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Allergy Treatment involves assessing a person’s allergic tendencies through a complete history of their symptoms and laboratory studies. Through a specific form of allergy testing (Serial Dilution End Point Titration) we are able to “neutralize” each patient to the specific things to which they are allergic.
X DR. BONNET SPEAKS OUT: ALLERGIES Part IAs a medical student, I remember thinking; “…I’d rather die than be an allergist.” The very idea of spending an entire professional career treating poorly understood, relatively trivial (so I thought) problems with even more poorly understood interventions seemed like a living hell to me. My goal was to find a cure for schizophrenia. Years later, while analyzing data in an attempt to see why a subgroup of schizophrenic patients who were chronic non-responders (patients who, despite following a proper diet and taking the correct vitamins and trace metals) did not fully recover, I suddenly realized that allergy was the underlying culprit. I was thunderstruck! As I more closely examined this new hypothesis, I realized that hidden allergies were in fact the underlying problem. Freedom from allergic symptoms and colds has been one of the keynote indicators of the low histamine schizophrenic patient. It was now clear that this group was, in fact, highly allergic (but did not have the itchy eyes, runny nose and sneezing) however histamine did not build up to a level necessary to give rise to these first line defense symptoms. Further study into patient’s history generally revealed their having “outgrown” these allergic problems. Usually, if there had been treatment by a traditional allergist, it made things worse. It gradually became apparent that chronic non-responders were only the tip of the allergic iceberg. Continued research revealed that everything from hypoglycemia to bulimia, arthritis to PMS, mania to depression and so on could have allergy as its underlying cause. While some were allergic to common allergens (pollen, animal dander, house dust) many more had food or mold allergies. The picture of a food-allergic (addicted) patient became increasingly clear with food cravings as the key symptom. Physical symptoms includes allergic shiners (dark circles under the eyes), rapid weight fluctuations, etc. Low serum IgA was the confirming laboratory diagnostic indicator. Thus the problem was clearly identified. The solution would be somewhat more evasive. The old standby of dietary elimination frequently was too difficult because of hidden food sources. (Corn, for example, can be hidden in anything from table salt to postage stamps.) An even bigger problem with dietary elimination is the fact that a food-allergic person tends to react to anything that is eaten frequently, so as one food is eliminated a necessary increase in the other foods would lead to the person being allergic to them. I found myself prescribing diets that became more and more restricted. And then along came ‘Fred’. Initially he had cleared up all his schizophrenic symptoms when he eliminated wheat from his diet. To maintain his improvement however, he had to eliminate corn – then sugar – milk – yeast – beef – chicken. The list of ‘safe’ foods kept decreasing until rice was the only food he could count on not to cause a reaction. Then came an appointment when ‘Fred’ said, “Well Doc, do you think you can tech me to live on air? I’m starting to react to rice and there’s nothing else left.” By the end of the appointment, I had convinced ‘Fred’ that we’d find something. (I knew it was time for some more serious research.) A friend, who was a pediatric allergist (Dr. Ken Krischer), had been explaining to me that by following the serial dilution method developed by Dr. Herbert Rinkel and refined by Dr. Joseph Miller, he was able to turn on and off cerebral allergic reactions in hyperactive children. Wasting no time, since ‘Fred’ was not the only patient who would soon be trying to live on air, my wife (who is a registered nurse) and I matriculated at Dr. Krischer’s Center in Florida. Along with learning serial dilution method, we had ample opportunity to see cerebral allergies turned on and off. ‘Fred’ was one of the first people to be neutralized. The results were even more positive than had been expected. ‘Fred’ did not and does not have to live on air. He eats a creative rotation diet and maintains a healthy, positive lifestyle. It was then that I realized that in following my dream of finding a cure for schizophrenia, I had become an allergist! Allergies“Allergies? Sure I had them as a kid. Runny nose, itchy eyes, asthma now and then. But I grew out of them…” Well, that’s not entirely true. Childhood allergies are often neglected by parents who hold the mistaken belief that their offspring will outgrow them. · Colic in an infant may progress to an array of food allergies in later life. · Infantile eczema may be a warning sign of stubborn skin allergies to come. · Respiratory allergy in childhood usually follows the patient with increasing severity into adult life. · Seasonal allergies may become hidden, but food allergies might begin to appear, as the person grows older. I bet you’re wondering, “Why me?” Well you actually have lots of company. Some twenty to thirty million Americans can suffer at some time during their lives from some sort of allergy. Hay fever affects one out of every twenty persons in the United States. And it doesn’t necessarily follow that because you are allergic the rest of the members of your family will have the same problems. (Allergies do have a tendency to develop with greater frequency within families, however.) Just what are allergies and how do they develop? They are sensitivities to or intolerances of certain substances, which the majority of people find harmless. When the allergic person comes in contact with one or more of those substances to which he is sensitive, he develops a reaction. You might recognize some in yourself or someone you know: · Hay fever – with sneezing, runny nose and itchy eyes. · Asthma – creating a tight wheezing chest. · Skin disorders – including hives, eczema, weeping rash.
