Allergy to Cat? Early Spring & Fall, I start having itchy eyes, nasal drainage, coughing. On lots of meds.
Sunday, October 20, 2002
Question:
I moved from SE Michigan To East Central Illinois last year to live with my boyfriend. He has a cat. The cat didn't seem to bother me, although some cats really bother me.
My chin starts itching, sneezing, itchy eyes, etc, I didn't have any of these symptoms from this cat. Then in late winer early spring (we had a mild witer) I started having itchy eyes, nasal drainage,coughing. clearing my throat and some difficulty in swallowing. During mid to late summer the symptoms were less severe. In the fall it started up again and seems much worse especially the drainage and coughing. It could be seasoal allergies as I have suffered from them off and on since I was a child. I am now 47. Since the cat didn't bother me when I first came here I haven't thought it was from her. My chin doesn't itch. That was always a first symptom when I was around animals that bothered me. Is it possible to suddenly be having a allergic reaction to the cat? Or do you think it is seaonal? We have only had a slight frost here so far.
Also I am on a lot of different medications. Zoloft 200mg, Lipitor 10mg, Tricor 164mg, Premarin 0.3, Moduretic 5-50, Klonopin 1 to 2mg, Trazadone 50 to 100mg and Protonix 40mg. All daily. My bigest concern is the difficulty in swallowing. I read in a Family PDR book that diffilty in swallowing can be one of the side affects from Lipitor and Zoloft. Also, I wonder if the Cat is causing alergic symptoms when she didn't before. The itchy eyes seem to be iproving with the colder weather. Thanks in advance!
Dr. Roby Answers:
It is probably seasonal. If it were the cat it would be constant, year-round. When you react to the seasonal things, pollen and mold, then your cat allergy also shows up. It is a matter of critical mass. You are not overtly symptomatic until you g3t three rocks in your boat...then, down it goes and you have an allergy "attack". Each day you have one rock in the cat, still afloat. Some days you react to your own hormones (progesterone, just before a monthly period causes swelling in many women and in them it is another rock). Then along comes the ragweed (August or September) and that is the third rock and down you go. You say to yourself..."it can't be the cat, I didn't react all summer and the cat was right there the whole time"...and..."it can't be the hormones "(same reason)..."so what is it?".....
It is all of these things. Start off-loading rocks. Go on a very low carbohydrate diet (see food allergy section and get Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution paperback). Take over-the-counter antihistamines (Tavist-D in the AM and pediatric liquid Benadryl 50mg at bedtime). Walk one hour daily, take your vitamins and do not forget to say your prayers (an ancient and powerful tool for spiritual and physical wellbeing).
Last, but most certainly not least, get your hormones checked and balanced. Many of your questions relating to allergy and other symptoms are addressed in my section on "Hormone Imbalance" on my website. Please read that section thoroughly for my approach and the tests and treatments I use. Let me know how much of that material applies to you. I can then address your questions much more efficiently.

