Lots of symptoms but no idea? soz long post:roll:

[Jonkiponk]

Hi, I'm a 34 yr old diabetic and have had various symptons for years. In my early 20s the joke was I was allergic to alcohol as I would have sneezing fits as soon as I had a drink, narrowed this down to wine and beer/lager being the worst. I got severe itching in the back of my throat and up into ears, worse in the mornings when I awake and have to snort to try and scratch it, at worst feels like I need to rip my head off. In my early 30s I started getting uncontrollable iching all over my body, no hives, it was like I had fleas. Doc then gave me anti-hist tablets which I have been on since and controls the last two symptons (not the alcohol though!) but if I miss a few days the symtpoms start again. I constantly have a runny nose, clear mucus, to the point where someone is always saying to me 'not another cold?' last year I had a bad reaction where all of my throat and sinusus swelled up, didn't go blue or anything but went to emrg doc's as it really scared me and while I was with him choked up a huge glob of mucus which cleared it and he said it was a seasonal reaction thing but why that day and not any other? I had only walked the same road to shop, eaten a cake and had a cup of tea when happened. Thought could be sugar but dietician said no, Doc's not really interested in resolving but I'm getting fed up with constant snot, sneezes and itches. The body itching is not to do with insulin as I have been on two diff types and it's not that thing where you do it psycologically cause it's only when it starts getting uncontraollable again that I remember I've missed tablets. Hoping your not going to say lactose but recently started drinking cappucinos and omg the diarrohea! Help do I have an allergy or is my body just rubbish!?

[Dr Stephen Till]

This is a complex history and not an issue that can be adequately assessed and diagnosed by forum. However, itching occurring on regular basis for such a long time is extremely unlikely to be due to allergy. There are medical causes of itching which a doctor may want to rule out with blood tests. Responsiveness to antihistamines suggests that the problem is associated with histamine release from immune cells in the skin (called mast cells). Some people seem to do this spontaneously for no identifable reason but sometimes alcohol can make this worse. In most cases people also develop hives (urticaria) although this is not always the case. For some people long term antihistamines are the best solution.
Regarding your nasal symptoms, I also doubt if this is food allergy related, although allergy to things in the air (e.g. dust, pollens) could play a role. It is worth having this assessed as there are good treatments for nasal allergies.