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Digestive disturbances – such as
abdominal cramps, constipation or diarrhea. Generally the following scenario takes place. The individual becomes sensitized by exposure to the substance or substances that are going to be the offenders in an allergic reaction. (This sensitization may take place at anytime in the individual’s life, in some instances even before birth.) Sensitization causes some change in body chemistry that leads to an allergic reaction when the individual is exposed again to the allergen on a second or third occasion. EXAMPLEVisiting the northern coast of California on vacation for three weeks. Nancy found that her chronic sinus problem disappeared. When she returned six months later on business, which kept her there for another month, she had the same results. This time when Nancy returned east, she decided to move to northern California permanently. Everything was fine for the first year. Then, slowly but surely, the old problems began to return, seemingly out of nowhere. Nancy’s ‘allergies’ hadn’t ‘disappeared’ on all those trips and in the year she lived there, her body merely needed the exposure to new allergens for the sensitization to happen which led to an allergic reaction. Why should this lead you to seek medical help? Allergies are uncomfortable at best. Left unchecked, in a severely allergic person, they can be life threatening. (Every so often you will read a newspaper account of the person who dies from an allergic reaction to a bee or wasp sting. If you know you have a reaction to stinging insects, such as wheezing, abnormal swelling, gastrointestinal pain, you should seek immediate medical help.) Before you can receive treatment, the physician has to determine what is causing the allergy. From a complete history, followed by a physical examination and routine laboratory tests, he will determine how to proceed with treatment. Frequently specific allergy tests will be recommended. VISITING THE ALLERGY DEPARTMENTA visit to the office allergy department can be a rewarding experience, although it might not seem so at the time. There you sit in your short sleeved shirt, not very happy about spending a day having suspected allergic substances injected into your skin and then having to wait for a reaction. Let’s look at a typical experience: You have already filled out an extensive background history. This covers everything form physical symptoms to environmental conditions and food/drink reactions. Also, an extensive consultation with Dr. Bonnet will determine what tests will be performed. The Allergy Department uses the very precise method of allergy measurement known as serial dilution intradermal titration technique. Using this method, you will be tested for the apparent problem causing foods, molds and inhalants. This method involves starting with a small amount of the allergic substance in question and injecting it into the skin (this feels like a small pinch). Each test resembles a mosquito bite. In about 10 minutes a positive reaction will grow and appear raised. On the other hand, a negative reaction will shrink or remain unchanged. The results are ‘read’ by the allergy nurse. This reading provides the answer you have been waiting for – what YOU are allergic to and the proper dosage needed for YOUR BODY to neutralize the offending allergens. And you thought this wouldn’t be fun… But wait the good part isn’t over yet. Now that YOUR results have been gathered, a vial of neutralizing doses to the main allergens is prepared. (By the way, since this dosage is so precise and prepared so carefully for your needs, the shots can be given safely at home, either by you or someone else you have selected.) The allergy vial can be prepared in a glycerin base, which allows a person to put a measured amount in drops under their tongue as opposed to the uncomfortable injection method. Now that you have the neutralizing doses to the main allergens, YOU should start feeling relief as soon as the drops or injections are administered regularly. There will be both as immediate reduction of symptoms as well as the long-term build up of greater resistance to the allergy. It is