My allergies have been cleared by BIE. This is so difficult to write about because I don't fully understand the process of BIE. I have been seeing a holistic allergist and undergoing BIE allergy elimination treatments since last August. Faithfully, every two weeks. I have been skeptical this whole time, because I had tried BIE with my naturopath before and it hadn't helped me. With my new allergist I was seeing some improvement, but it was slow. Since I started to see my allergist I have not taken an Epi-Pen (which I had been taking a LOT last year), I had seen an improvement in my migraines, and my mood, and I had been able to re-introduce some foods that had been giving me problems. Not bad, but that's sort of as far as I expected to go.
I was still taking Benadryl frequently, making all of my food myself, staying at home a lot, unable to go to the grocery store or restaurants. But now, all of this has changed!
In my last post I mentioned how my allergist cleared me for wheat and the smell of wheat, and since then I had begun to feel different. I had more energy, my sleeping habits were improving, and overall I felt more like myself again. I actually started to feel like I didn't have allergies any more. I couldn't explain what the feeling was, exactly...just that I was sure that simply being around food would not harm me.
My husband and I went to visit a friend in Toronto who lives in Little Italy, and accidentally took the route that forced us to walk past countless restaurants. I was terrified. I expected to take Benadryl, but I never needed to. During that trip a few things happened that would normally give me a reaction - I was on the subway and people were carrying food close to me, I walked by a restaurant and got a mouth-full of their exhaust air....nothing happened. I felt so positive on the way home that I decided to go to the local grocery store. I smelled food cooking, and something baking, and still, nothing happened. Since then, I have gradually been testing the waters, and am happy to say that I can now go to grocery stores, I can now go to restaurants, and I have even eaten at a few restaurants (although I order very carefully).
I am not crazy. I am not brainwashed. I assure you that this is not a "mind over matter" thing - you cannot simply think your way out of allergies. I don't know how BIE works, but I am telling you it does.
I have read so many allergy message boards where people bash the idea of BIE. They say they will stick with what is recommended by their conventional allergists. Basically it sounds like they are afraid of BIE. The thing that people seem afraid of is that they don't want to re-introduce foods that are potentially life threatening. That is a legitimate fear! Here is what my allergist has told me about that; if I am concerned about a food then wait six months after she has cleared it, and have blood tests and scratch tests done again. If my doctor or I are still uncertain, then I can introduce the food in a safe setting, like an oral challenge.
Something else that people seem concerned about is that if BIE can rid your body of allergies, then why hasn't conventional medicine caught on to it? Why are people all over the place suffering with, and dying from allergies? I don't know. The only reason that know of is that it takes time for things like that to happen. My allergist uses the comparison of acupuncture, or massage therapy - it was not too long ago that conventional doctors sneered at the mention of them, and now they are commonplace.
I realized that I didn't have to be scared of BIE. The actual treatment couldn't hurt me - all I had to lose was money (which is a huge deal for us, but if I could get well enough that I could work again then the money we spent would be worth it). So I did it. But, it has taken a long time. When I first met my allergist, I asked her if she had ever treated anyone who was allergic to as many things as me. She had, but it took about a year before this person could eat everything. I have heard stories where people just go once and their anaphylactic allergies are gone! This wasn't the case for me, perhaps because I had so many allergies and health issues that were affecting each other. It was like peeling back the layers of my health and fixing them one-by-one.
Aside from the money and time, this process hasn't been easy on me. For about the first four months I felt really crappy after my treatments, and went through "healing crises". This is essentially a detox that your body undergoes, as it is "reprogramming" your cells to not attack your allergens. If you've ever done a detox then you know the feeling that I'm talking about. As my body got used to the process, my healing crises got easier to handle. Now, I maybe feel a little sick for a day or two, but other than that I'm fine. If you are having issues with healing crises, then try to help your body detox faster by; drinking lemon in warm water first thing in the morning, drinking a lot of water throughout the day, having hot epsom salt baths or a sauna, and eating foods that aid your body in detoxification like turmeric, beets, onions, garlic, and anything from the cabbage family.
I have been trying to explain BIE to my family and friends, and keep getting strange looks. This is partially because it sounds ridiculous, and partially because I do not fully understand it and so I'm bad at explaining it. Because of this, I'm not going to try to explain BIE to you. All I can say is that it worked for me, and that is all the proof that I need. It sounds like I'm part of an infomercial - that I'm trying to sell you something. But, I'm just a person with allergies, trying to get better, and I have found that THIS WORKS! I thought I would be spending the rest of my life cooped up, unable to go places and socialize, changing my dreams and plans to revolve around my allergies. I'm telling you, just think about it. What if your allergies and sensitivities don't have to be forever? That one day, you could be allergy-free? It sounds impossible, but what if allergies didn't have to be your life anymore? WHAT IF?
I still have many foods to re-introduce, and I haven't decided if I am going to do some of them on my own, or with a doctor. I do know that I am no longer allergic to many foods that I ingest, and I am no longer allergic to airborne foods. For now, this will do, and I will start to live my life again!
*Please Note* The information on this blog is from my personal experience and is not intended to diagnose or treat. If you have questions about information on this blog, and how it pertains to you, please contact your doctor.
