I had a long history of skin issues. Back when I was a kid, my skin developed some sort of rash around the chest and particularly at body folds, mostly on elbow crease. It became more frequent as I grew older, and I thought it was due to excessive consumption of eggs. So then I avoided eggs. Red rash once all over my arm and when the doctor checked my blood pressure, the rash became black dots—that was when the doctor realized I had DBD.

It went terribly bad when I was in college—all over my ankle was itchy and started to wound occasionally. My lips went thick and super itchy once I ate shrimp so then I avoided seafood too.

Fast forward, 3 years ago when I was fasting in Ramadhan, I was bit by a large black ant—the one you can find digging the ground or a field, not the smaller one who likes sweets—and I seriously thought I was gonna die. It was itching all over my body to the point that I could hardly breathe, got a severe headache, my eyes burnt, my face all red and swollen, and also my ears ringing in a bad way. I never experienced something like this during my life, and Thank God A was around; he quickly ran into the nearest pharmacy to grab Loratadine.

This was the same reason that my savoring Eatlah has come to an end. I'm a sucker for salted egg dish but once I developed a rash and unfortunately left permanent marks on my leg, I realised I had to stop.

Another thing that triggered me to see the internist was that this year, I developed chronic hives on the chest, and rash on joints—groin, neck, legs—a few hours after I took painkillers due to tooth extraction. Woke up at 3 a.m., felt the burning sensation around the chest and the back, I struggled to breath normally. A said I was allergic to the fried chicken I had last night but my guts said it was the painkillers who messed up my immune system. I went to see the doctor in the basement floor of the office building, and guess what she said: when this happens again, she urged me to go to emergency right away and ask for an allergy shot since it was a near death experience. Drug allergy may cause serious conditions. The worst part is that the burning sensation went more intense every time I was exposed to the sun. This condition tortured me for more than a week and don't get me started with the more I sweat, the more itchy I become. Imagine the discomfort I felt during commuting to the office 😩

So I went to an immunology internist, telling him everything I have experienced. He said I developed allergy reaction to a certain painkiller, developed urticaria symptoms, and should avoid that certain drug at all costs. Listening to my explanation, he doubted that I have an allergy to certain food because the symptoms were inconsistent. He examined my scalp and in result suggested that I undergo panel allergy and ANA-IF test. These tests by far were the most expensive tests I have ever done but I was dying to see the result so I have no choice but went for it anyway.

A week later, the result came, and guess what 👀. The doctor's right—among 54 allergens, there were no specific antibodies detected. Not even dairy. I'm Asian but I am not lactose intolerant (!!) guess I was built differently eh. But, but, what made my heart felt like dropped to the ground was when I saw this:

and the doctor kept me hanging by a thread by canceling the appointment two times. Not to mention, I had to book an appointment a month in advance since I guess he's sort of the expert in immunology in town (?). I was wondering about what the result meant so I googled it, yet I regretted it. I had to stop at Sjorgen's Syndrome 😨

Fast forward I finally get to see him, and there's nothing to be worried about. I was diagnosed with histamine sensitivity, meaning I have to avoid consuming high histamine food whenever my immune system is low. The ANA IF went positive might be the effect of the previous drug allergy. Yet if I had a rash that leaves scars, I have to see him again (It's the sjorgen's syndrome that's haunting me for real!!).

I used to believe that my preferred food choices were harmless, but it turns out I was mistaken. Now, I realise I need to limit my intake of fermented foods such as yogurt, berries, dairy, as well as caffeine and spinach whenever the immune system is low. Due to where I grew up, I develop a habit of eating spinach up to 4 times in a week. I also have greek yogurt for sahoor since it is convenient. And the real question is, how in the actual way I figured out my immune system was currently low?! I think I knew my body that well but again I was wrong.

Not long ago I tried newly opened kedai rahang tuna and it only took 5 minutes to make my face and skin turn red. It was my friend who noticed it first. I decided not to take any medication for the next 30 minutes but started to feel my heartbeat racing and feel my face warm😵 I think the quote you are what you eat is true as I get older 😓