Environmental Allergies

Allergy/Sensitivity Symptoms


Hay fever, rashes, hives and anaphylactic shock are generally recognized as allergic reactions. However, allergic/sensitive people can have reactions which affect any organ system and which can affect more than one organ system at a time. Thus, they can have a wide variety of ongoing symptoms, and symptoms which come and go. Dr. Theron Randolph taught that the more symptoms a person had, the more likely they had Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

Most people would connect allergic respiratory symptoms with an inhaled allergen, allergic skin symptoms with a contact allergen, and allergic digestive symptoms with ingested allergens. However, people with injured immune systems can react in any area of the body to an inhaled, touched or ingested allergen. Therefore, a person could touch something and get a digestive problem, or breathe something and get a neurological problem, or eat something and get an eye problem. And everyone is different.

In his book, "Dr. Mandell's 5-Day Allergy Relief System," Marshall Mandell, M.D., lists the following symptoms reproduced in his patients during allergy testing. We recommend that you print this sheet and take some time to read the symptoms. Highlight or underline those that you experience as you read. Then date this sheet and keep it to compare at a later time.
1.
Skin: Itching, burning, flushing, hot flashes, warmth, coldness, tingling, sweating behind neck, hives, blisters, blotches, red spots, pimples.
2.
Ear, nose, throat: Nasal obstruction, sneezing, nasal itching, runny nose, post nasal drip; sore, dry or tickling throat, clearing throat, itching palate, hoarseness, and hacking cough; fullness, ringing or popping of ears, itching deep within ears, earache with red or normal eardrums, intermittent deafness, loss of some tones, sounds much louder, fluid accumulation in middle ear, dizziness, vertigo, and imbalance.
3.
Eye: Blurring, double, or temporary loss of vision; spots before eyes, pain in or behind eyes, watery eyes, excessive tear secretion, crossing of eyes, glare hurts eyes, colors look brighter; eyelids twitching, drooping or swollen; redness and swelling of lids.
4.
Respiratory: Shortness of breath, tightness in chest, not enough air to lungs, wheezing cough, mucus formation in bronchial tubes, rattling sounds and vibration in the chest.
5.
Cardiovascular: Pounding heart, increased heart rate, skipped beats, flushing, hot flashes, pallor; warmth, coldness, tingling, redness or blueness of hands; faintness; pain in front of heart; pain in left arm, shoulder, neck, and jaw traveling down to wrist (pseudo-heart attack pain).
6.
Gastrointestinal: Dryness of mouth, hunger, thirst, increased salivation, canker sores, metallic taste in mouth, stinging tongue, toothache, burping, retasting foods, ulcer symptoms, heartburn, indigestion, infantile colic, nausea, vomiting, swallowing difficulty, abdominal rumbling, constipation, abdominal pain, spastic colitis, "emotional colitis," gall bladder colic, cramps, diarrhea, passing gas, mucus or blood through rectum, itching or burning of rectum or anus.
7.
Genitourinary: Frequent, urgent or painful urination; inability to control bladder; bedwetting; vaginal discharge; itching, swelling, redness or pain in genitals; painful intercourse.
8.
Musculoskeletal: Fatigue, generalized muscle weakness or pain, joint pain, or swelling with local redness, stiffness, joint deformity; arthritis soreness, chest pain, backache, neck muscle spasm, shoulder muscle spasm, generalized spasticity, limping gait, limitation of motion.
9.
Nervous system: Headache, migraine, compulsively sleepy, drowsy, groggy, confused, dizzy, imbalance, staggering gait, slow, sluggish, dull, lack of concentration, depressed, crying; tense, angry, irritable, anxious, panic, stimulated, aggressive, overactive, frightened, restless, manic, hyperactive with learning disability, jittery, convulsions, head feels full or enlarged, floating sensation, poor memory, misreading or reading without comprehension, variation in penmanship legibility, feeling separate or apart from others, amnesia for words, numbers, names; hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, stammering or stuttering; claustrophobia, paralysis, catatonic state, perceptual dysfunction, typical symptoms of mental retardation.