Allergy Intolerance or Sensivity

Our increasingly polluted society is creating allergic responses, intolerances and sensitivities in more people than ever before.

The word "allergy" is generally used for the anaphylactic shock reaction, involving Ige (Immunoglobulin E) where the lips and throat swell. This is an instantaneous response on contact e.g. with peanuts, or rubber. The words "intolerance" and "sensitivity” apply to other common reactions that involve Iga (Immunoglobulin A).

Imagine a barrel representing the body, containing water, which represents the sensitivities. We can live quite happily with a few sensitivities, so long as the water is contained within the barrel. Once the barrel overflows, there is a reaction. Increasing use of chemicals in crop spraying, in soil treatment, in food additives and in the air have caused many people's “barrels” to overflow. Our soil has been robbed of essential nutrients due to intensive farming and these are replaced by chemicals. Food is often waxed, or sprayed with chemicals too improve shelf life, or make it look more attractive. We can be sensitive to these chemicals, as well as the actual food substance.

During the intolerant response histamines are produced, which create local inflammation. This can be in the nose, (Rhinitis, or Hay Fever), the lungs (Asthma), the eyes, or in the gut, causing an irritable bowel, or excessive flatulence.

These intolerances, can be inherited, or built up by overexposure. Often stress, or anxiety is connected. Often the sufferer is producing a large amount of histamine generally, especially when under stress. They may be consuming a large amount of histamine rich foods such as cheese, wine, or beer.  I occasionally treat with Homeopathic histamine where appropriate.

Food intolerances can be responsible for headaches, panic attacks, hyperactivity, sleeplessness, weight gain, tiredness, depression and mood swings.

We are often sensitive to food we love, or crave (A masked allergy) We have eaten them too often and the body has reached saturation point. We are fooled into thinking a particular food is good for us since we get a "Lift" after eating it. Coffee is a good example of a masked allergy. We feel low without it and need a fix. We are in fact experiencing withdrawal symptoms. Often people will have bad headaches when they begin to avoid coffee in order to desensitise. This is a kind of “hangover.”

Wheat can also produce a masked allergy, eg people not feeling well in the morning until they have eaten a few slices of toast. It is also the angriest of allergies, the child, or adult suffering mood swings and irritability.    

Apis Mellifica

Sometimes the body automatically tells us when a food is not good for us and we don't actually like it, or never eat it.

Common food sensitivities are to dairy products, wheat, yeast, coffee, and onions. Air borne sensitivities include pollens, mould spores, exhaust fumes, house dust mite, oilseed rape, animal fur, grasses, weeds and even new carpets and curtains, especially those which contain  Formaldehyde

Formaldehyde is found in milk, mushrooms, exhaust fumes, tobacco smoke, cavity wall insulation, photocopy machines, toothpaste, paint, newsprint etc. The list is endless! Symptoms include sinusitis, itchy eyes, skin conditions and asthma.

Sometimes we are sensitive not to the whole food, but a tiny chemical component of it. A large number of asthma sufferers are sensitive to Coumarin, which is found naturally in cheese, chocolate, wheat, beef, cow and goats milk etc. Many migraines are caused by an overload of Tyramine, which is found in high quantities in cheese, chocolate, red wine and Marmite.  

Such sensitivities are treated Homoeopathically with a preparation made from that very substance.(Like cures like)

You can be sensitive to fluorescent lights, electrical rays, VDU light, or harmful rays from the earth's crust (Geopathic stress)

People who live in old houses may react to microscopic moulds in the beams, creating an almost permanent "cold," a type of rhinitis.

I have encountered a lady who developed asthma due to a sensitivity to solder fumes when soldering printed circuit boards, a postman allergic to pine trees, a plasterer allergic to plaster and a lady experiencing pain and stiffness in the joints, who was sensitive to potatoes.

Some people are sensitive to the mercury in tooth fillings, which can cause pain and discomfort in the bowel. This would be treated with the homoeopathic remedy of Mercurius.

It is said that 20% of the population can eat, drink and breathe anything they like. That leaves 80% who are potential sufferers.

In my clinic, I test for sensitivities / intolerances using a Vegatest machine and then treat with homeopathic preparations. These are usually taken for a month or six weeks in order to desensitise, plus a remedy for the whole person (constitutional treatment).

The allergic response is treated slightly differently, it being too dangerous to attempt to desensitise since even the minimal Homeopathic dose of the offending substance will create an allergic response. Other Homeopathic   remedies plus constitutional treatment can often lessen the severity of the response and can help manage an attack alongside conventional treatment.

Homeopathy is for the person, not the disease and as such, each person is always treated individually.