Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Is Your Doctor Allergic to Allergies?

The eight-year-old boy sat on the table in my office with a miserable look on his face.

"He has trouble breathing," his mother said. "He can't run around for more than a minute without stopping to catch his breath." One glance at her face, and I recognized the helpless look of a parent very worried about her child.

"How does it feel when that happens?" I asked the boy.

His shoulders sagged and he shook his head.

"I just can't breathe," he said. "It feels like I'm trying to suck air through a teeny straw and I can't get enough."

I nodded.

"I know exactly how that feels." And I do know. Because I felt the same thing when I was his age.

When I was eight years old, my parents sent me off to summer camp — a bona fide Heaven on Earth for any normal eight-year-old boy.

But I was not normal; I had asthma.

Running for more than a minute left me short of breath. People could hear me wheeze like a steam engine when I walked by. So often, while other kids ran and played, I stood and watched. While other campers were swapping stories at bedtime, I was in the infirmary with my inhaler as my only friend. What should have been the makings of a happy childhood memory was just one more reminder of my medical condition.

It was terrible, infuriating, embarrassing, and unfair. It was asthma. And of course, it wasn't just at camp. Home and school presented similar problems.

No pets.

No stuffed animals.

No sleepovers.

In short, many of the things a regular kid did were off limits to me. My parents trekked from doctor to doctor in search of some miracle treatment for my condition. I became defined not by my hopes or dreams, but by my asthma.

Then I met Dr. Bernie Berman.

Bernie Berman was a different kind of doctor. Crusty, often irreverent, and sometimes guilty of ignoring his own advice, he understood the nature of asthma, and knew something could be done about it.

Rather than treat the symptoms of asthma, just looking for a way to keep my air passages open, he searched for a way to treat the underlying cause of inflammation.

And it worked.

Dr. Berman worked with my parents and me to address triggers of my asthma, such as staying over at a house with pets, indoor swimming, and ice-skating. He found the medication that addressed the symptoms.

In time, I was a much more normal kid, doing the things any kid should have a right to do.

But my asthma story didn't end there. In truth, dealing with asthma has defined much of who I am, and I've made it my life's work to help others deal with it. Bernie Berman gave me hope, and made me want to become a doctor who would help kids and adults like me.

That's why I've written this book.

Dr. Berman was ahead of his time in his approach to helping people with allergies. I was lucky to have met him, and lucky to have discovered that developing an allergy did not mean I had to live with that allergy.

Many others have had no such luck. In fact, most people believe that being allergic is something akin to a lifestyle, and as a result, their lives tend to revolve around finding numerous ways to deal with the uncomfortable and awful symptoms of allergies.

My story as a young boy took place years ago, and yet many people today are still living that nightmare, and not just when it comes to asthma.

As a medical student, I was shocked to discover that allergies are not necessarily considered a serious issue among those in the medical profession. In fact, some of my colleagues at medical school, and within the medical community, outright admitted that they do not believe in allergies as a contributing factor to ailments such as asthma.

Patients with ailments such as asthma were considered the "easy admission" during my training. Load them with medications, discharge them, and call it a day.

This helped with the symptoms, but these patients were nonetheless miserable.

Why?

Because instead of addressing the root cause, these doctors were simply treating the symptoms.

Have you ever weeded a garden? Even if you don't have a green thumb, you probably know what happens when you pull the stem of a weed, but leave the root. The weed will keep coming back, again and again, often growing stronger as time goes on.

The same is true of allergies.

It's a simple enough concept, and yet allergies are totally misunderstood. And it's been this way for decades — centuries, even!

It's as if these doctors are allergic to allergies!

Maybe part of the problem is that, for those who don't suffer from allergies, the issue is non-life-threatening, and therefore, not as big of a deal. But for those who do have allergies, it is a big deal. In fact, it's a huge deal!

Allergies are not just a temporary discomfort. On the contrary, allergies lead to even greater consequences, such as sinusitis, worsening asthma, eczema — all kinds of gruesome things. It is critical to figure out what is going on and nip the problem in the bud.

On the other hand, even if your doctor is looking for allergies, allergies might not actually be the culprit. For instance, sometimes the irritant could be a shirt you're wearing, something you're eating, or something — like poison oak or poison ivy, or even mold on leaves — that you or the dog walk into while taking her for a spin around the neighborhood.

The point is, doctors are missing the point.

Many of my patients come to me after seeing a doctor for the same ailment again and again, without any relief. They're bleary-eyed and beaten down and they just want to feel better, and the Zyrtec® isn't working.

It's time to stop the symptoms, and that can only be done one way: by defeating the cause. That's right; it's time to stop allergies, once and for all. Sound impossible? Then read on.

