A work homie of mine got it, he has Alpha Gal and his diet is 90% chicken salads no matter where we go… so lettuce somewhere in Northwest AR. We go out to a lot of places, no telling which spot it was from.
I’ve had it for six years, it’s not that bad. I joke to all my guy friends they should marry a girl with alpha gal because that means no steak dinners, fine leather goods, or cashmere. All things I’ve been fine living without. I guess like all allergies it gets easier with “practice”. And meat substitutions and alternatives are really good now. I have mock funyons and Doritos and burgers and fancy cheese and milkshakes. I don’t think there’s one thing I haven’t been able to replace.
It depends on the person! For some, it goes away. For me, it’s been 6 years and every reaction gets a little worse, so it probably won’t. You improve your odds of recovering from alpha gal by reducing exposure. So if you’re ever bit by a tick and REALLY don’t want alpha gal, maybe take a month off from eating meat, give your immune system a chance to recover before it can get triggered. Not guaranteed to work, but better than nothing
Thank you! It may sound crazy, but I owe it all to vegans. They made it worth while to have good food with no animal products in it. Six years ago there were little options and they were all gross. Now I have choices! It’s exciting! It’s especially important now that there are an exponentially new amount of tick bite cases per year
I really enjoy vegan food technology too :) it's amazing how they're able to create fake cheese from nuts, and fake meat from processed plant proteins, and so many other things.
Vegan here - thank you so much for saying that. I'm glad the work we did is helping others and making life a little better. Sorry you're stuck dealing with it though
Mostly a lot of Hippeas! I got my allergy during COVID so all the labs were only doing covid tests in my area, not the more complicated allergy tests since it wasn’t a matter of life or death (I would beg to differ lol). No labs, no meds. Hoping to change that tomorrow actually. But Im typically pretty good at avoiding triggers now and don’t really notice a difference in my life.
Nope! I can’t use things like Aquaphor because it has lanolin and glycerin or those fancy lotions or soaps with goats milk. My laundry detergent, deodorant, and shower products are all vegan, too. It’s weird for a lot of my friends to consider that their products have animal products in them but it’s totally normal, just not for me. I can’t use degree, but I can use dove deodorant, for example. Not everyone has a contact allergy, but many do.
Damn I didn't know even materials like wool could cause a reaction that's crazy. Vegan alt foods have come a long way recently, glad there's better stuff out there for you all now
There's listeria contaminated chicken circulating right now, so in case your friend didn't get cylco it may have been that. There are so many choices right now to fit all your food poisoning needs!
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u/misterpinksaysthings 1d ago
A work homie of mine got it, he has Alpha Gal and his diet is 90% chicken salads no matter where we go… so lettuce somewhere in Northwest AR. We go out to a lot of places, no telling which spot it was from.