[Vilatus]

Hey guys, I need about my health. It's going to be a bit long because I have to explain first.

To cut it short, I've always had asthma and allergies but I was tested again in my first year of high school so the doctor had updated allergy info. I rated 4 in almost everything, animals, plants, etc. (Allergies are rated 1-4, 1 being very slight, 4 being life threatening.) This was apparently the cause of my chronic fatigue. I was forced to get rid of a dear pet, who died from the stress of being rehomed, because I rated 4 to him. I was in a very dark place during this time, and it made it far worse. I started immunotherapy at the doctor's recommendation shortly after.

Lucky me, I was one of the rare cases where patients have an adverse reaction. I went into anaphylactic shock, which caused me to be entirely unable to breathe, and had to be rushed to the hospital. (My wording severely underrepresents the mental trauma lmao) Just like that, therapy was no longer an option, I was no longer allowed to visit friends with pets I was allergic to (all animals besides dogs and birds/reptiles), and I was told to carry an epipen.

Now, years later, I feel as if I'm living with an invisible physical disability. I'm socially isolated, I cannot visit friends, and cannot work many jobs because of my allergies. (Any job where I would enter someone's home, or be in contact with something their clothing touched at home, etc.) I love animals dearly. As a child I hoped to be a vet, but obviously that's no longer possible. Fear and risk of having a severe reaction keeps me from being able to socialize normally (I can't even hug my best friend or grandmother because they own cats.)

I feel so hopelessly isolated from everyone. I feel selfish having to ask them to visit me, and wash their clothes before they come. I have to force everyone to accommodate my health problems, when for all they know I could just be a germaphobe. I'm sick of having to carry an epipen just to feel safe to go down the block to the convenience store. If my throat itches I immediately panic, thinking something has set me off. When I make new friends, I can't visit them, because 9/10 times they have one or more pets I cannot be around. I won't enter a building unless I know they aren't pet friendly. I wear a dust mask to pet stores, wash my hands and face, and then change my clothes afterwards. I never allow anything of mine to touch stranger's things for fear they aren't clean of their pet's dander.

I probably forgot to mention something, and left typos, but this is disgustingly long already. If you actually stuck it out and read this you have my thanks. I've been bottling this up for years and I needed to spit it out.

[Skeezyks]

Thanks for sharing your concerns. This must be extremely difficult for you. One thing I have been fortunate not to have in my life is allergies to anything. I'm sure the fact that people can't see your allergies on a day-to-day basis makes it just all that much worse too. Most people don't tend to be very sympathetic if they can't actually see something wrong. Hopefully being here on PC is of at least some comfort & support.