Every autumn I get fatigued when the weather changes suddenly
Tuesday, October 08, 2002
Question:
Every autumn, usually beginning in late August I get fatigued when the weather changes suddenly. This usually lasts through the spring and is brought on by high humidity, including coming rain storms and dense fog. The Santa Ana winds also make me exhausted.
I live in Los Angeles and days like today, where it went from very hot yesterday to foggy last night and this morning, I am unable to function. I had three Xenadrine and the equivalent of 40 oucnces of coffee and a Coke and was still tired. When I go to work (inside a high rise that is about 30 years old), it seems to get worse. I was fatiged on Friday and flew to San Francisco on Saturday. I was fine all weekend and flew back to LA yesterday, landing at about 3:45. I went to the gym and towards the end of my workout (1 hr, 15 min and about 15 minutes into my cardio) at about 7:30 pm, I became exhausted. Went to bed at midnight and woke up exhausted at 7:00 am.
Muscles ache, bags under my eyes, dry eyes, foggy head, hard to concentrate, hard to stay awake. The uppers don't help. I am a 35 year old male, 5'10", 170 lbs who works out and eats well. I take Claratin and Nascort every day. The fatigue gets worse and worse every year. This is my 8th fall in Southern California and I never had these symptoms before moving here. I'm considering moving back to San Francisco, as I figure a wind swept penninsula (mostly ocean winds) would offer a better enviroment for me. The fog there has never bothered me, and there is a lot more of it!
It has reached the point where I miss about 5 days of work each year and am useless for about another 5 to 10 days. I stayed home two weeks ago and was in bed for three hours in the afternoon and then slept 10 hours at night (I normally sleep between six and seven hours) woke up, and was tired. As quickly as the fatigue comes, it goes. Without explanation, except (as far as I can tell) the weather pattern has stabilized.
I went to an allergist last year who found that I wasn't allergic to any pollens or indoor molds (though I did have a delayed reaction to a mold - bud don't remember which one). He told me that I might have Allergy Fatigue Syndrome that is brought about by changes in the weather. Can you offer me any advice?
Dr. Roby Answers:
I think you need a more sensitive allergy test. See one of Pan American Allergists in your area (a directory is available on the "links" section of my website... PAAS).
Your observation makes it quite clear you are allergic to some pollen (Fall symptoms and Winter) in your area. The building has mold in it. You are better in San Francisco and worse in LA. Did I miss something? Either get a different allergist or...get out of town. Wasn't that easy?

Asthma, allergies, headaches, earaches - 27 year old old female
Tuesday, October 08, 2002
Question:
I am a 27 year old old female who was diagnosed with asthma at the age of 11. Although my asthma has seemed to improve over the years, I still do not feel like it is under control. Over the past few years, I have also noticed that I am having more allergy symptoms than asthma symptoms (it used to be opposite). I now suffer from fatigue, headaches, itchy watery eyes, sometimes sneezing, and some earaches. The headaches are a constant in the fall, but if I remember my Allegra they are dulled - but they don't go away.
I am currently on Allegra, Flovent, Serevent, and albuterol for emergencies. Although I spend all of this money on these medications, I still am miserable. Lately, my chest is very tight in the morning/evening, but during the day I am mostly symptom free of asthma. Sometimes I wake myself up coughing in the night. But I rarely have serious asthma attacks anymore.
One of my biggest complaints is my reaction to cats (and dogs). If I am at anyone's house that has a cat or dog for more than an hour, I begin sneezing, get hives, and start having asthma problems. This is a major concern since I can't avoid all of my friends. Also, my serious boyfriend's parents have 5 cats and a dog. Since they live out of state, we stay with them when we visit. I am completely miserable on these visits and often over-use my albuterol to get through.
I need help getting under control, and I don't feel like my general physician knows enough to help.
Dr. Roby Answers:
If we get rid of the rest of your allergies, the cat and dog part will become much less of a problem.
As far as the asthma goes you look at my section on asthma to make sure you are using your meds correctly. My most recent research had to do with severe asthmatics and hormone allergy. We did spirometric exams of pts before and after treatment with drops of dilute progesterone and got over 80% relief of symptoms in seconds (see "abstracts" on my website).
The most interesting part of the study was that 80% of the women did not really have asthma. They had all the symptoms, SOB, chest tightness...but, the spirometry showed it wasn't really asthma. That is why so many women do not get complete relief from the inhalers and meds. They don't really have asthma...they have hormone allergy.
See my section on hormone imbalance for an overview of the tests I use and the methods to treat it.

