It Started With a Cold

I was up to 2000 milligrams, eating about 10 peanut M&M's per night, when I had my first and only severe reaction thus far during the study.

I was almost done with junior year, and I was sick. Nothing too bad, just a common cold. But unfortunately, neither my parents nor I saw the warning that clearly states to cut your dose in half if you  get sick. So I had my dose that night as usual. 

Shortly after, I got a stomach ache (I usually refer to this as "the stomach ache" because for me, the type of pain is entirely specific to a food allergy reaction), only it was worse than usual. Soon after, I started having chest pains and it became difficult to breathe. At this point my parents called the nurses. I had already "pre-dosed" with Zyrtec, but they suggested that I take Pepcid (an antacid) to help with the stomach pain. Only then I threw up. A lot. 

So the nurse we were talking to decided that the best course of action would be to use an Epi-Pen. Now, I've used my Epi-Pens probably a dozen times, but I had never had a reaction that was so severe. 

After not dosing at all for the next two days,  my dose was cut in half for two weeks until escalate to where I had previously been.  We also added two Pepcid to my pre-dose. 

I began throwing up on a regular basis, though never actually after having my dose. Oddly enough it usually happened when I was hungry, like in the morning or after school. The throwing up went on pretty much throughout May and June, and at it's worst, I was throwing up three times a day. Dr. Nadeau said she'd never seen any reaction so severe. 

So we went to see a G.I specialist, who suggested that after the reaction, throwing up became sort of an involuntary reaction. It was like my body had learned a bad habit. After all, I was essentially poisoning myself with a substance that would have previously killed me. It's possible that I've developed something called Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which is a very rare side effect from the study. However, I began taking Prevacid, and the symptoms nearly stopped. I still occasionally (and very randomly) throw up, but not nearly as often as before.

And to think, if only we'd read the directions.