This book is for anyone who has ever been frustrated, overwhelmed, confused, and bored by the information available on asthma and allergies. In these pages, I'm going to talk about allergies — what they are, why they are, when they are, and how to deal with them. That means itches, bumps, coughs, sneezes, peanuts, and bees.

THIS BOOK IS NOT AN ENCYCLOPEDIA. You won't be bogged down with medical jargon here. My hope is that this book will help you move toward getting the whole picture: understanding how allergies, asthma, lifestyle choices, and environment are all related, and how caring for your allergies during one month affects your health all year round.

Of course, you could go on raiding the allergy aisle at the drugstore for the rest of your life. If you are like most allergy sufferers, you have probably tried every remedy and have all but given up on discovering a cure.

But what if you found out you wouldn't feel tired and groggy every day if you simply changed your laundry detergent? Or what if you could one day tolerate peanuts, even if right now, the thought of them alone is enough to make your mouth swell? What if there was a way to help prevent allergies in your children?

It's all possible. You can "Live Claritin Clear®," but without the Claritin®. In fact, without taking any drugs at all.

You don't have to be miserable like the allergy-medicine commercials say you do. Allergies are not what you think they are. You don't have to accept allergies; you don't have to mask allergies, because there are ways to make you not allergic anymore. This book will help you discover how to do so. Armed with the information in this book, you can confidently take steps toward living a healthier, more normal life.

Even if it includes going to summer camp.

So What Are Allergies, Anyway?

Your immune system is a lot like your own personal-security network. When some awful bacteria or virus passes through, your immune system sounds off, much like the alarm of a metal detector at the airport. If metal detectors ran airport security, the entire airport would shut down every time someone forgot to take keys out of his or her pocket. Unable to differentiate between a gun and an oversized belt buckle, the machine would send the security system into overdrive for no good reason on a regular basis.

The same is true of an immune system that cannot differentiate between pollen and the common cold, lactose and poison, or dust mites and a super virus. These foreign particles enter the body; get to the checkpoint; try to pass through; and all of a sudden, the SWAT team, bomb squad, and Navy SEALS flood the system in the form of swelling, itching, watery eyes, runny nose, and more.

So here it is: Pollen isn't the problem. Lactose isn't the problem. Dust mites, mold, peanuts, shellfish, or any other allergen isn't the problem.

The problem is that your body can't tell whether these particles are carrying a loaded gun or a set of car keys, so as soon as they pass through the "detectors," your immune system shuts down the gates and calls for backup.

Let's get a bit more technical now. Allergies occur when our immune system misidentifies a benign, harmless external substance as a threat to health.

On a microscopic level, when an allergic reaction occurs, tiny cells flow throughout the bloodstream, lining the gut, eyes, skin, airways, and nasal passages, moving like magnets toward these irritating invaders. And once they collide, these special cells and the malevolent allergens, they release substances that make us extremely uncomfortable.

Sensitivity to allergens can be inherited (yes, allergies are genetic), and the worst part is that with each exposure, you may become more sensitive — and the reactions, even more unbearable.

Some allergies present symptoms immediately — like a bee sting or a peanut allergy; others, such as mold allergies, can remain dormant for days or even weeks before presenting symptoms.

No matter the case, the root cause of allergies is your immune system's inability to differentiate between the "good guys" and the "bad guys." Isn't that infuriating? Most infuriating for my patients is that there's no quick fix for their allergy. After trekking from one office to another, sometimes for weeks or months on end, all they want is a little relief. Finally, they find my practice, AAPRI, to get that relief.

Allergies are chronic. Similar to blood pressure, allergy treatment is about management rather than eradication and understanding what makes them worse and what makes them better (e.g., change of season, temperature, exercise, location, too many milkshakes, etc.).

So How Do You Get an Allergy?

What exactly causes our immune systems to misidentify what, to others, are harmless substances?

The short answer: not having eaten enough dirt as a child.

If you have spent any time with a baby, you know their favorite pastime (at least when they're awake) is putting things in their mouth. Fingers, toes, blankets, toys, and just about anything else they can get their hands on will go straight into their mouth.

But what happens when we see a cute toddler gnawing on a filthy running sneaker? We snatch it away and say, "No! This is not food!"

Aside from being gross, a baby's instinct to put things in their mouth is actually an important part of developing a healthy immune system.

Underneath our tongue lie receptors that quickly absorb foreign material into the body. This makes our mouth an excellent training ground for the immune system, where new substances can be recognized and assessed immediately.

The first three-to-six months of a child's life are crucial in learning how to tolerate substances that could become allergens later in life.

