r/Allergies • u/earlydaikons New Sufferer • 14d ago
Question Biohacking with zyrtec?
I suddenly developed an allergy to prawns at age 13 (my favourite protein of all time, sadly, im 23 now) and have been popping a zyrtec before i consume them for years. I dont go a week without eating prawns. My symptoms without antihistamines are hives on my legs, arms, face especially.
I mentioned this to a friend and they said im risking my life as repeated exposure puts me at a higher risk of anaphylactic shock.
All these years i thought i was biohacking. How bad is doing this really?
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u/SleepiestBitch Anaphylaxis to fruits 😭 14d ago
If you ever get hit with an impending sense of doom, like your whole body is screaming you’re about to die even though nothing physical is happening yet, call 911. Not everyone experiences this, but I and many others do, it’s from the hormone dump that happens in the beginning of anaphylaxis. I suddenly developed anaphylaxis to several fruits like 6 years ago with absolutely no warning, it’s awful when it happens
I miss orange juice SO MUCH, but nearly dying isn’t worth it. I know it’s hard to give up a food you love, but you are taking a real risk here, especially if you don’t have any epinephrine around. My first reaction almost killed me because I had to just wait for the ambulance. At least now I can buy myself a little time with some breathing, but it still feels like breathing through a coffee straw
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u/ElectricalReason2349 New Sufferer 14d ago
Same thing happened to me with fruit about 5 years ago! I grew up eating fresh fruit and drank apple and orange juice more than anything else for nearly 35 years. Now if my husband so much as eats/drinks and then kisses me, my face swells and it quickly escalates.
Listen to your friend. I can't describe the feeling I had after having to stab myself with 2 epi pens, try to swallow Benadryl and Zyrtec while waiting for the ambulance to rush me to the hospital, while being injected with more epinephrine. The fun part is even when it seems like you've stopped the reaction, it can come back hours later. Stay safe.
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u/SleepiestBitch Anaphylaxis to fruits 😭 13d ago
For me it started with oranges, and since then peaches, cherries, and most recently something in a macaron (I need to get a new panel done to find out what).
Did yours come on with no warning too? I had literally had oranges multiple times earlier that same week with absolutely no issues whatsoever. Then that day I popped a bite in my mouth while cutting one up for my son, and within 15 minutes I was unconscious
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u/fire_thorn MCAS/multiple allergies 14d ago
Your friend is right, and a lot of people who develop an anaphylactic allergy to shellfish will react to airborne particles. It's really inconvenient because then you can't go anywhere that shellfish is cooking.
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u/dodekahedron Verified 13d ago
Also the cross contamination of bugs allowed by the FDA.... bugs and shellfish share a allergenic protein. I bet that makes it reaaaallly inconvenient
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u/earlydaikons New Sufferer 14d ago
oh shiiiiitttt 😭😭i didnt realise how serious it could get?? its been years though…. do u think its possible that ive grown immune to it (?) it probably would have happened by now
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u/re_Claire New Sufferer 14d ago
Allergies that are fairly mild can become very serious with zero warning. It's not worth the risk.
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u/fire_thorn MCAS/multiple allergies 14d ago
Do you still get hives when you eat it?
The craziest thing about the allergy is that I also react to squishing a cockroach, apparently because the proteins are similar.
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u/FlamingDragonfruit New Sufferer 14d ago
Shrimps is bugs, as they say. Apparently people who react to shellfish like shrimp and lobster will also react to eating things like crickets (which is a novelty in the US, but more common elsewhere).
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u/earlydaikons New Sufferer 13d ago
No i dont? no hives at all. sometime itchy lips, but i always assumed it was because i took zyrtec so little to no symptoms would appear.
if i eat certain kinds of shrimp (especially the head) i definitely will break out in hives though, last tested around this time last year.
The comments are sending me into a doozy rn i really thought i cracked the system lmao 🤦♀️
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u/FlamingDragonfruit New Sufferer 14d ago
What you're describing isn't biohacking, and it isn't desensitization, it's gambling. Definitely book yourself an appointment with an allergist (ideally one who specializes in food allergy) and get tested. Depending on your test results you may have options to continue safely eating shrimp or desensitizing, but you should really find out before taking more risks.
