Latex Allergies

I thought the following was interesting...
"Persons who are repeatedly exposed to latex-containing products are at increased risk of developing an allergy to latex. Those with allergies to foods that have proteins similar to latex such as bananas, avocados, nuts, papayas, or kiwi are also more likely to be allergic to latex. Other personal factors for increased risk are a history of asthma, allergic rhinitis, eczema, and dermatitis."

http://www.ehs.berkeley.edu/pubs/factsheets/28latexall.html

Keah,

That post was mine... My daughter's latex allergy has become so severe that her physician ordered her an epi-pen to carry. We first discovered the problem when she was in high school. She was having a systemic reaction to one of her allergy shots (poor kid used to get 5 shots a week!) and I took her to the ER. I'd already given her 2 benadryl caps at home and when we got there they immediately gave her epinephrine... Then, while the nurse was drawing blood for testing, Maryclare got a huge hive all the way around her arm where the rubber band was to make drawing the blood easier. The doctor told her that if she was having this kind of reaction while she was full of benadryl and epinephrine she should be extremely careful in a hospital setting for tests and such. That was when he made the decision about having the dentist change the bands on her teeth as well.

One thing she has been very careful about is to let doctor's know about the allergy. Apparently, if you have a latex allergy and must undergo medical tests you have to have your testing done in the early morning, before the regular patients. The rooms are cleaned and air-filtered over night to cut down on the number of latex/powder particles in the air from gloves and equipment. All the latex-free testing is done first and then the patients who tolerate latex are tested. The physician who explained this all to us said that airborne latex is the largest hazard since the particles can be inhaled into the lungs and cause a huge reaction on the surfaces of the alveoli (little air sacks). Makes CO2 and oxygen exchange difficult and can cause death.

Naturally my daughter didn’t decide to go into banking or anything safe like that… She works as a physical therapist assistant in a large rehab/extended care facility. Kids! Seems like they almost work at making us mom’s crazy.

Hey Jeannie,
I'm a little behind on checking my posts. LOL

I also had horrible reactions to the allergy injections only it took months for me to figure out why. I had always gotten bad injection site reactions and then suddenly my migraines got worse than they had ever been. We couldn't figur eout what was going on. Then one day I mentioned allergy shots to a co-worker. She told me that her nephew had to stop getting them because of the headaches. All of a sudden it clicked. The increase in migraines started about 4 months after I started the injections. I tried steroids before and after but I was being devastated by the headaches. In hindsight, I probably should have continued with the shots because it took 6 months for them to settle down and with the steroids, I might have been ok. Sigh. Ah well, that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Be well everyone!