Am I bananas? What happened when I had an allergy 'challenge' test.
Anyone who knows me, knows I love a good challenge. All my life I have wanted to get rid of my allergies. Whenever somebody would ask if me if had one wish what would it be, that was always my answer. However, even though I have gained more allergies than I have lost it does not stop me from getting excited when the skin and blood tests come back negative! Only once in my life with eggs.
In the summer of 2018, I went to an allergy checkup (I have them less and less as I becoming older). The doctor wanted me to have a skin prick test just to make sure that my allergies haven’t changed in the last few years and to see what shellfish am I allergic to (spoiler alert: ALL OF THEM), as I had an anaphylactic reaction to shellfish in 2014 in America.
The skin test showed what I had thought - still allergic - except avocado and banana which were negative. To give some background to those foods. When I was eight I had a reaction to kiwi, and the tests came back that tropical fruits (kiwi, banana, pineapple and avocado - pollen allergy to apples and pears) were all positive (I am allergic). Bananas I had when I was a baby (mashed bananas) but I am told I always chucked them up.
When I was eight brunch and Mexican foods were not in my vocabulary so no big deal. But moving to California at 16 it was very hard for me to avoid those foods, but I did it!
Fast forward to now being a nanny I have had to tell the kids no bananas when Lindi is here and my mum was having to eat avocado in secret, which is why I was ECSTATIC to find out that I may not be allergic to them. Following a negative skin test, they need to do a blood test. I got the results back a few weeks later and it was a negative result.
This is when the doctor asks you if you would like to try a ‘challenge’, eating the foods you have had a negative result. Now, as I have mentioned before this has only happened once to eggs and I had the ‘challenge’ when I was twelve. It was terrifying because I had avoided eggs like the black plague (except when ate it once and wound up in the hospital) but now I eat eggs every day, so I know it can change your life. I have never had an anaphylactic reaction to bananas or avocado so the fear wasn’t there for me this time. I was excited.
The NHS is incredible but you do have to wait a while to get a ‘challenge’ date (I waited months) but I have been waiting almost 20 years to eat these foods so the perspective is a must. I finally got my ‘challenge’ date on the 16th of January 2019, I am going to tell you my experience and tell you things you should know so that if you are lucky enough to have a ‘challenge’ you can be prepared.
1st step is the letter. The letter that details what you need to know for the day. Read it, re-read it, have someone else read it out loud, and then read it again. The most important thing it says is to stop taking your anti-histamines 3 days before and the location of your test.
Anti-histamines reduce an allergic reaction, so if you are taking them at the time of your ‘challenge’ you won’t have definite proof of your reaction to the substance. Anti-histamines usually take a day to leave your system but if you are a chronic user three days is most beneficial. NB: Please call and tell them you are accepting your ‘challenge’ date as there are a lot of people waiting to receive theirs, plus they might bump you if you don’t and you will turn up on the day without an appointment.
The day of your test gets there a bit early so you can be calm and not rushed. The biggest tip I can give you is calm. Panic attacks have symptoms of an allergic reaction and that just spurs on more fear. (eg. racing heart, faint, dizzy, tingling, sense of terror or impending doom/death, feeling sweaty or having chills, chest pains and breathing difficulties - to name a few). On the day, I downloaded a guided meditation for times where I felt scared and Netflix episodes/films for when I needed to be distracted.
They start the process slowly. There is another skin prick test. Which in my case I was slightly positive to avocado (less than the histamine reaction but noticeable) but I was negative to bananas again. We agreed that I would just ‘challenge’ bananas and save avocado for a later date (I am still waiting for the letter).
The test is in 15-minute increments until you have eaten the entirety of the substance and then you wait for the final hour.
1st taste you rub it on the inside of your bottom lip, 2nd is a taste which you eat, 3rd is more to taste, 4th is, even more, 5th is a lot more, 6th is the final piece and then you wait. When you have completed all the rounds they send you on your merry way. One thing that they don’t tell you and it might be just me, I was still scared after the test and no reaction. I didn’t want to eat more of it alone for a few days after because I was scared that it would have been a delayed reaction. That is okay if that is your reaction too, take your own time.
Its been a week since and I am still having a slight throat tingle every-time I eat it - I get that with most fresh foods. Hopefully, as it will be a new part of my diet that feeling will subside (this is not clinically proven DO NOT take my word for it - if you are worried about your symptoms, stop eating it the substance and seek medical advice - always be safe, you know your own body.)
Since the test, I have made banana bread, chocolate-covered bananas, mashed banana, and I love it. I still need to figure out how you can tell what a banana can taste like from the skin, but I am enjoying eating and cooking with them. I cannot believe that my body is digesting bananas as I write this, it is crazy to think after 20 years your life can change but I am so happy for this experience.
Summarising tips for the challenge:
Stop taking antihistamines 3 days before if not sooner.
Make sure your asthma is controlled and bring your inhalers (if you have them)
Be calm, you are going into a safe place where the doctors and nurses do this every day.
Download movies, tv shows, mediations, bring a book (things to keep you calm and distracted) a friend or loved one if they can come.
Make sure you are checking in to see if you are reacting (better to be safe)
Understand that it might not go your way (like my avocado). If you react at least you know.
It will take time to get used to if its something that has given you panic in the past doesn’t feel forced to eat it all the time. Making sure you feel safe is the utmost importance.
EAT, BAKE, BE AROUND IT, LOVE IT.
Be Safe and enjoy.
I hope this helps. Even if you don’t have a ‘challenge’ coming up or have never had one don’t worry, everyone is different. I have had two ‘challenges’ but I have gained about 10 allergies in the meantime so its all relative. This is one small step for me and I am so grateful, on to the next one - AVOCADO!!!
Let me know in the comments what banana recipes you would like me to bring to the table!