Allergies flared up in moldy workplace, quit job, but still having problems.
Tuesday, August 27, 2002
Question:
Well, where do I begin? I am 37 years old. My allergies flared up when I started working in a moldy work environment. Went to Mayo in April of 2000 and they started me on allergy shots with mold mix. The first 9 months went well and then I began having reactions to the shots and they didn't seem to be working as well anymore. In March of 2002 I had sinus surgery in a last ditch effort to keep my job. I have better air flow but that's about it. Finally a few months ago, I decided I had enough and quit my job. I began to feel a little improvement after a month, but I'm still having problems. My left ear has fluid in it, I am not sleeping at night. On Friday, I see an ENT specialist. I have also been perimenopausal, menopausal, around the same time the allergies started flaring up. My LMD had me on birth control so I would have periods. He did a blood test a month ago and my estrogen was low. He was surprised at that as he thought the birth control pills would have all the estrogen I would need in them. He put me on Premarin for a wk. and I felt a lot better - even allergy-wise. Then he decided to put me on this new ortho-evra patch and I'm not feeling as well again, so my question is can being low in estrogen cause allergies to flare up? Also can they check if I'm low in cortisol with a blood test? Any other suggestions you may have?
Dr. Roby Answers:
Your hormones are critical in allergy. When you get near forty your estrogen naturalyy, goes down. As a result your body will use hormone assets to try to keep the estrogen up. It will diminish cortisol production in favor of estrogen. Cortisol is what you are suppoosed to use for allergy, energy, and stress.
As cortisol goes down you will feel more allergies, amazing fatigue, sleep disturbances, loss of short-term memory and diminished sex drive. You may also begin to have skin and weight problems.
Many of your questions relating to allergy and other symptoms are addressed in my section on "Hormone Allergy" on my website. Please read that section carefully and let me know how much of that material applies to you. I can then address your specific questions much more efficiently.

My son has allergic symptoms after swimming in a (bromine) pool?
Tuesday, October 01, 2002
Question:
My son has asthma but it has never had an effect on his swimming. He has been swimming on the summer outdoor team for 8 years and did some indoor swimming several years back without incident. I recently enrolled him in an indoor session at a facility that uses bromine to sanitize the water. When he gets home from swimming within 8 hours,(this occurs in the middle of the night) he becomes tight and stuffed up as if he had a very bad cold. These symptoms last for two days and everytime he goes back to swim the cycle continues.
Dr. Roby Answers:
Well, stranger things have happened. However, I think it more likely that the pool that uses bromine is in a particularly moldy environment and it is this increased mold load that results in his middle of the night symptoms (see my section on mold allergy).

Hives and severe swelling during pregnancy - Prednizone?
Tuesday, August 06, 2002
Question:
I've started having hives and severe swelling during my pregnancy. That was 8 years ago. I had the hives under control for 4 years by taking Zyrtec once daily (at first I was on Zyrtec, Volmax and Cimitidine, but I slowly weaned myself off of them). I was doing fine for many years until recently I ran out of medicine and thought I was doing well enough to go without my Zyrtec. I was fine for two weeks and then they started to come back. Now they are getting worse and my face and lips are starting to swell on and off. The Zyrtec is not working, it's been almost a month and it won't help anymore. I am wondering if it is hormone related though, since it all started during my third month of pregnancy with my 4th child, my daughter, the doctor had me take benadryl and had me try prednizone, however I only took them for two days because it made me worse and I was scared to take prednizone because I was afraid it would hurt my baby. Then a year later I had another child, and didn't have hives during this pregnancy and was fine up until I started weaning him from breast feeding him when he was 10 months old. That is when I started the zyrtec and everything else. I am getting pretty bad and the doctor wants me to try prednizone again and I'm not sure what to do since I didn't give it a real chance the first time I tried it.
Dr. Roby Answers:
I am completely opposed to Prednisone. It is one of the most harmful drugs I know. Your problem seems to be related to your changing hormones.
Many of your questions relating to allergy and other symptoms are addressed in my section on "Hormone Imabalnce" on my website. Please read that section carefully and let me know how much of that material applies to you. I can then address your specific questions much more efficiently.

16 month child - Watery eyes, congestion, cough, cold, runny nose
Wednesday, August 07, 2002
Question:
I have a 16 month old son who is having syptoms of a cold about every 2-3 weeks. They include: watery eyes, congestion, cough, runny nose, and he pulls at his ears. He started doing this when we moved into our house out in the country. We are surrounded by hundreds of mountain cedars and I am thinking that the cedars are the problem. I also stay stopped up and cough most of the time. If my son does in fact have an allergy to cedars, is moving the best solution? I would rather not put him on any medications, especially at this young of age. Your opinion and advise would be greatly appreciated.
Dr. Roby Answers:
I would think harmless meds like pediatric antihistamines would be less problem than moving. Read my section on airborne allergy and you will get lots of ideas about what you can safely do. Your problem is also quite likely due to your changing hormones. Many of your questions relating to allergy and other symptoms are addressed in my section on "Hormone Allergy" on my website. Please read that section carefully and let me know how much of that material applies to you. I can then address your specific questions much more efficiently.

