Alpha-gal
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Thats why I have a 5 gallon sprayer loaded with one gallon of 0.5% permethrin and all of my camo clothing is treated. Knock on wood, I haven't had a tick or chigger bite me in over 8 years.
mines only 2.5 gallons but permethrin really works. oddly enough, I seem to get into ticks more in December and January running the dogs than I do in the summer and fall hunting mushrooms and deer hunting. have not found a live on me since I started soaking my clothes with permethrin.
It's a strange twist of fate that one of the deadliest, most life-altering animals in our local habitat, is one of the smallest things on the landscape.
I miss the days when the trucks would come around and spray in the middle of the night for mosquitoes. Maybe I'm wrong, but it sure seemed like the tick population was much lower back then.
And we all thought lymes disease was bad.... This would suck...
Malathion.... The fogging machine towed behind the ole city/county truck
And we all thought lymes disease was bad.... This would suck...
Malathion.... The fogging machine towed behind the ole city/county truck
We didn't have A/C when I was a kid and my window was always open in my bedroom. I'd hear that truck coming at like 2am and if I didn't get my window closed fast enough my room quickly turned into a gas chamber! I didn't mind though... could actually be outside in the evening without a thermacell.
I can tell you first hand that it does suck. I was diagnosed with it 4 years ago. They say that it can go away if you catch it soon enough and take the necessary precautions. Apparently, I didn’t get diagnosed soon enough. It’s not the easiest thing to catch. Every one of my reactions was between midnight and 3AM. And you don’t always have a reaction. My reactions don’t happen until roughly 6 hours after I’ve ingested mammalian meat (anything that has fur and four legs). What didn’t make sense was that I only had reactions after dinner/supper and I was eating beef/pork/venison at all times of the day. The allergist still can’t figure that one out.
After my first reaction, it was a year before I had another one. And another year before I had the next one. They always happened in the fall and while I was in deer camp. I was in the ER getting Benadryl via IV 4 times (twice while in deer camp and twice right after getting home from deer camp) before I was actually diagnosed. My reactions were always hives on the back of my head/neck and around my waist. The last two reactions I started feeling it my lips and that’s not a good thing. The first couple reactions I had I thought it was a bug bite. It made sense because I was in deer camp. A couple of benadryl seemed to take care of it in a few hours. But after that the reactions seemed to be more intense, thus the ER visits. Diagnosis isn’t quick and easy like a traditional allergy prick test. You have to be tested for the allergy specifically and it requires giving blood. My first blood test showed an IgE level of around 70 which translated to a 5 on the RAST scale. In plain english, it translates to “Holy fuck don’t ever come close to that again…EVER!”. Normal (no allergy) on the RAST scale is .35. Yep, my level was 200 times normal. My allergist has been in the business for several decades and I was the highest rating he’d ever seen. Apparently I was quite the topic of conversation in his circle of colleagues. I just got tested again last month and it came back with a 7ish IgE level which is still a 3 on the RAST scale. I think this shit is pretty much locked in for life.
My last full steak meal was in April of 2018. I took 2 allegra before the meal and 2 more after the meal. Before I went to bed I took a benadryl and another one in the middle of the night. I still broke out in hives but not quite as bad and it never made it to my lips. This shit is not something to mess with. I carry an EPI but have never had to use it. I’ve never had a reaction due to my fish/fowl being cooked on the same grill as a beef/pork/venison. I have a theory on why I didn’t have reactions before midnight and plan on testing it in the next couple months (hopefully with some freshly killed venison). If it pans out, my steak and potato will turn into steak and eggs and mother nature can go fuck herself.
Now, here’s some advice, take it or leave it.
1. I haven’t pulled a tick out of my skin in decades. Chiggers, however, kick my ass. If I don’t get the bastards taken care of the day they get on me, it takes months for my bites to heal. I believe i was bitten by the tick in the larvae/nymph stage where they act a lot like a Chigger. They climb up your pants and attach to your leg much like a chigger. Premethrin is the best stuff I’ve found so far. If you are going to be in the outdoors, USE IT!!
2. If you don’t normally have reactions to something and then all of a sudden do have a reaction, don’t ignore it like I did. Take notes of your last twelve hours so you have something to reference. What you ate and drank. Where you were. What you touched. Anything you can remember. If/when it happens again, you’ll have something to compare it to. Also, go to an allergist and get tested. Even after it happens the first time. I know one instance isn’t a trend, but with this crap it may be the only chance you have to get in front if it.
