Troubles
of Having Allergies
Greetings to all!
My name is Mayur D.
Chauhan and I am going to share my allergy experience over the years. It might
seem funny as to why I have selected such a topic but an individual who is
suffering from an allergy can totally relate to it. So without wasting any more
time, I will begin.
I was born in the year
1992. Sometimes I like to call it the year of “Allergies” for myself. Let’s start
from the most deadly allergic disease Asthma. Asthma is a respiratory condition
in which the individual has spasm in the bronchi of the lungs and he/she has
difficulty in breathing. Deadly is not a Hyperbole, I mean it. Having extremely
weak physique in my childhood, Asthma was really dominant over me. I was just 6
months old when I had started experiencing these Asthmatic attacks. It was very
difficult as the only thing that you beg for is Air. So much of Air was available
in the atmosphere but so less of it was actually reaching me.
All this might seem
dramatic but it isn’t. Reality for an Asthmatic patient is way too worse. I had
attacks mainly during night time which made me deprived of sleep. My family
members remained awake just to ensure that I slept well.
Let’s talk about the
delicious dishes that I ate during my childhood. Oh wait, there were none! Yes
I was not allowed to eat any confectionaries. An innocent kid like me was being stopped
from eating chocolates and Ice-creams as it was thought that
these sugary foods induced such asthmatic attacks.
But Asthma alone did
not enjoy with me, so he invited other allergies to give him company. I had a
hypersensitive skin which bled even on a simple scratch. I had a lot of
rashes which made me look completely red. My mom kept applying Topical
applications for years. Even the Chemist would call my Mom by the cream name
which she bought almost weekly for my skin issues.
So after many years of treatment,
I consulted a Doctor in the year 2004 who finally saved me from this chronic
pain.
The most important
thing that the Doctor told was – Let him eat all that he wants! And I did not stop from then.
Jokes apart, I was
given a Foracort-400 inhaler which consists of two essential components. One of them was
Budesonide (Inhalant Corticosteroid having anti-inflammatory nature) which is
in combination with Formoterol (Long acting Bronchodilator).
And this was like a life potion for me. I was feeling better day by day. I was enjoying like a normal individual. After some years, my dose was decreased to 200 and even my symptoms were disappearing. The body rashes started to decrease gradually and my skin was getting back to normal.
By 2010 I finished my
12th standard and to my surprise I had more problems waiting for me.
I had the most common skin disease – Acne Vulgaris Stage II. I started its treatment
under a quite experienced Dermatologist. I overcame my acne and the excessive
oil problem within a year.
But in the same year, I
had another big problem which I didn’t realize it at that time. I had a weird
skin problem in which my hands would swell during Summer and become normal
during Winter. I thought that it would be my sensitive skin that is playing
with me. Since the swelling was not severe I did not care to treat it.
But after 5 years of
ignorance, my hands started to swell aggressively & frequently. Ultimately I get to know
that I have Contact dermatitis. It means that the skin shows inflammation upon
contact to certain chemical, detergents, scented soaps etc. I started its
treatment and continued for more than a year but the condition would keep
recurring. My hand color would keep on changing from Black patches to Red
patches and vice versa.
These Patches followed
a symmetric pattern on top of my hands. Black patches showed swelling during
extreme humid conditions. Even when I would take a bath, it would swell. I
usually had to wait for half an hour to dry it completely before going out.
Apart from all these,
my spinal cord decided to intervene. I had a disc damage which made it
difficult for me to bend in the forward direction. I even found
‘Red’ stretch marks on my stomach. It wasn’t a cherry on the cake but an
addition of more pain to the already existing reservoir of Pain.
I knew I had a lot of
problems and finally a thought came into my mind. I guessed maybe my
respiratory condition was related to this contact dermatitis. The next day I
just rushed to my chest specialist and told him about all my plights. He gave
me some systemic corticosteroids to clear up the hand condition and suggested
me to go for the IgE test.
I’ll just give you a
gist about IgE. IgE (Immunoglobulin E) is an antibody which gets
activated in presence of allergens like chemicals, detergents, spores, animal
dander etc. When an individual gets exposed to any of the above mentioned
chemicals for the first time, these IgE antibodies get activated and bind to
the specific receptors present on Mast cells and Basophils (Body's Immune Cells). This
phase is called as the Sensitization phase.
Upon a second exposure
of the same allergen, it binds to two molecules of IgE which have cross linked
with each other. This activates the Mast cells and Macrophages which in turn
releases certain inflammatory mediators like histamines, leukotrienes,
chemokines etc. These mediators are chiefly responsible for all the
inflammation occurring at any site.
So when I get the IgE
report, I found that where my serum should have 100 IU/ml it has 2065 IU/ml. So
basically speaking, I was Hypersensitive to allergens. Also the corticosteroids
that I took for around 20 days did not show any results. On this, I was suggested
the Anti-IgE treatment. The Doctor told me to research about it.
So being a
Biotechnologist, I started researching on ways to decrease my IgE. Natural ways
were plenty but it could not be trusted. For example, I read a research paper
which highlights the beneficial role of Green Tea on reducing IgE levels.
There were two main
Solutions for decreasing IgE,
1.
Systemic Corticosteroids (Which did not
work in my case)
2.
Anti-IgE therapy (Omalizumab)
Corticosteroids do play
an important role in decreasing the IgE levels by directly acting on the B
lymphocytes which synthesize IgE. But they seem to have a lot of side effects
on a long time basis.
So I started reading
more about the drug Omalizumab (Trade Name - Xolair).
It’s a recombinant
DNA-derived humanized IgG1k monoclonal antibody that specifically binds to free
human immunoglobulin E (IgE) in the blood and interstitial fluid and to
membrane-bound form of IgE (mIgE) on the surface of mIgE-expressing B
lymphocytes. In simplest words it prevents the binding of IgE to the Mast cells
and Basophils thus decreasing the amount of inflammatory mediators inside the
body.
All this seems very
fascinating but I knew it wasn’t easy. The drug is founded by Genentech and
Novartis and is very expensive in India. After speaking to an expert who works
in one of the laboratories performing Anti-IgE therapy, I found out the reality
behind the treatment.
One 15mg injection of
Xolair was supposed to cost Rs. 21,000 in India. Based upon my height and
weight, I was supposed to take 3 such injections in a month. I had to carry out
the treatment for at least 4 months. Then based upon the results it could
extend beyond that. So basically the ultimate amount would come to 5 lakhs with
that rate. Even with discounts, the amount would come up to 2 lakhs.
I literally laughed at
this for a long time.
Immediately I went to my dermatologist and spoke with him
for half an hour. He calmed me down and told me that this was just making a
fuss. He told me to start basic topical applications and protect the skin on a
regular basis. So I have finished a month of his treatment again and hands have
become clear now. But you never know, it can be back again.
Why am I writing this? Am I being a cry
baby by writing all this down? Absolutely not!
The reason behind this writing is that people
really don’t know what an allergic person is facing. I’ve heard people saying
‘Eeww what’s this?’, ‘Defective hand’, ‘Do you work in a factory which produces
Crackers’, ‘Is it contagious’ and Blah Blah Blah!!
People have no clue about someone's sufferings but and quick to judge. You ask
them about their body, and they are completely blank. Mind you such allergies
are very difficult to face.
Your so called ‘Humor’ may be an addition to their pain.
All I want to say is ‘Understand
people with any such allergies. If you cannot support, at least don’t criticize
and make fun of those people. They are fighting strongly.
My respect goes to all
the people who are fighting against such allergies. Be strong. Take care.
