Alpha-Gal Awareness Group - Southern Maryland
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Alpha-Gal Awareness Group - Southern Maryland. This Page is meant to support those diagnosed with Mammalian Meat Allergy & to educate others.
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Why I started an Alpha-Gal Awareness Group Page
Hi Everyone! My name is Lori Roper. I have lived in Southern Maryland my entire life. The majority of my childhood was spent outdoors; playing in the woods, grass & creeks in my neighborhood. We were taught early on to wear Bug Spray & check ourselves for Ticks before bed. We were cautious about putting Preventatives on our beloved pets too. Dog Ticks & Deer Ticks were of concern. I knew about Lyme Disease & Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. But, I had never heard about Alpha-Gal Allergy & honestly, never thought it would be an issue. Afterall, we don’t get Lonestar Ticks here in Maryland, right? And, how could someone possibly have an Allergy to anything in Mammal Meat? Weird, huh?
Fast forward to 2018. I’m in my early 40’s & spend most of my work hours indoors. Not like in my 20’s where I worked at a Plant Nursery, surrounded by the Great Outdoors or Boarding Kennel, working with hundreds of Dogs & Cats. So, imagine my surprise when I started breaking out in Hives while teaching a First Aid Class at a Customer’s house. The rash started on my upper arms & by the time I left, had started to develop on my stomach. I thought nothing of it & took a Benadryl when I got home. The rash continued daily for weeks & progressively seemed to get worse over time, despite taking multiple different Over-the Counter Antihistamines. I also had uncontrollable itching on the soles of my feet & scalp, started losing my hair & had migraines that were debilitating. I knew this wasn’t just in my head. I knew I wasn’t crazy. I finally decided to contact an Allergist in early July.
The nearest Allergist that accepted my Insurance couldn’t book me an appointment for another 2 weeks. And, then I was advised to stop taking Antihistamines 48 hours prior to the consult. This was a little unnerving, to say the least. When I arrived for my appointment, I had a more than 1 hour wait. The Triage Nurse seemed to chalk my symptoms up to “probably hormonal”. The Doctor, while nice, seemed to be rather dismissive too. After scratching my upper arm with a broken tongue depressor, he determined that a Skin Prick Test couldn’t be done on me, due to my response. It was decided that I would have to go for a Blood Test. In talking with him, I mentioned that I believed I had been bit by a tick (but never found one attached) in early June. He ended the discussion by telling me he thought that it was “probably just Dermographism”, but decided to order 7 different panels run, including an Alpha-Gal Test. But, he seemed to be confident that “that probably isn’t it”. I was told to just manage symptoms with a Zyrtec daily & that they would be in touch soon with my results.
I didn’t receive my results for several more weeks. A Nurse from the Allergist’s Office called me at the end of July, confirming the diagnosis of Alpha-Gal Allergy. My levels were twice that of the normal range & I was told to avoid all Mammal Meat & to be retested in a year. I was given no other Resources or Referrals. I was not prescribed an Epinephrine Auto Injector for my Allergy, since I was in the “Moderate” range.
