Sunday, October 01, 2006

Introducing Von

Von, better known as simply V, is a 38 year old long-time allergy sufferer, currently residing in Austin, Texas. Von has spent most of her life battling allergies.

At age 4, Von began taking daily antihistamines. But her allergies just kept getting worse, and by age 31, she was on 5 daily allergy medications to keep her breathing. Over the years, other problems arose (or got worse so they were noticeable). Symptoms such as uncontrollable weight gain, migraines, dizziness, fatigue, requiring up to 12 hours of sleep a night, large cyst/boils, acne, infections, IBS, etc.

After nearly 15 years of battling to get any kind of diagnosis for her various health problems, she discovered by chance her allergy to corn, 3 yrs ago. During a two week trip to Norway, 90% of her symptoms disappeared. When she returned to the U.S.A, all her symptoms returned and she began investigating. The only major difference she could find was corn in the diet. Fueled by this discovery, she spent a year battling doctors to get medically diagnosed. Seeking help from the medical community, but not receiving any, Von took it on herself to research and educate herself and her doctors, learning many things the hard way. Skin-prick test positive to corn. RAST test negative. ELISA (Immunolabs) test positive IgE to corn.

Von has spent the last 6 yrs delving into a completely corn-free life and her long battle with health problems has ceased. Topping the scales 6 yrs ago at 295lbs (at the time gaining 25lbs a year), Von has lost 50lbs and is continuing to lose. After over 25 yrs of constant antihistamine use, Von is now completely off all allergy medications as well and breathing just fine.

Though corn is Von's primary food allergy concern, she also tested IgE positive to Milk, Eggs, White Bean, Penicillin.

Von also has her own personal blog: World of V

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