Two Occasions That Almost Killed Me!
So, I generate awareness passionately
I often talk about irritants. There are four types of irritants that can cause either chronic or acute health issues: psychological, biological, chemical, and mechanical.
So far, I’ve been mostly spared from the psychological ones. But the other three — biological, chemical, and mechanical — have come dangerously close to killing me.
Of these, the one I fear the most is chemical exposure!
Let’s begin with biological irritants though. Cockroach allergens are one of the worst allergens. When I was exposed to them, my immune system was severely triggered by certain proteins and chitin in the cockroaches. All of my systems were affected. It was an overwhelming experience, but somehow, actually with extreme discipline I survived.
Mechanical irritants are related to environmental conditions — temperature, pressure, oxygen tension. Once, while visiting a mountain area, I underestimated the impact of low oxygen tension. My body doesn’t tolerate such conditions well. I experienced symptoms of hypothermia. Fortunately, my body slowly acclimatized, and I survived.
Now let’s talk about chemical irritants — in my opinion, the most dangerous and unfortunately the most common in our current, chemically-choked world.
Let me share two incidents where chemical irritants almost killed me.
Store-bought yoghurt
The first was in 2013, during a trip to Glacier National Park in Montana. At a motel, I ate a tub of blueberry yogurt. Either it was expired of it’s the emulsifiers/additives in them, that didn’t agree with my body. I experienced an anaphylactic reaction — swelling of the tongue and throat, puffiness in my face, and tightening in my chest. It was terrifying. It took 2–3 days to return to normal, and I was miserable the entire time.
A few years later, around 2018, a store-bought yogurt caused a similar problem while I was in California.
Processed tree nuts
Then in 2020, after I had my newborn baby, I started eating lots of processed tree nuts, thinking they were nutritious. I had no idea they were preserved with sulfites, which my body doesn’t tolerate. This led to severe respiratory distress. My face swelled up like a fugu fish, and I struggled to breathe. It was incredibly frightening.
But once I identified the culprit, I immediately eliminated it. Even when I went back to eating normal food and drinking water, some allergic symptoms lingered, but I trusted the healing path, with not blind faith but with an awareness of a researcher. And I was right , I did heal.
Today, my spouse bought yogurt and pistachio nuts. They’re enjoying them, but I’m staying away.
If I ever eat yogurt again, I’ll make it at home — no additives, made cautiously.
I ate just two pistachios, very mindfully.
As the saying goes, once bitten, twice shy — and it is absolutely true.
No taste is worth the kind of suffering I went through. That’s why I think it’s important to raise awareness.
Beyond simply talking about allergies, respiratory distress, or hypothyroidism, we need to understand the triggers.
I hope you found my story informative. Feel free to share your views. Share your own allergy experiences.
Note: This article was originally published in Medium.