I spent most of my adult life as a Paramedic for an EMS agency. About 20 years ago I started developing these little fluid filled blisters on my hands when wearing latex gloves, they itched something awful and hurt when they broke open. Later, I started developing a rash when wearing gloves. I finally went to my manager and told them I thought I had an allergy to latex. He ordered me my own special nitrile gloves. That took care of the problems on my hands but not the whole problem though. Everyone else still wore latex gloves and I started developing runny eyes, itchy nose and difficulty breathing, rash, and a cough while at work.
Then I started developing food allergies from the cross reactive latex foods. I tested positive to most of those foods now. I already had some other food allergies so it just makes eating a whole lot of fun,
I no longer work in EMS which helps with some of the reactions but they still pop up and are not fun. I recently learned not to go into party supply stores, bad place for latex I guess.
Living with latex and food and environmental allergies has been interesting but adds a layer of complexity to daily life.
Scott
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