Hump Day Steak Might Be The Last..............

[patsam]

Really enjoyed that grilled filet I posted up Wed evening. Might be the last one I have, at least for quite some time. Some 3-4 hrs after I finished that meal, started having severe stomach pain, nausea and other GI type issues. After a couple hours of that, I started having large hives pop up all over my arms, torso, and thigh area. That progressed into some sort of tingling type sensation in my hands and tightness in my chest. I was by myself at our Lookout Mountain property which is remote to say the least, and so ended up driving myself to the ER in Fort Payne at 4:00 AM as I wasn't sure if this was going to get any worse. Turns out, looks like I have contracted Alpha-Gal Syndrome (AGS) from a tick bite I had a couple weeks ago. Feel perfectly normal again 24 hrs later after a full night's sleep. I try to be very mindful of ticks, but missed this tiny lone star tick that got on my back in a spot I couldn't see or touch. About had to have got on me in the yard or in my garden. So, will be staying away from mammalian meat, dairy etc. Have an appointment with an allergist next week that I hope will shed some light on maybe if this will just be limited to red meat or will this happen with pork, milk, butter, etc as well and get an epi-pen as a just in case there is some worse reaction down the road. Doesn't seem to be a lot of consensus or knowledge about this in the medical world from what I can tell. I can say that for as much as I enjoy a piece of seared medium rare salted red meat, I will gladly avoid it for as long as necessary after that episode. What I heard about this before was that it seemed to be permanent, but from what I can glean from some reading and other's stories in the last day or so, it does seem to go away for a lot of folks after a while (measured in years). I don't like it, but is what it is at this point. I get bored with chicken real quick, but thankfully I'm a huge fan of seafood. Guess it could be used as an excuse to fish more as well. Be careful with ticks, they're nasty little critters!

sounds like Alpha Gal from the lonestar tick!

 

[TJay]

Dang man sorry to hear that. I have a friend that has Alpha Gal and he seems to have adjusted well and I'm sure you will too. Good luck.

 

[elfiii]

This is a good time to remind everybody if you're headed to the woods spray down everything with Permethrin, especially your shoes and socks.

 

[Geffellz18]

Hate to hear that-Hope all else is well however.
I fear for the fisheries in NWGA/NEAL now with this news!

 

[dwhee87]

I'll echo everyone else's sentiment, including that Alpha Gal is the tick-borne illness I fear the most. Good thing you cook up some awesome seafood.

 

[ninjaneer]

I've had it many years now. There are some good information resources on Facebook groups, Alpa Gal Information Evidence Based Support and others.

I had initial improvement after having SAAT accupunture procedure, but not cured. Still had GI issues. Then after being bitten 2 more times reverted back as before. My main symptom is throat closing up and asthma like symptoms.

Unisom sleep melts are good when having a reaction. I keep some on me always. Same ingredient as benedryl, but without fillers which can aggravate alpha gal.

I've gotten used to eating no mammal meat at this point.

You can have reaction just being around mammal meat cooking,(pork included), fumes.

Biggest concern is medicines and making sure your doctors & pharmacists are aware and familiar with all the potential mammal components in medicines if seriously ill, hospital stays etc. It's unnerving when you realise how many medical folk never heard if it.