The Allergy Saga Nobody Asked For (But Here We Are)

It all started on New Year’s Day, because apparently my immune system decided that was the perfect time to unveil its latest dramatic production.

I woke up looking like I’d gone ten rounds with a beehive. Hives everywhere, itching like mad, eyes so swollen they were almost shut, and lips that could have rivalled a cartoon character after kissing a live socket. Delightful.

Now, nothing had changed. No new medications. No new foods. No exciting lifestyle choices. Just me, minding my business, waking up to what can only be described as “Allergic Reaction: The Musical.”

Fortunately, it wasn’t anaphylaxis, just a spectacularly aggressive allergic reaction to… well… something.

My first suspect was lactulose. I’d had a different kind of medication the day before, and while it’s not unusual for my body to suddenly decide it hates something it previously tolerated, this seemed a bit extreme. Still, I cut it out.

No change.

Meanwhile, I was taking antihistamines four times a day, roughly four times what a normal human might take, just to get the swelling down. It took over a week for things to calm down. The moment I reduced the antihistamines… boom. Back it came. Hives, swelling, itching, the whole glamorous package.

So next up: eliminate foods one by one.

Also no change.

Then some other symptoms joined the party, breast tenderness and various other hormonal oddities that shouldn’t really be happening when you’re on continuous HRT.

That’s when the lightbulb flickered on.

Maybe it was the progesterone.

Now, I’ve been on HRT for a while because perimenopause decided to arrive early and completely wreck any sense of hormonal stability. Training schedules and unpredictable cycles don’t mix well, so HRT kept everything relatively calm.

But the symptoms I was having suddenly lined up very neatly with progesterone allergy.

So I stopped it.

And things improved. Quite a bit.

Not completely, mind you, my immune system apparently enjoys suspense, but the reaction reduced significantly.

After speaking to the doctor, we tried switching progesterone types.

One day later… the swelling came back with a vengeance.

So we stopped it again. It improved. Tried another type. Same result.

At this point I have essentially conducted a full clinical trial using myself as the only participant, and the conclusion appears to be:

My body may be allergic to every form of progesterone known to humankind.

The only thing left untested is the coil. And if you’ve read about The Coil Incident, you’ll understand why I’m not exactly lining up eagerly for round two.

Just when things weren’t complicated enough, another symptom appeared.

A very familiar one.

A strong smell of smoke.

Except… there is no smoke.

This is something I’ve had before with acute sinus infections. Usually it comes with headaches, facial pain, and eventually antibiotics.

The catch? It can also apparently happen when stopping oestrogen.

So now we have a new puzzle:

• Is it a sinus infection?
• Is it hormone withdrawal?
• Is it my immune system just freelancing again?

Naturally, I ordered antibiotics but decided to wait a couple of days to see if restarting oestrogen fixes the phantom smoke problem before nuking my gut flora for fun.

According to the doctor, there’s no definitive test to confirm whether I’m allergic to oestrogen, progesterone, both, or something else entirely.

Fantastic.

What we do know:

• I’m definitely allergic to Oramorph (been there, done that, got the hives).
• Progesterone strongly appears to be a problem.
• Something else may also be involved.

And this has now been going on for over two months.

Two months of itching.
Two months of swelling on and off.
Two months of antihistamines and sleepless nights.

The timing makes it even harder to deal with. It wasn’t that long ago I was told that, medically speaking, I’ll probably never walk again. I’m stubborn enough to keep trying anyway, but the doctors aren’t exactly lining up to help manage the pain situation.

So the idea that the one treatment helping stabilise my hormones might also be something my body can’t tolerate… well… that’s not exactly comforting.

Just two days without oestrogen and my mood dropped straight back to where it was before HRT, low, flat, and bordering on depression. HRT had lifted that significantly.

If it turns out I’m allergic to the hormones I actually need? Then the only real option left would be surgery. And that’s a place I really don’t want to end up.

For the moment, we’re experimenting carefully, waiting, observing, adjusting things one step at a time and hoping the body eventually decides to calm down.

All I’m really hoping for at this point is a few days where I’m:

• less puffy
• less itchy
• and ideally not smelling imaginary smoke

Honestly, that would feel like a luxury right now.

Here’s hoping the next update in this saga involves answers… and significantly fewer antihistamines.