After my first reaction, it was a year before I had another one. And another year before I had the next one. They always happened in the fall and while I was in deer camp. I was in the ER getting Benadryl via IV 4 times (twice while in deer camp and twice right after getting home from deer camp) before I was actually diagnosed. My reactions were always hives on the back of my head/neck and around my waist. The last two reactions I started feeling it my lips and that’s not a good thing. The first couple reactions I had I thought it was a bug bite. It made sense because I was in deer camp. A couple of benadryl seemed to take care of it in a few hours. But after that the reactions seemed to be more intense, thus the ER visits. Diagnosis isn’t quick and easy like a traditional allergy prick test. You have to be tested for the allergy specifically and it requires giving blood. My first blood test showed an IgE level of around 70 which translated to a 5 on the RAST scale. In plain english, it translates to “Holy fuck don’t ever come close to that again…EVER!”. Normal (no allergy) on the RAST scale is .35. Yep, my level was 200 times normal. My allergist has been in the business for several decades and I was the highest rating he’d ever seen. Apparently I was quite the topic of conversation in his circle of colleagues. I just got tested again last month and it came back with a 7ish IgE level which is still a 3 on the RAST scale. I think this shit is pretty much locked in for life.
My last full steak meal was in April of 2018. I took 2 allegra before the meal and 2 more after the meal. Before I went to bed I took a benadryl and another one in the middle of the night. I still broke out in hives but not quite as bad and it never made it to my lips. This shit is not something to mess with. I carry an EPI but have never had to use it. I’ve never had a reaction due to my fish/fowl being cooked on the same grill as a beef/pork/venison. I have a theory on why I didn’t have reactions before midnight and plan on testing it in the next couple months (hopefully with some freshly killed venison). If it pans out, my steak and potato will turn into steak and eggs and mother nature can go fuck herself.
Now, here’s some advice, take it or leave it.
1. I haven’t pulled a tick out of my skin in decades. Chiggers, however, kick my ass. If I don’t get the bastards taken care of the day they get on me, it takes months for my bites to heal. I believe i was bitten by the tick in the larvae/nymph stage where they act a lot like a Chigger. They climb up your pants and attach to your leg much like a chigger. Premethrin is the best stuff I’ve found so far. If you are going to be in the outdoors, USE IT!!
2. If you don’t normally have reactions to something and then all of a sudden do have a reaction, don’t ignore it like I did. Take notes of your last twelve hours so you have something to reference. What you ate and drank. Where you were. What you touched. Anything you can remember. If/when it happens again, you’ll have something to compare it to. Also, go to an allergist and get tested. Even after it happens the first time. I know one instance isn’t a trend, but with this crap it may be the only chance you have to get in front if it.
DAMN.... That’s just a fugged up thing too happen too you... Thanks for sharing and educating us on this... Hopefully it gets better for you...
What’s the experiment you’re planning on doing with it? You've piqued my curiosity.
Damn man
. Thanks for opening up and taking about it. Always hits a little closer to home than a copy paste article when someone speaks up.Eating it for breakfast. I’ve never had a reaction during the day. And before I was diagnosed, I ate plenty of meat during the day. I think it has to do with one or both of a couple things. First, your steroid levels are highest in the morning and lowest while you sleep. So, I’ll have more allergy fighting ‘soldiers’ in the morning. Second, I take Adderall (basically speed) for ADD. I think one or both of these things had something to do with me not having reactions during the daytime hours. There’s only one way to test this theory and that’s to eat a steak. I suppose I could eat something else but who the hell wants to risk a reaction on something his tastebuds won’t have an orgasm to? And what better than a fresh piece of venison tenderloin?!?! If I don’t have a reaction, I’ll wait a couple months and try it again. If I don’t have a reaction after that, I should be able to have a steak every now and again for breakfast. Obviously I wouldn’t be eating it all the time. That would just be playing with fire. But, once every few months would be nice.
Glad you have a plan too try it out. Hopefully it works out for you. Keep us posted on the progress.
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Holy crap buddy. Do you think you picked it up in Vinton County? Also remember our middle of the night Benadryl hunt at the cabin after you broke out in hives and we thought it was the clothes you had in a trash bag getting the bags scented powder on them. Wonder if that was it too
It is what it is. I've pretty much accepted it as the way it's going to be. Fortunately, I like eating ALL of God's creatures so it hasn't been too hard to adapt. A nice seared tuna steak is a good replacement for steak and you can't tell the difference between ground turkey/chicken and ground beef if it's done right. Life goes on and I just get older and fatter. The only mammal that doesn't create the protein that causes the allergy is primates. Yep, I could eat a monkey in a pinch. I keep telling the wife I'd be up for it but she says "you'll be doing that shit on your own". Reptiles are also on the menu so thinking about getting some gator meat sent up for deer camp this year.