Allergy Shots/ Candida

[Guest guest]

Do you just LIKE living in danger or on the edge? I spoke at great

length with Maureen yesterday. What a wonderful person, she is.

She is almost strictly macrobiotic and is CURED, notice I did not say in

Remission, for scleraderma which is unheard of. For three years, she

was confined to a strictly liquid diet through a staw because her mouth

would no longer open. Each of us knows where out individual diseases

can take us if they go unchecked. So like everyone on this list, I am

where you are, struggling to find my way and make a decision of what is

best for me. Whatever you decide, Mark, nobody will disrespect you for

it. I would hate to be in your position of having to make the decisions

regarding the allergy shots etc. I think my decisions are more cut and

dry, do or die, so to speak. Anyway, I did have to smile in the face of

it after reading your letter as I am certain you will stir things for

making for great conversation. Be well,

HOLMES, MARK T. wrote:

> From: MHOLMES@... (HOLMES, MARK T.)

>

> I was recently reading a book on allergies by the head of the

> rheumatology/immunology/allergy division at Univ.of California Med

> School. In it he suggested that allergy shots were not recommended

> for those patients with an autoimmune disease. He didn't specify

> exactly why, but I found that interesting in that the doctor I am now

> going to is about to embark on allergy shots despite knowing I have RA

> and am taking metho. Hmmmm.....wonder who's right? After reading the

> doc's book, I have come away with the impression that allergy shots

> can sometimes be serious business (in other words, you can have a

> deadly reaction if someone slips up and gives you too much of the

> offending allergen, or if they get an improperly mixed batch,

> etc.,etc.). Boy, I sure love this after I've spend a small fortune

> for testing.Also noted in the book, was this: " It is not entirely clear

> what the actual antigen in mold spores is. This uncertainty has

> spawned an unfounded, eccentric, and damaging hypothesis about the

> relationshiop between mold and illness. Disciples of the so-called

> " Candida connection " (Candida-yeast-is one of literally thousands of

> varieties of mold) content that people with some forms of allergies

> (as well as other diffuse,vague and disabling symptoms) may harbor

> Candida or Monilia in their bodies. This colonization is said to bring

> about the release of certain products that , in their turn, trigger

> the complaints. The Candia corps of practitioners claims that ordinary

> diagnostic methods fail to detect these infections and that treatment

> with antifungal antibiotics will put matters to right.If you had the

> sort of internal yeast infection claimed, your family and friends

> would be in mourning. Yeast infections of the mouth, intestinal tract,

> or vagina occur often, but these areas are all considered external to

> the body. Treating some chronic condition said to be caused by an

> internal Candida infection with broad spectrum antibiotics is not only

> futile, but may well carry potentially serious and durable negative

> side effects. " (from Living Allergy Free by Dr.

> Gershwin) Additonally, someone sent me this web site which goes into

> greater detail

> http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/candida.html So

> somewhere in the middle of all this lies the truth (or maybe not). If

> nothing else, I am sure some of this information on candida will bring

> an outpouring of wrath on my head from those in this group who are

> advocates of this sort of thing. Mark

> -----------------------------------------------------------------------

> [

[Guest guest]

I was recently reading a book on allergies by the head of the

rheumatology/immunology/allergy division at Univ.of California Med School. In

it he suggested that allergy shots were not recommended for those patients with

an autoimmune disease. He didn't specify exactly why, but I found that

interesting in that the doctor I am now going to is about to embark on allergy

shots despite knowing I have RA and am taking metho. Hmmmm.....wonder who's

right? After reading the doc's book, I have come away with the impression that

allergy shots can sometimes be serious business (in other words, you can have a

deadly reaction if someone slips up and gives you too much of the offending

allergen, or if they get an improperly mixed batch, etc.,etc.). Boy, I sure

love this after I've spend a small fortune for testing.

Also noted in the book, was this:

" It is not entirely clear what the actual antigen in mold spores is. This

uncertainty has spawned an unfounded, eccentric, and damaging hypothesis about

the relationshiop between mold and illness. Disciples of the so-called " Candida

connection " (Candida-yeast-is one of literally thousands of varieties of mold)

content that people with some forms of allergies (as well as other diffuse,vague

and disabling symptoms) may harbor Candida or Monilia in their bodies. This

colonization is said to bring about the release of certain products that , in

their turn, trigger the complaints. The Candia corps of practitioners claims

that ordinary diagnostic methods fail to detect these infections and that

treatment with antifungal antibiotics will put matters to right.

If you had the sort of internal yeast infection claimed, your family and friends

would be in mourning. Yeast infections of the mouth, intestinal tract, or vagina

occur often, but these areas are all considered external to the body. Treating

some chronic condition said to be caused by an internal Candida infection with

broad spectrum antibiotics is not only futile, but may well carry potentially

serious and durable negative side effects. " (from Living Allergy Free by Dr.

Gershwin)

Additonally, someone sent me this web site which goes into greater detail

http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/candida.html

So somewhere in the middle of all this lies the truth (or maybe not). If

nothing else, I am sure some of this information on candida will bring an

outpouring of wrath on my head from those in this group who are advocates of

this sort of thing.

Mark

[Guest guest]

Mark, I had the allergy desensitization shots as a child. They didn't do a

whole lot to reduce my allergies, some improvement, but not enough to prevent

quite severe allergy symptoms which triggered childhood asthma. I notice in

looking back, that it was not long after I started them, that I got very sick

with what was at the time undiagnosed illness in spite of being put in the

hospital and barraged with tests for a couple of weeks. I believe it was

probably a bout of seronegative RA, the symptoms being sleep disturbance,

extreme fatigue, muscle and joint aches and recurring fevers that would spike

during the afternoon and be gone by bedtime. If faced with this decision now, I

would definitely not get allergy shots or allow my children to have them.

The only things that I feel brought about some improvement were ( don't laugh)

using mind-control/visualization techniques a few years later, that reduced my

reactions by about one-half, and moving away from the area I lived in. My

allergies were not nearly so severe after I moved to the West Coast, and I

thought I had somehow outgrown them, but quickly found out this was not the case

when I flew back east several times to visit family. I get a couple of sinus

flare-ups a year, but am sure they are not allergy-related, because they respond

to antibiotics. Liz G

[Guest guest]

Mark: For what it's worth, I had a nagging concern reading your previous

posting about planning for the allergy shots. My endocrinologist had always

told me to avoid flu shots because of my autoimmune diseases (M. Gravis,

Graves disease and now this RA), stating that potential negative effects on

my immune system might be best to avoid. Also, I do know someone who did get

allergy shots routinely and one day the dr. did have a stronger than usual

batch; she started to go into anaphalectic shock on the ride home and had to

have an emergency epy shot. This reflects some of the concerns you raised.

It seemed curious to me, before you even mentioned your research, that a dr.

would be willing to give allergy shots to someone with RA/autoimmune illness.

Just my own personal thoughts.

Babs

RA 8/98, DX 4/99, AP 11/99

200 mg. Minocin

2.5 mg. Methotrexate

112 mcg. Synthroid

2 mg. Hytrin

10 mg. Lipitor

Mestinon

Vits. & Misc. Suplmts.