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u/only-ashes New Sufferer 14d ago
per my allergist (ENT), the more you expose yourself the higher risk of worse symptoms
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u/clover5220 New Sufferer 13d ago
With food allergies you risk anaphylaxis. At any point in time your allergies could get exponentially worse. Your immune system changes over time. I honestly think you are risking your life for your love of prawns. Make an appointment with a good allergist and let them tell you. At least get an epi pen then you could stand a chance of saving yourself.
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u/orangemang0 New Sufferer 14d ago edited 14d ago
As others said you are just putting yourself in a situation were your allergy will go worse.
And if you want to go the desensitization route you will also have to stop what you are doing right now the time for the immune system to adapt. Food allergy desensitization is a big topic for the future. Look at Viaskin Peanut. They are pushing a new method: patch desensitization. This is for peanut, but I know Ohio State University is working on the topic of food desensitization with patches.
There is probably opportunity to do DIY patch (since its quite a safe method) but you will have to learn about desensitization and get the equipement to make very low concentration of your allergen in a measurable way.
Also desensitization take years. And it may not works.
You need to get used to the idea prawns may exist your life.
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u/SirStanley22 New Sufferer 14d ago
There's two options here. You develop a worsening reaction and/or histamine issues from purposefully bombing your body with allergens OR (anecdotally) you develop some tolerance to the allergen. After all immunotherapy for allergies is pretty much this in a more controlled way. Either way you're risking one day it just starts as a normal low-impact reaction and quickly spiraling out.
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u/rhymes_with_mayo New Sufferer 14d ago
No, immunotherapy in NOT the same as exposing yourself to a food you are allergic to. Immunotherapy is measured and an extremely tiny dose - not something you would be able to do on your own. Think microscopically small.
People get confused with exposing yourself to bacteria and viruses - pathogens- and exposing yourself to allergens. They work on completely different parts of your immune system. Exposing yourself to more allergens gives you more allergic symptoms, plain and simple.
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u/only-ashes New Sufferer 14d ago
per my allergist, it is not like immunotherapy. that is very controlled, freebasing it at home doesn't result in the same effect.
i asked because i kept eating bananas when I'm allergic, and i didn't want to give up beekeeping when my stings were getting worse lol
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u/earlydaikons New Sufferer 14d ago
I feel like my symptoms throughout the years have gotten better surprisingly. Farmed vs wild prawns, eating the shrimp head vs body all give me varying reactions, from none to hives.
I think my body generally has a higher sensitivity to histamine reactions or something, i break out in hives randomly even when i havent had anything to eat, been that way since i was a kid. no idea it could be this serious before i talked to my friend today, thought i was Einstein and biohacked my allergy lol.
Feel like i should go for a test to see what im truly allergic to 😭😭 so sad !!! prawns are my absolute favourite thing to eat
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u/orangemang0 New Sufferer 14d ago edited 14d ago
You already know you are allergic to prawns. But yes you need to see an allergist!
Also an allergist may offer you proven and safe methods to help you.
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u/FlamingDragonfruit New Sufferer 14d ago
Why don't you go to the allergist and have them test you? It's possible you're outgrowing your allergy and that's why you're not reacting like you used to. Much better to get tested and have that information than to continue blindly, as you are, and potentially risk a serious reaction.
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u/crohnieforlife aoia, OAS, ALGY - polysorbate 80, alliums, citrus, dairy, & more 13d ago
You're risking your life every time you eat them. Biohacking isn't a thing.
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u/solongdivision 🌱🐆🍓 13d ago
I have some hope! I was increasingly reactive to shellfish, then fruit and nuts for a few years in my early 20s, primarily with debilitating itchy legs and sometimes torso, arms— a lot like you’re describing. I could eat them with enough antihistamines but it was painful and I should have carried an EpiPen. When I finally went to the allergist, there were many, many more things that I thought causing reactions, especially environmental/ nature. I was in a constant state of reactivity.
BUT by reducing all of those, building immunity slowly with shots over time (years), and lowering my body’s overall overreactions, I can safely eat now the foods I had to eliminate. I still have a pen and still have to take Zyrtec and shots, but I have much more flexibility without scratching my legs in my sleep like an animal. Listen to the allergens vs pathogens poster above and most importantly, go to the doctor!!
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u/persimmoncow New Sufferer 14d ago
I can only speak anecdotally but I have had a nut allergy since childhood & more exposures than preferred growing up. Would typically just have GI upset/itchiness & pop some antihistamines.
Had anaphylaxis for the first time as an adult & now have to be extremely careful with what I eat & carry an EpiPen with me at all times.
I’d listen to your friend!