★★★★★
It is becoming very common here in the MO Ozarks. One of our daughters contracted it in the spring of 2024. It can be very scary, and can sneak up on you. Many people start having problems, and because the reaction is delayed 2-8 hours, it can be hard to pinpoint what is wrong. Keeping good records with a symptom log, daily food intake, etc is a must.
Here is our story:
Her reactions started with a rash on her abdomen, for no apparent reason.
Thankfully, we had heard of this "disease/syndrome" going around here. Although, it has just "appeared" in recent years. The older natives here tell us, there was never such a thing; and they have been bitten by literally thousands and thousands of ticks in their lives.
Since we heard this, we were able to pinpoint that about 2 hours after she ate meat or dairy, it was happening.
As time went on she became more and more sensititive, and the reactions became more and more severe. To the point that we had to go through EVERYTHING in the house. We're talking toilet paper, chapstick, (lanolin from sheep), her cowgirl boots (leather from cows), shampoo, soap (goat's milk), our laundry soap, TOO MANY THINGS, we never thought of, to mention them all here.
She ended up having to get an epipen because she would start to get anaphylaxis, just from us cooking beef in the house. She couldn't even be around our cows, goats or sheep without a reaction.
Early on we got her antibodies tested, which you can order yourself online. They weren't elevated very much, when the reaction was just a rash, stomach ache, loose stools etc. About 6 months later we tested them again, as the reactions got worse; and they were higher.
The first advise we would give is to get EVERYTHING out of your life that is a trigger. READ ALL LABELS! Learn everything that contains alpha-gal, and remove it. It's not just a "red meat" allergy. Dairy and mammal by-products are in SO many things! We don't eat pork or pork by-products; which gave us some insight into this before the Alpha-gal.
Carrageenan, is another thing to watch out for. It is derived from red seaweed, and has a polysaccaride that causes an alpha-gal reaction as well, in some people. Beware of it being in VEGAN products.
Make sure you look for products that are VEGAN, not just vegetarian; as they can have dairy in them.
Keep your adrenals healthy, this REALLY puts a burden on them. Our daughter took Ashwaganda, in veggie caps.
We also got her a vegan iron and vegan Vit D. (Most Vit D is from sheep lanolin). These three things helped her the most, in being able to function.
We ended up doing acupuncture, after the reactions got so bad; and it was affecting our large family. No one was able to eat beef at home.
We went to a place where they put needles in her ear for 35 mins, then set the "pins"; that needed to stay in at least 2 hours. This was not the SAAT certified type. She did this twice a week for 10 sessions total.
We are thankful to the Father for helping her through this treatment. She still can't eat mammal meat (we pray and believe someday she will be able to) but she can eat dairy now, and we can cook meat in the house now. The hyper-sensitivity is a lot better, PRAISE GOD!
Pray this helps you as you, or a loved one, is going through this health trial.
