Hello everyone,
I know it's been a while since I have posted. As usual, I got very busy with work and school! I have a break form school right now so I decided it would be a good time to write something. I wanted to share my question, see if anyone has an answer, so here it goes!
As we all know problems with the thyroid often means problems with something else. Well, I have now discovered a new problem. Sometimes I feel like I should be my own experiment, just when you think you have things under control you are given a present. A present that throws you off, and reminds you that you aren't under control, and that you aren't "normal"! Don't you just love those kinds of presents, they are kind of like little reality checks, like ha ha I got you now!!! But, I refuse to let this presents take a hold of me, instead I am on a mission to figure them out!
Before I present my hypothesis that I need to research let me give you a little background.
It was probably around February that I started getting itchy skin. I wasn't concerned at first, because in the winter (well what is considered winter for Texas), my skin gets itchy and dry so I thought it was just my yearly itchy skin. Fast forward to March, and I was still itchy! Figured it was probably just stress. Around the same time a friend of mine who also doesn't have a thyroid was also experiencing itchy skin. She went to the allergist and low and behold some food allergies were discovered. I continued about my way, scratching and scratching noticing little bumps on my skin but being the stubborn mule that I am I just chose to ignore. Until, one day after eating a snack pack of mixed nuts I noticed hive like bumps. Uh-oh, maybe I am allergic to nuts, no not me I always eat nuts never had a problem. I LOVE nuts, it can't be that. After being convinced be a family member that maybe I should get checked just in case, off I went to the allergist. I discovered I now have several food allergies: rice, egg white, pistachios, cashews, yeast, and salmon. Yeast and Salmon have come up before but I don't eat Salmon and yeast is in everything so I typically avoided yeast rolls and stuff just seems like it would be filled with more yeast then normal, but now my list got longer! I was given a epi-pen just in case, and told to keep a food journal and write down my reaction to foods. I was told to pick one category and if I continued to itch then move to another category. So, I started with eliminating nuts ( not just the ones that came up positive , but all nuts) . In case your wondering why I eliminated all nuts, well one because I got freaked out with the thought that a nut could send me into shock, and two because of cross contamination. Hip Hip Hooray, eliminating nuts has helped tremendously, but I have noticed some itchy skin reactions with eggs , and also beer. I am now starting to convince myself to eliminate eggs, and more yeast from my diet. It's not easy, but if it means feeling better then one step at a time right? Of course, I am also trying to figure out if it's in my head, or if it really is making me itch!
So,with these food allergies comes questions. My friends and family have said that's so weird that you would get all these food allergies, and then they typically follow up with a question. Is that normal, for adults to get allergies? My answer, thanks to google and a little bit of "research" : why yes people can develop allergies at any age, they can also be allergic at one point in their lives to something and then no longer allergic.
Being the curious person that I am, I have now developed a hypothesis or maybe it's more of a research question.
Remember back to when I said my friend also developed some food allergies around the same time, surprisingly one of her allergies is also rice. So, I started thinking hmm is their a connection between being thyroidless and developing allergies? Maybe, but she doesn't have Hashimotos, but maybe there is something some kind of connection. Of course I got on google right away and started hunting for an answer. Unfortunately, I didn't come across much information. This could be because it was a quick hunt, and I haven't had much time to really "research" this. Then from there I started thinking, really thinking. If Hashimotos is an autoimmune disease that attacks your thyroid then maybe ,just maybe since I don't have a thyroid anymore my body has decided to attack food?? Some people say, well yeah but no thyroid means you don't have Hashimotos anymore: WRONG!!! Most things I have read say taking out your thyroid doesn't mean Hashimotos goes away. Oh!!!!!!! is the reaction I get when I say that. So what about my friend the one who doesn't have a thyroid and doesn't have Hashimotos, well that goes back to my original question. Is there a connection to food allergies and no thyroid or thyroid problems for that matter? I do plan to do some google research on this, I am sure there are others out there, or maybe no one has really looked into this. Either way, I think it worth looking into!
Any of you thyroidless friends or thyroid issue friends noticed any new food allergies? If so, have you found any info on this? Please share, I am very curious!