Comments on: PMC 98: Retta and Meredith Salenger

By: Frank

Frank — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 02:42:27 +0000

My very first solid food as a baby was Cream of Wheat. But it turns out I was/am allergic to wheat. Surprise!!! And off to the hospital I went. What fun for my parents. Sigh.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 07:45:07 +0000

I developed an allergy to sulfa drugs in college. It started off slowly. I thought just I had a sore throat, so I went to the doctors. He told me not to worry about it but whatever I do don’t stop taking the sulfa drug. So I continued to go to classes as I slowly lost the ability to breathe. One of my teachers told me he was disappointed that I wasn’t speaking up more in class. I finally went to the hospital when I couldn’t breathe if I was lied down on my back.

By: Kate

Kate — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 10:41:11 +0000

Hey guys! Love the show. The term ‘meme’ originates from the wonderful genius scientist Richard Dawkins, who uses it to describe NON-genetic traits that move through the population.

By: Joshanna

Joshanna — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 21:27:52 +0000

1st allergic reaction:

I developed an asthmatic reaction to a mold that was growing in my 4th grade classroom. 2 of my best friends had similar reactions and one of them even had to be transferred to a different class. I had never had any sort of asthma symptoms before that and the asthma has stuck with me since then :/ Now I’m a cool kid with a cool kid inhaler.

By: Rachel Frumkin

Rachel Frumkin — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 20:34:06 +0000

I have quite possibly one of the worst allergies. I found out about a year ago after a night of having drinks with friends that I am allergic to alcohol. I found this out because I had a single beer and awoke the next morning with swollen lips( Angelina Jolie style) and hives all over my face and ears. I am 27 and the bar scene is prevalent in my social life so being allergic to booze sucks. It could be worse yes but a bummer non the less. This happens with any kind of booze and along with the swollen lips and hives I also get violently ill like hang over symptoms times 1000.

By: Brett

Brett — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 20:28:51 +0000

I found out I was severely allergic to penicillin when I was in kindergarten. I broke out in hives all over, and on top of that, my eyes were swollen shut! Scary! To this day, I’m missing a small row of eyelashes where my eyes puffed up, and apparently, eyelash hair loss ensued.

By: Ed

Ed — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 04:41:50 +0000

I’ve had eczema since childhood, so (skin) allergies have been a dime a dozen for me. My first serious allergic reaction, though, happened when I was about six: I was with my father, going grocery shopping, and he bought a bag of Laura Schudder’s ridged potato chips, sour cream and chive flavor. I just ripped into it and started pigging out on those chips. About five minutes later, my arms and the inside of my thighs (!) began to break out into pink half-dollar sized welt-like hives! My skin was itching like crazy – and no amount of scratching could make it any better. The hives went down a few hours later, but I never craved LS chips ever again.

By: Jen Braun

Jen Braun — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 16:38:40 +0000

Mine was this week. I had to do a sleep study. When I woke up, every spot where they’d put electrodes was red and all puffed up. My coworkers the next day tried to call them hickies. 🙁

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 08:50:59 +0000

When I was 12 I was taking a very drug to help with acne and I had the one in bazillion allergic reaction that gave the symptoms of a brain tumor, including my left eyeball drifting. Several spinal taps later I was fine.

By: Jen

Jen — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 08:16:21 +0000

My first allergic reaction happened after I had a bender and drank a whole bottle of wine one night. The next morning I was covered in hives. Everywhere! They lasted for 3 days straight. I could not stop itching myself. Everywhere!

I found out I am allergic to sulfates, which is a preservative used in most wine making. Turns out I am more of a beer drinker now. I think for a very good reason.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 04:11:01 +0000

My first allergic reaction was also the dumbest thing I did as a child. I was walking in my parents’ garden one day along their stone retaining wall, and a bee landed in front of me. I stomped on the bee and then immediately reached down to pick it up with my thumb and forefinger. The stinger went right into my thumb (oh hay, bee stingers still work even when they’re dead), and my thumb swelled up to the size of the Washington Monument. It was the first and only allergic reaction I have had to date because I now avoid bees, wasps, hornets, etc. at all costs. Huzzah!

By: corinne

corinne — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 03:30:32 +0000

When I was a kid we were at some ag fair where they were shearing sheep and giving out clumps to all the kids around. My whole arm got freckles and itched for aaaages!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 03:18:36 +0000

The first allergic reaction I remember having was to penicillin – I broke out in a crazy rash all over and was SO itchy. It was pretty nasty.

Random aside, I’m also allergic to sulfa drugs (I got ridiculously sick after being given them while in the hospital once), so I totally knew what Cole was talking about when you guys had that discussion haha.

By: Allison

Allison — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 20:43:22 +0000

I had my eyebrows waxed once, not at my usual place and my face swelled up around my eyes. I couldn’t open them more than a slit, it looked like I got punched.

By: Chelsea

Chelsea — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:33:39 +0000

My first allergic reaction happened pretty recently. My brother bought some Biore pore strips and I put some on my nose and forehead. My skin had a bad reaction to something in them. My face was pretty red for a while.