Numbness of lips, cough, tightness in chest, fatigue, allergy to meds
Thursday, September 26, 2002
Question:
Hi Doctor! I just found your website. Thank you so much for it! I am 60 years old, female, healthy, own my own business and having a loving husband and family. I am really having difficulty with allergies. I recently went to an allergist who sent me to a lab where blood was taken and 224 products were tested with my blood for allergic reaction. Test results came back as a very small reaction to eggs and mustard. ????
I am allergic to many meds including most antibiotics (all myacins, penicillin, cipro, keflex, darvon, benadryl, heparin, sulpha meds and some others). My daily meds include prevacid 30 mg 2xdaily, lotensin 10 mg 2x daily and estrace 2mg daily. My medical background includes 3 successful pregnancies, complete hysterectomy (when I almost died from Cipro500 which was given intravenously and raised my heart rate to 150 beats/min. and adenesin? spelling? had to be given intravenously to lower heart rate) gall bladder removal, heart cath which was false positive. My heart rate is very suseptible to stimulants (coca cola, wine, chocolate, coffee, etc.) so I have not had any of these products for years. I do not smoke. I am 5'7" and weight 155 pounds so I am a bit overweight but I try to walk and stay active.
I cannot be in contact with any strong smells or solvent type products because my lips swell and become numb. Recently my husband was painting an upstairs bedroom and found some mold under a window which had turned black. He cleaned it with chlorox and painted over it. When I went into the room after he painted it, I became violently ill and my nose, throat and lips were affected. He thought perhaps it was the paint or products he used and called the paint store but they said once those products dried, there should be no residue or problem. This has been months ago and I am still suffering so that I cannot go upstairs and now am experiencing numb lips even downstairs. I am a mess and this is just ruining our lives. How can we determine what in the heck this is? The allergist gave me some Claritin-D but it did not help and he seems to think nothing is wrong. Are there other tests that I can take or tests for here in the house where we can determine if there is, in fact, mold spores, etc. Would you recommend that we have a whole house air duct cleaning? Pros and cons to that, I hear. I use a hepa air filter machine in the room where I stay mostly. I recently went to Europe and was fine there but when I returned home became ill again after 2 weeks. Please put us on the right track. Any suggestions/help would be so appreciated. Thank you for your help.
Dr. Roby Answers:
I am glad you enjoyed the website. But, I wonder if you read the appropriate section.
Clearly, there is something in your house that is causing many of your symptoms. However, once you get hypersensitized (the episode after he cleaned the room) you tend to be reactive to all manner of things from that time on. This is basically a result of your changing hormones. You have already mentioned several of the problems women have when they experience hormone changes...
weight problems (no matter how you diet, you cannot get it off)
fatigue
loss of short-term memory
skin problems
mood swings and,
diminished sex drive.

So, what is the cause? I don't know. Maybe the mold, maybe the chemical odors from the cleaning. It could be any number of things. The trip to Europe clearly established that whatever it is, it is present in your home.

What to do about it? See the sections on my web site about dealing with mold (air cleaners, ultraviolet "mold" lights, and best for mold AND chemical off-gassing...an ozone generator.

However, as to what else you can do to deal with your heightened sensitivity and all the other symptoms I mentioned, see the section on "Hormone Imbalance".

Many of your questions relating to allergy and other symptoms are addressed in my section on "Hormone Imbalance" on my website. Please read that section again. Let me know how much of that material applies to you. I can then address your specific questions much more efficiently.