usually necessary in around six month’s time to check and see if there has been a definite change. Remember this is a general picture and will not apply to everyone. People vary, and so there is never an exact pattern. And – we, or anyone else, can’t guarantee successful results. We have found that this is the method that has been successful in most cases. HIDDEN ALLERGENSMany times allergic persons have suffered for so many years with their problems, that they fail to realize a new problem when it occurs. A change of job that puts you in close proximity to someone who smokes heavily – suddenly you are now a passive smoker and your body (which is most likely allergic to the smoke) quietly reacts. Why is this reaction ‘hidden’? Well, you might not add another sneeze, headache, hive or upset stomach to your list of physical problems, but you might find that you are getting sick more often. Thinking it is the flu, frequent colds, whatever – you fail to look at this new environmental situation that your already overburdened body is living with. Some other environmental problems to be aware of include perfumes, animals, airborne molds, and damp cellars. They are quiet offenders that can make life miserable. FOOD FOR THE BODYFood allergies can be the biggest source of problems, challenge and aggravation. Food is a regular ongoing body requirement. It is not something that a move to another part of the country or world will eliminate. (Frequently a radical change in diet and dietary preparation can have very pleasant effects.) It’s generally not something that is seasonal and can be as easily detected as environmental allergies, or an attack of the sneezes every time you are visited by the neighbor’s playful puppy. Food allergies generally take clever detective work to uncover. Let’s take a look at wheat - well that seems simple – bread, crackers, cookies. There that wasn’t too hard. Now, did you think it was really going to be that easy? That’s right, back to the grocery store, reading the labels. Wheat can be found in many processed foods we eat: salad dressings, beer, waffles, bouillon cubes, chocolate, ice cream, lunch meats, margarine and you did spend a great deal of time reading the ingredients on those cereal boxes, didn’t you… Elimination testing is one way to determine your particular food offenders. The office can provide you with guidelines for this testing; however, it should be done with counseling from the allergy department. Testing, neutralization, elimination, careful diet and food planning can make food allergies livable. With the proliferation of cookbooks today on every imaginable topic, you will be able to find lots of great suggestions to more than fulfill the need for daily bread. The allergy department also has lists of resources for finding food substitutes that might not be readily available in your particular area. Frequently these items can be mail ordered. ==== X DR. BONNET SPEAKS OUT: Allergies Part IIIf things have not been going as well as they should – low energy, trouble staying on your diet, irritability, poor frustration tolerance, etc. – and there’s no obvious reason, consider the possibility of allergies. We tend to think of itchy eyes, runny nose, sneezing and rashes as allergic symptoms, but these ‘first line defense’ symptoms (automatic actions that the body takes to prevent the entry of allergens) are only the tip of the allergic iceberg and are trivial compared to the havoc allergens (substances that can cause allergies – pollens, dust, mold spores, animal dander, environmental chemicals, foods, etc) can cause if they get past the body’s ‘first line defense.’ Poor nutrition, excessive stress, too much or too many allergens, and/or toxins, to name a few can break down the ‘first line of defense.’ This phenomenon is frequently miscalled ‘outgrowing allergies.’ Anytime I hear of ‘outgrowing allergies’ I suspect a broken down ‘first line defense.’ The mother of a hyperactive child says, “Billy had colic as a baby, but now he loves milk.” I immediately know milk is a major part of the problem (with food allergies – we think we love what we are allergic to, when in fact, we are addicted to what we are allergic to!)