This is phrased best in terms of personality: if a child is exposed to many different kinds of bacteria and organic matter in the first six months of life, he or she will develop a more tolerant personality, less prone to allergies.

Those kept in a sterile environment during the same time period are more likely to develop an allergic personality where even a photograph of flowers makes them sneeze.

I'm not saying that your infant should be chewing on gym shoes, but a little dirt certainly wouldn't harm him or her; in fact, it could very well help strengthen his or her resistance to allergies.

I don't want to make it sound like it's all "nurture." "Nature" and genetic makeup play a role too. Some folks are, in fact, predisposed to allergies, meaning, they'll be allergic no matter how much dirt they eat. Nevertheless, I'm convinced that we're not doing ourselves any favors staying inside our "Lysol®-Febreze®" palaces.

Now let's talk about Bobby. We'll say he has no genetic predispositions, mutations, or superpowers, and that he was fairly well exposed to the flowers and trees as an infant. At thirteen months, Bobby started to get red, itchy, dry skin in the creases of his elbows, behind his knees, and around his neck.

Bobby is allergic to something. But what?

At some point after six months, Bobby was exposed to some allergen — most likely through his skin. It could have been a kiss on the cheek, rolling around on the floor, sitting on a sofa with cat dander — really anything. The point is that somewhere, somehow, Bobby was exposed to some external substance that his body had not yet learned to tolerate.

As it turned out, cat dander was the culprit. The first time he was exposed, his immune system identified the substance and labeled it as an enemy. It posted "WANTED" signs all over and raised awareness about an intruder. The next time Bobby got cat dander on his skin, his immune system was ready for it, and launched an attack, resulting in the red, dry, itchy skin. For Bobby, it was time for an intervention — and fast.

Studies are coming out daily showing that early exposure to nuts and bacterial products such as those found on a farm, or in an animal's fur, actually turn on tolerance to particles that would otherwise cause an allergic reaction. However, our "clean society" mentality limits exposure, and so allergic responses take over later in life.

If you are an allergy sufferer, then this news might make you feel hopeless. You're obviously not an infant if you're reading this book, so eating dirt now wouldn't do you any good, right? Right.

Never fear; there are new ways to teach your body to become tolerant to even the most irritating culprits for allergic reactions — and we'll get to that later in this book.

Now that we've talked about what allergies are, it's time to talk about what allergies aren't. (Spoiler alert: it's not always so black-and-white.) Read on to discover what to do when you're in the confusing position of feeling allergic, but you don't have allergies.

If I Don't Have Allergies, What Else Could It Be?

Unless you are in my office where I can do a skin or blood test and I can see the reaction, I have no real way of telling you what you're allergic to, or if you're even allergic at all.

What I can do is tell you that patterns of recurring symptoms over periods of time with similar triggers are usually a good indicator that you might be allergic — but again, the only way to be sure is to get a test.

It's a confusing world we live in, filled with possibilities. While this is good news when you're looking for something to watch on TV, it can make for an all-out nightmare when it comes to figuring out what's making you feel crummy.

I've met with enough patients to know that few people really understand allergies. "Allergies" has become this blanket term for every cough, sneeze, or itch that someone might be unfortunate enough to experience. And so when she coughs, sneezes, or itches, she visits the allergy section at the drugstore, picks up some antihistamine, and considers the case closed.

Weeks later, she winds up in my office.

The reason it's important to understand what ails you is, because unless you determine the right treatment, you will continue having symptoms — ad infinitum. Can you imagine sneezing for the rest of your life? I know it sounds ridiculous, but literally millions of people live with symptoms of allergies without ever truly addressing them.

Why? Because getting to the root cause of symptoms isn't so easy.

George came to me suffering from nasal congestion, sneezing, and itching, and he was positive he had an allergy to cats. It all started when he began dating his new girlfriend, who owned two feline friends, and he was certain they were the culprits.

When I saw him, it had been two months since he had started the medications recommended by his doctor: a decongestant, an antihistamine, and a leukotriene modifier — a medication aimed at reducing inflammation for certain allergies. The problem was that none of the meds were helping, aside from the decongestant, which provided temporary relief.

Finally, he realized what he should have done in the first place: go directly to an allergist. He found my practice after hearing about our diligent methods of determining the cause of tricky and uncomfortable symptoms.

He came to my office hoping I'd have a different medication that would do the trick, and was displeased when I told him we'd have to do an evaluation before I could prescribe anything. He was even more put off when the results came back negative for sensitivity to cats, along with every other allergen for which we tested.

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Excerpted from "Allergy-Free With Dr. Z"
by .
Copyright © 2017 John F. Zwetchkenbaum, MD.
Excerpted by permission of Morgan James Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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