Histamines: hot vs. tepid water baths
Monday, September 30, 2002
Question:
Can you refresh my mind on why I am supposed to take tepid baths instead of hot ones? My husband wants to know if you treat men for hormones also. Also, I didn't get to tell you thanks today
Dr. Roby Answers:
Your skin is protected by an enormous number of histamine cells. If you are stung by a scorpion, for example, your skin would try to protect you from the poison by releasing a huge amount of histamine in the area of the insect venom to "wall it off" and keep it from spreading to the rest of the body. When histamine is released in such an attack little messenger particles circulate all over the body crying out "look out, we're under attack". This makes the entire immune system agitated as it prepares itself for what might be jillions of "stings". In effect, the body becomes more "allergic"...more likely to respond allergically to anything...such as pollen and mold, or food, or hormones.
We try to keep the immune system as quiet as possible. One of the ways we do this is to take "anti-histamines" to quiet these very cells. Another is to avoid heat, particularly hot water, as this makes the histamine cells much more fragile and more likely to "go off". Thus, no hot water.
Yes, I treat men. I would be happy to discuss any problems your husband might have with him.

Allergy to sperm?
Saturday, September 28, 2002
Question:
I don't know the question. Is that it? Possible allergy to sperm? I have seen a dozen or so cases of that.

Boyfriend has allergy symptoms when close to me.
Saturday, September 28, 2002
Question:
Well, I try to find out what can cause my boyfriend's allergy. Always when i am nearby he has all symptoms of allergy such as itchy eyes, problems with breathing. At first i thought it could cause one of my cosmetics, but now i use only products for babies. Is it possible that he is allergic to my sweat or my scent? What can we do?
Dr. Roby Answers: Try using no soap or scent at all. Before he comes to see you, shower using some natural soap like Neutragena. Then rinse for five minutes. Use no fragrance or conditioner of any kind. Wait until you are completely dry and then see if your boyfriend reacts. If he does, consider getting a new boyfriend!

15 year old daughter suffering from angioedema, swollen eyes, allergy.
Saturday, September 28, 2002
Question:
This is a friendly request for my only a daughter age l5, suffering from angioedema last since one year with a swollon eyes and while going through several blood test and allergy screening tests by immunocap. It has been pronounced that she is suffering from food mix and inhalants alergy and undergong treatment of various skin and allergy specialists with little success and hence this to have your advice whether she should go for starting buffered vita c powder plus epsom salt to overcome from this allergy. If so please I may be guided accordingly with other course of medicines inlcuing the vita c poweder and epsom salt. Thanks a lot in the meanwhile and hope to have your valuable guidance for my daughter's ailment.
Dr. Roby Replies: If she is 15 and has had the problem for one year, do we not suspect her changing hormones? See my section on hormone imbalance. Get Progesterone Antibody levels (IgG and IgM). I suspect you will find she is out of range high for one or both of these.
If that is the case, use my progesterone neutralization protocol (on the web site for physicians like yourself) to neutralize her hormone allergy. Having done this it will be much easier to deal with her food and airboren allergy.

Allergies following a hysterectomy r/t endometriosis
Tuesday, September 03, 2002 12:13 AM
Question:
I was very interested to read a WebMD interview on your work. I developed allergies following a hysterectomy r/t endometriosis and always suspected a link despite the skepticism of our local allergy docs. My symptoms are getting progressively worse. I am still seasonal and take allegra. I am well informed- use an air filter etc. Symptoms include upper respiratory, frequent URIs, chest tightness, sore throat, swollen red mucosa, fatigue and joint pain especially in the fingers and occassional hives. I am in desperate need of a plan B. I test positive to a zillion things, especially pollen. My worst times are spring and fall. I live in Santa Fe. I'm 52 yo. Any information or references would be helpful. Many thanks.

Dr. Roby Answers:
Many of your questions relating to allergy and other symptoms are addressed in my section on "Hormone Allergy" on my website. Please read that section carefully and let me know how much of that material applies to you. I can then address your specific questions much more efficiently.

