mostly moved to a private group on Facebook to cut down on the spam. (If you, or any other latex allergy survivor, wants an invite you can look me up over there..)

Over the past few years we worked hard to limit my exposure, creating a safe home where latex products and foods are simply not allowed. To complicate matters, my wife works in the Health Care industry - so I've had countless exposures over the years from Latex particles hitching a ride home on her scrubs. (One latex glove snap creates airborne latex particles that can take up to eight hours to settle!) A year ago I could handle my reactions with a Benedryl or two (...then three or four..), never wanting to use the Epinephrine I have carried for years, then I had to add Ventolin as the Bronchospasms got worse, but the reactions started getting closer together and stronger, so that now one whiff of a balloon or latex glove or rubber band and I get to enjoy anaphylaxis, a stab in the leg from the Epi auto-injector and a visit to the ER. The Tax Office has tried to kill me four times now because they handle their mail with latex finger cots.. latex particles end up on the tag bills and then I open up the envelope and get puffed in the face with those latex particles and I'm off to the ER. My reactions are so bad that I now have a Service Dog who alerts me when he smells latex in the environment so I can put on a filter mask and escape the area - hopefully preventing the ER visit.

Latex Allergy is covered under the ADA so you can request reasonable accommodations at work if you need to. My office even had a "Latex Scavenger Hunt" complete with prizes for those who found the most hidden latex, they switched to non-latex office supplies (there are non-latex replacements for those rubber bands, finger cots, and rubber stamps!) and even had the cleaning crew switch to non-latex gloves.

My past few exposures were a bunch of hidden balloons at the Credit Union, a birthday party that walked into a restaurant, a cook who wore latex gloves while cutting up lemons that I squeezed onto a lovely piece of fish I was eating, and a group of teachers who had a pizza party with balloons who hours later met me at our Chiropractor's office. Each time my Service Dog alerted me, and so I was able to limit my exposure and still had enough mental capacity left to use the Epinephrine and get to the ER for a visit. (Yes, we're now on a first name basis with all four shifts there..)

I don't tell you this to scare you, not all Latex Allergies progress this far and some people only react with rashes and hives. I want to warn you, and anyone else who has this Allergy, to learn everything you can and be as proactive about limiting your exposure as possible. The only prevention we have is strict avoidance. The less you get exposed the slower the Latex Allergy will progress and the safer you will be.

Good Luck and Keep Breathing.

~G.View Thread

Posted byFrGeof

5 Replies | Reply | Watch This DiscussionReport This| Share this:Latex allergy -Need help I was first diagnosed at University when I started having this weird rash. I was told by the...

Reply: Latex allergy -Need help

Good Evening Debbie. I too have a latex allergy, I agree that it can be overwhelming at...

Posted by FrGeof

5 Replies | Reply | Watch This DiscussionReport This| Share this:Latex allergy -Need help Good Evening Debbie. I too have a latex allergy, I agree that it can be overwhelming at...

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