Hello, name is Dianna. I was bitten by two ticks in early May of 2019. Both tick bites developed into bulls eyes within 24 hours. I contacted my doctor within two days and was placed on antibiotics. My doctor tested for lime disease which came back inconclusive. I continued with the antibiotics for the full three weeks. My symptoms after the first three days were fever, fatigue, horrific body aches, and nausea. These symptoms all went away after four days on the antibiotics. During that time frame I was able to eat without issue. The third week after I stopped the antibiotic I started to notice that certain foods smelled funny. Mostly red meat. I started to avoid it due to the smell. I didn’t really realize what was going on until the fourth week when we went to lunch at a new restaurant and I had goat cheese rarebit dip. I followed that up with a spinach salad with goat cheese.
On the drive home about an hour and half later, I developed a severe headache with pain shooting throughout my skull. I also developed a violent cough and I did not realize that my throat was closing up. When I got home I drank tea to reduce the swelling in my throat. I had no idea what was going on. After the episode was over I realized I should have gone to the hospital and I called my doctor the next day. I was tested for Alpha-Gal. While waiting for the test results I went out to eat with my daughter, her boyfriend, husband, and son at a Chinese restaurant where I ordered egg rolls not realizing that they contained beef. After one bite I could tell something was wrong. It tasted awful and smelled like something died. I did not eat anything else the rest of the day. After an hour an a half I became violently ill (once again I should have gone to the hospital)
The next day my doctor called and told me I tested positive for Alpha-Gal the test was 0 – 35 and the overachiever that I am, my test score was 67. My doctor gave me an epi pen and told me to avoid mammalian meet (red meat including pork, goat, and deer) One of my superpowers that I have discovered is that I can smell red meat and tell you how old it is approximately. It smells like something has died. To me is does not matter how old it is the smell is horrible and the older the meat (even cooked) the worse the smell. The hardest thing is cross contamination and additives. Some people do not have to worry about this as much because their allergic reaction is not as severe. I cannot have anything that has touched or even been next to red meat. For example my husband was reheating his leftover meatloaf and somehow the splatter from the meatloaf got into my drink and after one sip I could taste the taint in my drink. From there it is like being poisoned. The headache tends to start in twenty minutes to an hour and from that point I react violently. All I want to do is throw up and get it out of my system but I can’t.
The most severe reaction I have had from cross contamination was when I went out to eat at a restaurant and I ordered chicken and informed them that my chicken could not be cooked by any of the meat. They told me they understood. I got my meal, took three bites of it and could taste the cross contamination on the chicken. It took me four days to recover from that. I find that ginger snaps (or anything that has ginger) and hot tea help with the nausea. I will update through blog posts with my finds and opinions.
I do want everyone to know that I am not a doctor that none of this should be considered medical advice or legal advice. Everyone’s reactions can differ and will differ and this is just my story. I gave you my test results as a reference. Feel free to email me with questions. I am more than happy to discuss Alpha-Gal with you. Please give me time though because I do work.
Alpha Gal 