When a depressed or schizophrenic patient says, “I had allergies as a kid, but I got over them” I know that treating their allergies is essential to their recovery. Once the ‘first line defense’ is broken down, trouble can come in any part of the body. I have seen everything from arthritis to diabetes cured by treating an underlying allergic problem. How can we know if allergies are contributing to our difficulties? A thorough patient and family history is the single most important diagnostic tool. A YES to any question like:
immediately alerts me to allergies that need further investigation. A person’s appearance can suggest allergies. Anything from dark circles under the eyes (allergic shiners) to unexplained fluid retention can also be an indication. Finally, laboratory reports will generally confirm impressions made by the personal history and/or physical examination. Once we know allergies are the culprit, what can be done? As with any chronic illness, general measures, such as a conscientious nutrition program and plenty of rest (studies show that even healthy people function best with at least nine hours of sleep) are essential. Homeopathic remedies, because they work by strengthening the body’s defenses, are helpful. It is important to avoid allergens as much as possible. Avoidance is often difficult for a person with food allergies because it is the frequently eaten, (common) foods – milk, corn, wheat, sugar, yeast and beef – that are the most likely to cause the problem. As one food is removed from the diet, increased consumption of another food is likely to trigger another allergic reaction. This tendency to become allergic to a food eaten with excessive frequency is at the heart of the so called oat bran controversy – while fiber lowers cholesterol, and oat bran is a very good source of fiber, any food eaten excessively is likely to cause an allergic reaction with a sensitive individual. Thus including a possible allergen in the diet of a sensitive individual to the commercially suggested point of excess to lower cholesterol will cause the reverse action and raise the cholesterol! All things in moderation. To make matters even more difficult, foods are often hidden in other foods. If you read ingredients on food labels, you might not be surprised to know that there is sugar in ketchup, or milk (casein solids) in many breads, but who would think corn was hidden in table salt – or on postage stamps! (Lists of common sources of hidden foods are available at the office.) If it is not possible to reduce exposure to allergens on your own to get real relief, neutralization is most helpful. Neutralization is very different from traditional allergy treatment, which frequently makes things worse for anyone whose ‘first line defense’ has broken down. Neutralization involves giving an exact dosage of an allergen (determined by careful testing, in this office’s allergy lab, of a person’s reaction to a series of different doses of that allergen), which turns off the allergic reaction and over time helps the body re-establish its ‘first line defense.’ The combined damage of our increased consumption of processed foods (which introduces more additives to the diet), as well as increasing levels of environmental pollution, has created an astonishing increase in allergic problems. The medical establishment still fails to recognize that these factors will be the scourge of the 21st century. There is hope for healing these allergic problems and developing a stronger immune system. My treatment has helped patients get well and live healthy, happy lives. HIDDEN ALLERGY TALES
Usually an allergy sufferer puts off seeking help until the problem becomes debilitating. Or, they have spent perhaps years, going from doctor to doctor seeking a ‘cure’- often being told the problem is all in the patient’s mind (although allergies can very definitely affect how the mind operates). Allergens literally surround us, and bombard our bodies from every direction. In today’s society of TV dinners and fast foods, let alone the chemicals that advertising campaigns tell us are ‘required’ for keeping a clean house, it’s a wonder the population functions as well as it does. A breakdown in the ‘first line defense’ can continue to cause internal and external problems with an individual’s entire well being. Finding help from allergies can be difficult. My office is a safe oasis in the battle against allergens. Current information and counseling is provided for the patient to actively participate in their recovery and continuing health education. Resource lists are available for food products and household products. Further reading can be recommended. This newsletter is provided to help our patients remain updated on the latest health resources and applicable information. EXAMPLE #1Stephen’s father decided that Steve should have a milkshake every night to add calcium to his diet. Stephen didn’t think it was a particularly good idea, he had never really liked dairy products – but he followed his father’s decision. He soon found he was going to bed every night doubled over in pain, and not understanding why. Some research into his medical history gave us the answer. Stephen had not ‘outgrown’ his childhood allergy to milk and dairy, or chocolate for that matter. Stephen ‘didn’t like dairy products’ because as a child he had never cultivated a taste for them. His body had set up a ‘first line defense’ to protect him from the allergens. Discontinuing the milkshakes, discontinued the problem – and Stephen learned other ways to provide the needed calcium for his body. Other hidden factors that can contribute to the aggravation of the whole situation are environmental contaminants. Many of these we have no control over (other than working toward stronger governmental controls), but you need to be aware of those dangers that lurk within your own home (or place of work). Chemical inhalants, gases, molds, mites, animal dander, and dust are but a few of the potential problem areas. A careful check of the home and a thorough cleaning by a professional, who specializes in non-toxic cleaning, can provide welcome relief to the battered immune system of the allergic patient. EXAMPLE # 2Anne lived in a house that she loved. It was quiet, on a tree filled property, and seemed ideal. However, shortly after moving in, she started to have aches and pains. Although she was rather young, she figured that it was the early stages of arthritis and she’d ‘have to live with it.’ Anne had a lengthy history of food and pollen allergies, but it never occurred to her that her home could also be a contributing factor. One day, during her regular office visit, she casually mentioned this new problem. Dr. Bonnet started to ask some questions about Anne’s new home. “Is the basement dry?” and “Does it have a cement floor?” “Is the bathroom slow to dry after a shower?” and “Does mold grow anywhere – on the bathroom tile or perhaps walls, behind furniture where the air doesn’t circulate?” When Anne went home and did some investigating, she discovered that the answer to all those questions was YES! Dr. Bonnet recommended a thorough cleaning – by professionals when Anne was out of the house. He even recommended having the heating system cleaned (especially the air vents, since it was an older home). Soon the house was sparkling clean and Anne discovered that the aches and pains disappeared. This wasn’t the onset of dreaded arthritis – but one whose cure was as simple as eliminating environmental allergens. ==== X “BUT I LIKE IT—“The most commonly asked question about food allergy and specific adaptation is: “How can people be allergic to ordinary foods, like bread and potatoes, which they like and eat every day without trouble?” In ordinary food allergy, the allergic person knows what affects him badly, avoids it if possible, and is incapacitated immediately if he accidentally eats it. In masked food allergy, on the other hand, the victim feels better after a meal containing his allergen – provided he eats the offending food often, at least once a day, preferably at every meal. The hangover that develops when the regular dose of a specifically sensitizing food or chemical is missed will last from one to three days, gradually lessening in severity until the victim emerges feeling well. At any time during those three days, the victim can terminate the hangover by taking another dose of the allergen, and most people with this illness learn to keep a supply on hand – chocolate in the bedside table, for instance, or an emergency store of cigarettes. We all know cigarette addicts who give up smoking for a day for a day or two and feel so awful that they have to start again. The blessed relief of tension and malaise following the first drag is wonderful to behold, and certainly has more to do with allergy than with alkali in the smoke. Masking in food allergy means reduction or abolition of allergic symptoms – headache, depression, catarrh, whatever – by eating a specific food during the period in which a person is reacting to a previous feeding of the food to which he has a masked allergy. A reaction in this case means an altered response, a response not experienced by non-allergenic people. It has two phases – a pickup or lift, followed by a hangover. The whole process takes up to three days. The symptoms in the hangover when a person is in the adapting stage two (stage of resistance) are the same as the symptoms which come on immediately on exposure when one is in stage one (alarm) or stage three (exhaustion). In stage two, however, repeated exposures mask the hangover symptoms by keeping one picked up. One eats or drinks addictively to keep hangover symptoms away. Many years ago, before I cut eggs out of my diet, I had, like Dr. Rinkel, a masked to them. I used to eat them often and I noticed, when I was a student and doing my own cooking, that I could work particularly well after I had eaten an omelet. Next morning, after an evening at the textbooks, I would wake depressed, with a headache that lasted until I had eaten two boiled eggs for breakfast. Then I felt fine until the afternoon, when, unless I had eaten eggs for lunch, I would fall asleep during lectures. None of this meant anything to me while it was happening. Allergy to eggs was the last thing I suspected. I tried to prevent sleeping during lectures by drinking strong coffee after lunch, which I found only partially successful. I now find myself allergic to coffee, so I avoid it also. These are the effects of food allergy as it most commonly exists, and they are the reverse of the popular conception of allergic reactions. Instead of feeling bad at once, the patient feels better and naturally thinks the food agrees with him. Unpleasant symptoms connected with masked allergy only appear later, if more of the food is not eaten, and the hangover phase is entered. Some years ago, a psychiatrist friend of mine heard me lecture on this subject and realized that he must have a masked allergy to bacon, which he liked very much and always ate for breakfast. For some time, my friend had noticed that he got more and more tired during his afternoon clinics. His fatigue became so disabling that he had to cancel some of his appointments and go to sleep on the couch in his consulting room. After hearing me talk about masked allergy, he told me about his sleepiness, and I suggested that he omit bacon and all pork products from his diet. The sequel was quite funny. Very soon after he stopped eating bacon and pork, his former energy and zest for work returned. He was so pleased that he told his colleagues about what had happened. They laughed and said he was imagining things, but just to be sure, they decided to test the idea. One of the doctors persuaded the cook in the hospital commissary to slip some chopped bacon into a steak pie, which was served to my friend for lunch. After only a few mouthfuls he fell fast asleep at the table, like the Dormouse at the Mad Hatter’s tea party! The doctors who were in on the experiment were impressed, and some of them even admitted that there might be something to masked food allergy after all. Masking is characteristic of stage two of the specific adaptation syndrome, when the subject is adapting well and his defensive glands and their hormones are in good working order. But, as in Selye’s general adaptation syndrome, the stages of specific adaptation are a continuum, ending with stage three, toward which the victim is moving inexorably. As stage three is entered, there is total exhaustion of the hormonal and enzyme resources needed to remain normal in the face of the stress exerted by a particular allergenic food. Now every meal brings not a temporary pickup, but a devastating onset of symptoms. A diagram showing Seyle’s three stages of adaptation to a stressor (in this case an allergenic food) will help to make this clear.
