Overcoming cat allergies... NEED HELP

Secret Habit

Secret Habit

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Hey guys

I never knew I was "allergic" to cats until a time when I was in a stressful season, loaded with TMS symptoms and staying with a friend with 3 cats. I had runny nose, sneezing, red eyes, everything

I noticed it again (Also a stressed time with tms isssues) when my sister got a cat and going to her house my eyes became red and itchy and nose was runny.

It seemed as if the main issue was the loose hair.

Since then, I have not been around cats much but had a 6 week stay at a friend with 1 cat. The cat did shed a lot and I noticed I would have rashed, and the same issues with my eyes and nose when I went on the couch, touched the cat then my eyes or skin, etc... Yes, this was a stressful time but I am now aware of tms and have been able to handle it so the underlying issues arent as deep as once before.

Now my wife got a cat and we are doing a test run to see if I can overcome this by treating it like TMS. I have been experiencing runny nose, and sneezing when on the couch and sitting with the cat/petting it, and red eyes the other night due to itchiness. Iv also had some scratchy throat issues here and there - Its been a few days now

My Wife believes that allergies can be TMS, but we aren't sure if they CAN BE, or if THEY ARE - I want to keep this cat but as of right now, not sure if I can because of these on going issues...

So, is this TMS? What can I do about it?

I feel a bit at a standstill and am just trying to push through but it sucks to go through without knowing if its going to get better
 
Have you been allergy tested? You need to see an allergist. Allergies to animal dander is not psychosomatic and is not TMS. There's nothing to "push through". You are obviously allergic to cats and you simply can't have one. Do you think peanut allergy or bee sting allergy is TMS? People die every year from allergic reactions. My son for ex. has severe allergies to dogs. His IGE levels are off the charts and he gets asthma.
 
Dr. Sarno describes overcoming his allergic reaction to a cat in Healing Back Pain and a patient who overcame hay fever. He does mention that it's a controversial idea though. Obviously, if the reaction is strong enough to be dangerous, you don't want to mess around, but itchy eyes is probably something you can work on especially if you've never had reactions before. If the immune system is overactive for no other reason, it could be from some sort of emotional stress, although maybe not as deep as what you've dealt with before. Are you by chance repressing that you really just don't want a cat? :)
 
Allergies can be tested in the blood and there are prick tests. It has to do with histamines. I suppose someone could auto convince themselves they have an allergy or that they are pregnant but that is not reality. There are also people who have paranoias about chemical sensitivities etc and that can be psychological but there are definitive tests for allergies to cats and etc. As I said, people die from allergic reactions and asthma and bee stings every year. 99 percent of the time it is NOT psychogenic. Both my kids even had allergies as infants. It's very common and very real. True Allergies are not the same category as chronic pain. As much as I revere Dr. Sarno, he was not an allergist or trained in allergy and immunology. It's a theory that may apply sometimes but it's really a stretch. The vast amount of cases of allergies are not emotional in origin.
 
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I suppose this hinges on whether there is a difference between "sensitivities" and real allergies. What makes it seem like it could be treated as TMS in Secret Habit's case is that he wasn't allergic to cats before. Not conclusive, but seems suspect. I do believe in allergies, but your numbers on the unlikelihood of a possible psychosomatic origin to some allergies seem like you might be making them up? :) But again, in "Secret's" case -- since they aren't life-threatening -- does it hurt to try? Good luck, man. There's nothing to lose, except hopefully a "cat allergy"! No less than our revered Dr. did it himself.
 
Yes I wasn't quoting exact statistics and to be honest it would be impossible to get accurate statistics. My point was, why not just get tested for allergies to rule it out?? Wouldn't that make more sense than "trying"? My husband lived with a cat and suffered from asthma for 8 years. He thought he was dying from his days of smoking. As it turned out, it was the cat! Kind of obvious no? The vast majority of people with food and pollen allergies have real reactions and have been tested. If I eat tree nuts or apples my throat starts to close up and no I'm not repressing my insatiable desire for apples. Sometimes an allergy is just an allergy. You CAN take TMS too far you know.
 
Allergies come and go. Allergies are usually TMS. This is my experience and belief.

I recovered from severe foot pain, later noticed my cat allergy of many decades was gone. Breathing issues, itchy skin, eye irritation, distress were symptoms in the past. I noticed once that I had eye irritation and thought "I need to treat this as TMS and not wash them out, not worry." Last time I've had any issues. Now rolling with face in cat fur rugs, no problem. This is my experience. Not the same as living with cats every day, just occasional heavy exposure.

Also will say Secret Habit that the fact your wife got a cat to "experiment" on your sensitivity seems interesting, if I grock this correctly. So, in your TMS work with cat allergy, it is important to know if you're under pressure to get better (or self-pressure), or if there might be resentment about this experiment. These or other relational elements embedded in you process will likely effect the results!
 
miffybunny said:
Have you been allergy tested? You need to see an allergist. Allergies to animal dander is not psychosomatic and is not TMS. There's nothing to "push through". You are obviously allergic to cats and you simply can't have one. Do you think peanut allergy or bee sting allergy is TMS? People die every year from allergic reactions. My son for ex. has severe allergies to dogs. His IGE levels are off the charts and he gets asthma.
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he has TmS
 
The brain can cause an allergic reaction in some cases, and the brain plays a role in everything (including lowering the immune system), but allergies are not all tms. Both my kids are severely allergic to dogs and cats and both have asthma. My younger son is autistic and almost diesdfrom an allergic reaction when he was 5, so allergies are not something I would mess around with. My father was an allergist and ran bee sting clinics for example. When I was in high school, I went to a party and we didn't know the girl had a cat. My girlfriend ended up in the E.R. that night form asthma. I think it's a grey area but I lean farther in the direction of treating allergies and asthma medically as opposed to psychologically.
 
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