u/ViciousIsland

I had a consult with Dr. Fituri that did not inspire confidence, and now I'm scared about going for the exam. Most of his Google reviews are also bad. Any colonoscopy experiences with him? Recommendations?

The last time I was tested for peanuts (which I didn't want and didn't ask for because I already KNOW I'm anaphylactic to them - long story), something went very wrong, and I ended up in an ambulance 8 hours later. (It started as extreme fatigue after the test that progressively got worse, tongue swelling so slowly I didn't notice for a while, then an intense feeling of doom and almost passing out while standing up - boom, epipen!)

Anyway, I think it's because they used peanut serum and actual peanut butter, and one or the other got into my system. Probably the peanut butter; the welt looked like a bee sting until I took the epipen.

Anyway, enough about that ordeal.......I'm just curious about what everyone's test results were. My peanut welt was 39mm, the peanut butter was 33mm (at the time of testing, though I think it got larger), and--bonus!--the almond was 8mm.

They only had limited nuts to test me for, so I avoid all nuts just in case. (For example, they couldn't test for chestnut, but I had a reaction to touching a chestnut ornament at Christmastime one year...)

I have a life-threatening allergy to peanuts and tree nuts, plus lesser allergies and intolerances that affect what I eat but not what people can eat around me. With peanuts, I react to ingestion, touch, airborne, all of it. The most extreme end of the spectrum.

I'm in my 30s, and it feels like life with this allergy is getting harder rather than easier. This allergy has negatively impacted every single area of my life, from my work and where I can live to my social life. To name a few things: I can't visit my best friend (because I feel that traveling by plane is just too risky with the airborne stuff) or see parts of the world I long to visit, I've never dated (and this allergy is at least 50% of the reason why), I don't eat at any restaurants ever (only my own cooking, which, again, makes travel a pain in the ass), and no matter how careful I am, other people are constantly, unwittingly putting me at risk. A few recent examples:

- Went to my parents' house today to wash my car's trunk because of a spill. I put my stuff on the grass, not realizing there were peanut shells there because their neighbours are feeding the squirrels. It's gotten so bad that their yard, the garage, and the garden (which I get veggies from) have peanuts from the damn squirrels. My fam wears shoes in their house, so traces are likely being brought in. This was never a problem when I lived there, but it's been an issue since my dog died (squirrel patrol!) and multiple new neighbours moved in.

- A cashier almost cracked open a peanut snack right before cashing me out. If I'd been even 5 seconds later, my stuff (snacks I would have eaten by hand) would have been contaminated, and I wouldn't have known why I was reacting.

- A mechanic ate peanuts from a vending machine in the shop right before working on my car (touching the steering wheel, etc). I caught this, thankfully, and asked him to wash his hands. He was pissy about it.

- Had to cancel going to a social event because the park it's at is always COVERED in peanuts. The benches, paths, etc.

- Bought a houseplant that had been outdoors. I started cutting it in half, in the middle of my living room, to split the plants. Suddenly realized I was sawing into a peanut that a squirrel had buried in it. Luckily, I was wearing gloves and had a tarp on the floor.

- Had to leave a family holiday because my grandma's dog ate a peanut in my parents' backyard, and he definitely would have licked or scratched me at some point. I'm the one who caught him eating it. Nobody else noticed.

- (This one was a while ago, but it has stuck with me) I had a plumber put my sink filter in his mouth and blow air through it (getting his tongue all in there too), then screw it back on my faucet like that was a totally okay, definitely not disgusting thing to do. I have no idea what this man ate, so cross-contamination was a concern.

The point is, it's like every time I try to put peanuts out of my mind and get out of my comfort zone to try new things and live my life, peanuts show up out of nowhere in the most unexpected places. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to worry about inhaling or touching things, but that's a huge issue. I feel so angry and trapped, and like I would have had a completely different life without this allergy. I couldn't care less about eating at restaurants or getting takeout; the social aspect is definitely the worst part. People think it's a joke, and even some of my close friends and family treat me like a hypochondriac. I have been telling my best friend's mom for 20 years not to offer me food when I visit, and she still does every time, then sounds exasperated and/or hurt when I decline. It drives me fucking crazy, and I'm getting tired of being polite.

Anyway, just wanted to rant, I guess.

I'm not actually, but I found the results interesting, especially these aspects:

F = me, female, M = male

• F's Mercury Trine M's Neptune - Orb: 0° 37'
• F's Mars Sextile M's Sun - Orb: 0° 19'
• F's Uranus Square M's Sun - Orb: 0° 34'
• F's Pluto Trine M's Saturn - Orb: 0° 6'
• F's Lilith Conjunction M's Venus Orb: 0° 17'