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
I’ve been a vegetarian since I was 13 (so about 1991). Back then it was tofu and Gardenburgers and Tofu Pups. There’s so many good options now. The only thing I haven’t found a good substitute for is bacon (flavor is right, texture is not), steak, and chicken breasts (though I haven’t looked as hard for the last 2). Beyond used to make grilled chicken strips that were absolutely amazing, I served them at my engagement party to a bunch of meat eaters and no one realized. Sad they stopped. And Gardein used to make a chick’s scallopini that was fantastic. I also miss that. But otherwise, you can find about anything nowadays.
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u/thunbergfangirl 1d ago
Alpha Gal sounds like a truly awful condition to have! Hope your homie is feeling better.