The overall allergy test experience was not as bad as it could have been. I was getting even more nervous on the way to Dr. Nofsinger’s office reading the waiver I had to sign. It explained something about understanding that serious reactions, such as anaphylaxis, can occur. And I had to agree to resuscitation, intubation, and ambulance transfer to the emergency room if necessary. OMG!! I am so not used to being the patient. I hate thinking about all that could go wrong. Thankfully none of that happened, and hopefully the pictures aren’t too yucky to look at.
The nurse who did the testing was fantastic! She was very calm and explained everything before she did it. I was tested for forty-eight items. I don’t understand the cockroach one. Why would I be allergic to cockroaches?
After wiping down my arms with an alcohol wipe, she dabbed a very small amount of each item on my skin. She used a plastic device that had small circles with several pocky points on each one. It didn’t hurt, it was only sharp enough to let some of the liquid get under the skin. Then she set the timer for fifteen minutes and waited for my reactions.
She kept asking how I was doing and if I was breathing alright. I was fine… for the first few minutes (this is where the pictures stopped for a while). Then all of a sudden I was majorly hot and itchy. I was so lightheaded that it felt like I couldn’t hold my head up. I felt extremely nauseated and was grasping the arm rests because I felt like would fall out of the chair. My vision was getting blurry and dark. The nurse reacted quickly. She turned a fan on me, got Jesse to hold a cool cloth to my forehead, and put my feet up on another chair. She was asking me about everything I was feeling, but I was too confused to give many clear answers. She went to get the doctor to check on me. By then, my vision was completely black. I was FREAKING out. The doctor tried to assure me that I was fine and that this would go away soon. I just kept saying “I can’t see you… you’re right there, but I can’t see you!” It felt like it lasted forever, but Jesse says it was about three minutes. After that I was fine and the pictures resumed.
I don’t think the black out was anything to do with allergies. I think it was more of a nervous system overload. All the pocking was combined with all the allergens getting into my system. Then I took my inhaler to make sure I wouldn’t have breathing troubles. When all of that was added to my already nervousness, I think that is what caused it. Scary!
She measured each bump to see how bad my skin had reacted. Many of them had a large, red bump. For the ones that had little or no reaction, she then injected me with a small amount to see if that would cause a reaction.
It hurt a little, mostly the ones closer to the inside of my arms. Thankfully, I didn’t have any bad reactions to those.
The nurse gave Jesse the homework of taking pictures and measuring the injection reactions after two days. After sending that information in, they determine what I’m most allergic to and begin treatments in two weeks. I am allowed to shower, but the writing stays until Friday. Cute, huh?
After it was all over, they kept me for a while to make sure I wouldn’t have any delayed reactions. They gave me Xyzal right away, and surprisingly I haven’t even had any itching. Plus she gave me a prescription to keep refiling the Xyzal, and Jesse got us a couple free samples. YAY! I’m so glad that it is all over. I’m getting very sleepy as the meds are getting back into my system.
