Cat allergies - update

[Leanne]

So sorry to hear of your problems with allergies....I think you are very brave to soldier on!
Ok.....This might seem a strange suggestion...but would you consider doing a Detox? Following a detox diet for several weeks ( Carol vorderman did a book a few years ago which was quite good ) Taking some cleansing supplements and even having a few sessions of Colonic Hydrotherapy. Cleaning out the body in this way can boost the liver and help you deal with all kinds of allergens. Don't expect anyone in the medical field to believe in this approach but I have both personal and professional experience of this approach working.
If all that sounds rather daunting then a lot of people have success with homeopathy.
Let me know what you think!

I'm not sure about things like that, mostly because I have no will power to detox 

[paddypaws]

So sorry to hear of your problems with allergies....I think you are very brave to soldier on!
Ok.....This might seem a strange suggestion...but would you consider doing a Detox? Following a detox diet for several weeks ( Carol vorderman did a book a few years ago which was quite good ) Taking some cleansing supplements and even having a few sessions of Colonic Hydrotherapy. Cleaning out the body in this way can boost the liver and help you deal with all kinds of allergens. Don't expect anyone in the medical field to believe in this approach but I have both personal and professional experience of this approach working.
If all that sounds rather daunting then a lot of people have success with homeopathy.
Let me know what you think!

[Leanne]

Went back yesterday and we discussed desensitisation, I'm going to go for it.

 

Its quite a hardcore process, an injection every week for 3 months and then one a month for 3 years, and it may not even work because I live with cats, but I feel I need to try it as we're at the end of the road.

 

5 out of every 100 people who have go into anaphylactic shock to they monitor you closely for the hour after the injection.

 

There is a long waiting list so its not going to happen anytime soon.

[Leanne]

Thanks Firefox thats interesting what you say about the raw diet, Milo would eat it no worries, Jess however likes his felix too much, but it maybe worth trying.

I use daktacort when its bad and it does help but I don't like to use it all the time, I've also found clinique products to work well too.

[Fire Fox]

I must admit that I was raging when the doctor said it, and when we left I muttering under my breath about the chinese eating cats 

Petal cleanse does help but I need something stronger, I'm already on a nasal spray, the strongest antihistamines you can get and 2 creams for my eczema, and eye drops.

I can live with all the symptoms except the eczema on my face, ironically it cleared up on holiday and its gone at the moment so for the first time in over 6 months I am not having to wear foundation.

So watch this space I guess.

PS much as I want to tell the doctor where to go as its taken me 18 months to get a referal to the allergy clinic I don't think my (rather understanding) GP would be too impressed.

  You have probably tried all this, but ...

I have read if the cats are fed a raw diet they may be less allergenic - makes sense as the skin is the largest organ of excretion, what goes in will partly come out in the dander and hair.  Also I found when I was taking a high dose fish body oil (omega 3 capsules) my eczema/ contact dermatitis/ keratosis pilaris cleared up completely. My skin is admittedly not bad but is aggravated by stress and all sorts of topical products. Have you tried a barrier cream on your face when you are around the cats?

[Sabrina (Auferstehen)]

PS much as I want to tell the doctor where to go as its taken me 18 months to get a referal to the allergy clinic I don't think my (rather understanding) GP would be too impressed.

Glad you got in though! I've been after mine and was told you have to know what you are allergic to first.

So I rattled off the list, penicillin, household cleaners that have orange in them, something in Thia food, ibuprofen and pollen. Apparently it wasn't enough! And most of those things make my face swell up very bad.

Good on you though for telling him off a bit and keeping the cats. I told my husband if the doctor ever tells him to get rid of ours (he has bad asthma) that my husband will have a choice, cope with it or divorce

[Leanne]

I must admit that I was raging when the doctor said it, and when we left I muttering under my breath about the chinese eating cats 

Petal cleanse does help but I need something stronger, I'm already on a nasal spray, the strongest antihistamines you can get and 2 creams for my eczema, and eye drops.

I can live with all the symptoms except the eczema on my face, ironically it cleared up on holiday and its gone at the moment so for the first time in over 6 months I am not having to wear foundation.

So watch this space I guess.

PS much as I want to tell the doctor where to go as its taken me 18 months to get a referal to the allergy clinic I don't think my (rather understanding) GP would be too impressed.

[Liz]

Oh Leanne I am so glad that you aren't giving up the kids and going the extra mile for them - you are a special mummy

My OH was advised that with his asthma we should get rid of all the cats and the dogs - he did advise specialist he would be living in the garage if he came home and suggested it - so Oh uses an inhaler but is more allergic to tree pollen and coal dust than his precious Clan cats and doggies - - OH takes an antihistamine and finds this helps - my poor BIL only visits us in the summer as he is so allergic to cats but can cope if we sit outside

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

What a    I'd have thought it was his job to help you find a way to live with your boys with minimum reaction.

[Gillian Harvey]

we may go down the desensitisation route but he said if I live with what I am allergic too it may not work.
 

But surely thats the idea of desensitisation - so that you CAN live with what you are allergic to?

Do you think the petal cleanse helps at at all?

[Saska]

I think I'd be giving up my DR and seeing another one!

[Claire_smc]

That's an awful thing to be told by your doctor, I'd be raging  Would have loved to have seen his face when you said that about giving children up though!

[Leanne]

Well I saw the professor at the allergy clinic today.

I had a skin prick test and cats came out quite well, as did grass pollen.

When I saw the doctor again, he suggested I give cats a wide berth, when I explained we have 2 he said well you need to rehome them, I think the fact I stayed stony faced said it all, and I said that isn't an option, he didn't question it till I explained if I had kids and was allergic you wouldn't ask me to give them up for adoption.

He also said when they die I would suggest you don't get any more 

His suggested that I increase my nasal spray, I'm going back in a months time and we may go down the desensitisation route but he said if I live with what I am allergic too it may not work.

To be honest I am not surprised, I'm already doing all I can including petal cleanse so I may have to just live with a face full of eczema, but its worth it for my boys.

What I find astounding is how many people may be told this by a doctor and give their animals up.