In the transition period between stages two and three, ever more frequent and larger doses are needed to produce the same level of alertness, which passes more and more rapidly into deeper and more lingering hangovers, so that the victim comes to spend a greater part of each day feeling rotten. This can be shown in the following diagram, which I owe to Dr. Randolph:
The ten-hour time scale shown here is arbitrary, as the duration of reaction varies from person to person and from food to food. As a general rule, it may be said that three days is the longest a reaction will last, and that, as adaptation fails, the pickups grow shorter and the hangovers longer. This is to be expected if Selye and Randolph are right in supposing that the alert state results from the release of stimulating, adaptive adrenal hormones. As fatigue or the wearing out of the adrenal responses makes these hormones less available, Hangovers begin to predominate. It is significant, in this connection, that children and adolescents afflicted with specific adaptive illness show mainly overactive, stimulated side of the reaction – presumably because their hormonal adaptive responses are more vigorous than those of older people, in whom the picture of failing adaptation is more depressive, dopey, and withdrawn. Early in the illness, pickups may go only to level 2 before moving across to level B on the hangover side. Later, as adaptation fails, pickups may go to levels 3 or 4, and the victim may experience really severe hangover symptoms in the corresponding levels C and D. Before she was treated by elimination dieting, Joanna had come to exist mainly at level 2-B (see diagram), occasionally dipping into 3-C and 4-D, at which times hospitalization and massive sedation were required. Because she was so allergic to coffee, and drank it so often and in such large quantities, her adaptive resources were working without letup, taking her from keyed-up nervousness, irritability, and panic (eased by slashing) through suicidal depression, dopey confusion, wheezing, and brain fatigue, and back again to panic and nervousness. Even during the early years of her illness, she rarely came out of a reaction feeling normal. When a victim is young, in the early stages of this illness and adapting fairly well, the alert state can be maintained during the day by regular mealtime consumption of the allergen at four-hour intervals. Hangover symptoms will come on only in the early hours of the morning, when the masking effect has had time to wear off. The victim will wake at around 5:00 am with a headache, feeling depressed. A bedside snack of the food involved is more effective than a sleeping pill against this type of insomnia. Here’s a case that illustrates the drift into the hangover zone and the deepening of the reactions in a person heavily and regularly exposed to allergens. The patient, a pleasant, unmarried woman of thirty-six, first came to my office to ask for a prescription for eight bottles of a nasal decongestion. She said she had developed a blocked nose five years earlier, and now she needed eight bottles every two weeks to shrink her mucous membranes and keep her nasal passages clear. I supplied her with this medicine for some time, and then suggested that she be skin-tested for allergens to see if we could desensitize her. Skin tests showed she was highly allergic to dust and molds, but after I had given her only the first few desensitizing injections, she moved back to her hometown, where for some reason she failed to complete the course of injections. When she returned to London two years later, she came to see me again, saying that now her nasal symptoms were much less troublesome, but she had begun to suffer from lack of confidence, inability to concentrate, and sudden attacks of irrational panic. She sent for me or my assistant urgently on several occasions because of acute panic and inability to leave the house. My colleague was convinced she was suffering from hysteria. In my opinion, she was not hysterical but a most intelligent and cooperative patient suffering from masked allergy. I persuaded her to let me determine what her allergies were by a modification of Rinkle’s and Randolph’s methods. Let us recall the levels of specific allergic reaction during failing adaptation:
Normality_________________________________