More Background:
Thank you so much for an excellent website and knowledge base- I have learned more in the last hour of 'surfing' than I have in the last 20 years of allergies.
Here's my profile:
cat allergies, ear infections, all vaccinations as a child
appendectomy: age 11
onset of menses: age 12
pollen allergies/ cedars: age 12
birth control pills: age 24-28
cholecystectomy r/t gallstones: age 26
severe PMS/infertility: age 26 through hysterectomy
hysterectomy/total r/t endometriosis: age 43
HRT (premarin) age 43 to present
post hysterectomy there has been good relief of sleeping problems, anxiety and irritability, fatigue
onset of multiple allergies following hysterectomy:
-seasonal pollen allergies- especially weeds/trees (burning eyes, nasal congestion, mucosal swelling, fatigue, chest tightness, frequent URIs, painful joints, memory loss, headaches, adrenalin rush with anxiety and feeling of 'heat, burning, tingling' in lower extremities')
-allergy to red wine with exacerbation of above symptoms plus hives
-probable allergies to other foods but I have yet to figure them out
-pet allergies
-acid indigestion which I now see as correlated to seasonal allergies
I am presently 52 yo- slender build, no unusual hair growth or skin oiliness. I take allegra seasonally and premarin which I have been trying to reduce due to the latest research

I'm wondering if I should jump on a plane or try treating myself with DHEA, phytoestrogen, a low carb diet and PRN powdered vit C. What do you think? Thanks so much. Also... how do you treat low cortisol levels?

Dr. Roby Answers:
Low cortisol will resolve itself, in many cases, when the patient stops relying on adrenalin for all their daily allergy, energy and stress needs. Thus the walking as opposed to running. I almost never add cortisol itself as this is fraught with stunningly lorrid side effects. Witness the prednisone effects of so many patients. This is NOT the solution, just a stop-gap measure. Most people can recover the ability to make and use cortisol. But, first the adrenalin dependecny has to go. That is why the sugar (carbohydrates) has to go...that is the fuel that runs the adrenalin machine.
Try all those things. That will probably clear up over 50% of your symptoms. If you still have a problem come on down. We see patients from all over the US and South America. We accept most insurance.

Allergic reactions after going off birth control
Monday, September 09, 2002 5:16 PM
Question:
I recently, 8 weeks ago, went off birth control. Within a week of going off the pill, after drinking 2 glasses of wine I broke out in a hives (or something similar) all over my face, scalp and half way down my chest. I also got stuffy and my sinuses felt swollen and tender. In addition I felt it slightly difficult to breathe. Since then I have tested different types of alcohol and have experienced the same reaction. Unfortunately, my reaction has gotten worse every time i try to have any alcohol including beer, hard liquor, red wine and white wine. More recently I had two half glasses of white and experienced the same reactions as before with a new twist...the hives spread down my arms and my pulse rate was in the mid 90's and my heart felt like it was pounding out of my chest. It took about 24 hours to feel normal again. The first few times I had a reaction to alcohol I took Clartin Redi Tabs but I found they didn't make me feel better. I have irregular heart beats and I believe that the Claritin made me feel worse as my body is trying to get rid of the toxins (alcohol) as well as the Claritin. I'm 30 years old and my medical history includes several allergies both airborne and food. I also have some serious anaphalaxis reactions from apples and nuts. My food allergies only started when I was 20 and I've been able to reverse some of the allergies recently but mostly I have become allergic to more foods and airborne (dust, dust mites, molds, etc) as I have gotten older. I also have been diagnosed with IBS which I believe is linked to my food allergies. I've discussed this issue with my general doctor and allergist and their answer is avoidance but no explanation as why I'm having these reactions. It's not as though I need to drink. It's more a lifestyle issue that i've grown accustom to drinking primarily wine a couple days a week. And on top of it my husband and I are planning on getting into the wine business. So for me this is a serious issue. I read through your site regarding Hormone Imbalance and all the other allergy related material. My question is do you think my new reaction to alcohol is hormone based? Or do you think it's just coincidence that I became allergic to alcohol after going off the pill? Or do you think it's something else entirely? What do you recommend? Sorry for the long winded email. I really appreciate any insight or help you can provide.
Dr Roby Answers:
All allergy is hormone related. Cortisol is our basic allergy hormone. If you recall, from reading the "Hormone Allergy" (Hormone Imbalance) article, you have a hormone "factory" and there are different levels of priority. As your sex hormones begin to diminish (as they do in all of us over 25) your body will divert hormone assets from producing cortisol (allergy hormone) to a vain attempt to keep you fertile (estrogen). The end result is an increase in allergy, decrease in energy and less ability to deal with stress.