How to Determine Which Allergy You Have

Allergies are prevalent in our society. The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology estimates that 54.6 percent of Americans have at least one allergy revealed through allergy testing. Determining which allergy you have can be as easy as taking a test. However, first you must be sure that it is an allergy causing your trouble. Then you can figure out which allergy it is.

Things You'll Need

• Journal

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Instructions

• 1

  Check for symptoms. Allergies present with symptoms like rashes, hives, sneezing, sinus swelling, coughing, itchy eyes and a runny nose. Food allergies also come with diarrhea, stomach cramps, and tongue and throat swelling. Severe symptoms include anaphylaxis (a life-threatening allergic reaction), unconsciousness and rapid decrease in blood pressure. Some patients experience tongue tingling and breathing difficulties.

• 2

  Keep a journal. Record your symptoms, when they happened, what you ate, where you were and what you were doing when those symptoms occurred. Allergies are triggered by foods, pets, detergents, pollens, molds, plants and even metals. When your symptoms occur, record your possible contact with any of these things. Record several instances when the symptoms occurred, over the course of a few days to a week, to better see a pattern.

• 3

  See your doctor. Give the doctor your journal and talk with him about your symptoms and possible allergies. The doctor will probably examine you to rule out an underlying condition. Your physician will then order an allergy test. Doctors perform tests on the skin and the blood by exposing them to allergens. The skin will show visible signs of reaction, and the blood will build antibodies to indicate a reaction. The allergens that elicit a reaction are what you are allergic to.

• 4

  Take a more extensive test for food allergies if the blood and skin tests are inconclusive. An elimination test involves taking certain foods out of your diet in order to determine the allergen. A provocation test involves giving you an extract of an allergen and observing the results. A doctor or allergist will closely supervise these tests. The extract that causes a reaction is your allergen.