I judged my patient to have been living at level A most of the time when I first saw her, and now to be at level C. She was approaching stage three, her specific adaptive energy almost exhausted. The major offenders turned out to be wheat, Indian tea, house dust, and molds. Elimination of Indian tea and all cereal foods quickly brought her up to level A. Confusion and panic disappeared, and she was able to go back to work, through handicapped by a return of her nasal congestion. A full course of hyposensititzation with mold and dust vaccine cleared her nose, and she is now well. During her individual food ingestion tests, after a five-day fast had brought her back to the hyperactive, non-adapted state of stage one, single feedings of white bread and Indian tea brought on her old symptoms in acute, easily recognizable form. She was able to observe herself going quickly through the stages of her illness: stimulation, anxiety, agitation, and panic, moving over into depression and dopiness, and finally emerging via mental fatigue and lack of confidence to the nasal stuffiness for which she had first consulted me. This had never left her, because it was due to dusts and molds, not food allergy. Food sensitivity usually goes along with specific sensitivity to other allergens like house dust, molds, pollens, tobacco, paint and hydrocarbon emissions. The clinical effects of these sensitivities overlap and reinforce each other. A patient of mine who is very sensitive to the fumes of indoor gas heaters and is also addicted to cigarettes finds that she is driven to smoke more if she has spent time in a room heated by unvented gas. At such times she also craves alcohol. A pertinent question at this stage is: What drives the allergic person who is adapting to specific substances to go after these substances in a compulsive way? Isn’t he or she simply weak-willed? Having talked to many of these patients, and having suffered from specific adaptive illness myself, I know that this is not so. Specific allergic adaptation to foods and chemicals is an addiction as devastating as addiction to tobacco or drugs. In my opinion, only heroin or morphine addiction is more potent and destructive than severe food addiction, which I would put on par with alcoholism. An allergic patient experiencing a reaction feels very much below par and may have symptoms like mental fatigue and inability to think clearly, which seriously interfere with performance and judgement. A disabling bone tiredness is also common. The victims may suffer various local allergic symptoms as well, such as skin irritation, abdominal pains, and headache. The symptoms are generally accompanied by a strong craving for something to eat, drink, or smoke that will put an end to the baffling sense of inner tension and unease. All this may sound quite artificial and unreal to a non-allergic person. To anyone who has experienced this illness, however, it will be all too familiar. Source: ==== X INTRADERMAL PROVOCATIVE NEUTRALIZATION* The following is a list of the allergens that are typically tested for. * A whole day 8:30 to 3:30 (Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri) required for each category. * Testing consists of a series of subcutaneous injections (under the skin) in which the reactions are used to determine the appropriate neutralizing dose.
Treatment vials consist of neutralizing doses for each antigen, which reduce allergic symptoms as well as build up a greater resistance to the allergen. Each vial lasts about 2 months. Dose is given 2 times per week. Vials can be either injectable or sublingual. Vials are prepared on Wednesdays. Please allow 1 week’s notice for vial preparation by phone or by mail, using the allergy vial refill form. End point testing is recommended to assess the need for higher or lower neutralization doses. Typically end-point testing should be performed for inhalants and molds every 6 months and for foods once a year. . End-point testing typically takes half as long as initial testing to complete. RULES
Price Schedule
Late CancellationAllergy testing is scheduled when trained personnel are available. In light of this, we request a week’s notice if you are unable to keep your appointment. There is a $50.00 late cancellation fee if you cancel without 24 hours notice. There is a $100.00 charge if you fail to keep your appointment. We do have a lunch break of an hour’s time, usually from 12 noon to 1 P.M. If you wish to bring a bag lunch, we do have a refrigerator available to store your food. We can also direct you to local restaurants. After the testing is completed, you will be instructed as
to how to self-administer your injections. If another person will be
administering the injections and wants to be instructed directly, that person
should be available at around 3:30 P.M OTHER ALLERGENS AVAILABLE FOR TESTING:
X POSSIBLE ALLERGIC SYMPTOMS
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