Hi, I’m Lori!

I’m a wife, mother, teacher, and hobby farmer.

My journey with Alpha-Gal Syndrome started back in 2005, when I found a strange tick bite. It left a huge read welt for weeks. At first I dismissed it as as an anomaly.

Not long afterwards, weird changes started happening. Strange stomach cramps, brain fog, an inability to lose weight, unexplained itching on my abdomen, strange aches and pains…the symptoms just kept getting worse.

I still didn’t think there was anything seriously wrong. I’ve always had allergies, both of food and inhalants. I just chalked up all my new symptoms to yet another allergy. (Turns out I was right, but not in the way I expected!)

I started eating healthier and adjusted to the chronic aches. But it was pretty miserable! I was mad about not being able to lose weight. I just felt out of it all of the time.

In 2011, I went to an integrative doctor.

She helped me figure out that I had extremely low vitamin D, low iron and hypothyroidism. (Is this starting to sound familiar???) She began to treat me for these issues, but the vitamin D and low iron were stubborn. She started me on vitamin D injections made from Lanolin. I had no problems with these, and the injections did help bring my levels up closer to normal. 

Going to an integrative doctor helped, but it still didn’t solve my problem.

The allergic reactions really started to scare me.

I tried to keep living my life, but the allergic reactions — though few — started to get worse and worse.

I recall some really crummy reaction late one night. I started itching on the inside and feeling restless and flushed. I took a huge dose of Benadryl and prayed I’d feel better soon. I went to bed and was much better by morning.  

Another year passed, I had a second strange reaction with itching, burning, restlessness, flushing and a few hives. This was worse than the first systemic reaction. I was thinking, What on earth am I allergic to now?  Argh!  Oh well, I can live with this crazy reaction just once a year!

Or so I thought.

Third time's the charm, or so they say. That’s what did it for me. In the summer of 2017, I had the third and worst reaction of all. When my tongue and lips began to swell, I woke my husband, and off to the ER we went!

Most of us have had this lovely experience. The staff pumps you full of Benadryl and steroids. They send you home and tell you to go see your allergy doctor.

I finally did go to the doctor, but it took a few MONTHS.  Who has time for the doctor, right? It took forever, but I finally made the appointment, did the food journal, and did the basic blood draw for dairy, eggs, and all the normal allergies. They told me I was allergic to dairy and asked to run one more test. 

A few days later I got my diagnosis and the now famous words, “Just stop eating red meat.”

A lot of good that did me. I called back and asked for a nutritionist. They thought I was crazy. Why would you need a nutritionist? Just stop eating red meat.

But I was already allergic to corn, gluten, and dairy.  Now I had to learn to avoid red meat.  

On my own, I started to call nutritionists. Of the three I called, no one had heard of Alpha-Gal. 

That began my journey to better health. I googled “Alpha-Gal,'' which led to several scientific websites, but nothing really helpful.

So I started looking for Alpha-Gal on Facebook. It probably saved my life, or at least my sanity. I found two or three groups, joined them, and started learning what all the doctors did not know. 

I learned that Alpha Gal is exponentially more than a red meat allergy. It is a mammal allergy.

I was going to have to change EVERYTHING in order to feel better. 

Over several months, I slowly eliminated all mammal products  from my life. The purge of mammal products took lots of digging on my own, with lots of help from the AG Facebook pages. I pinned vegan’s and pescatarians. I changed my diet and threw away skincare products. I was tired of feeling miserable!

Within a few months, I felt a huge change.

I had no idea how much inflammation I had been living with.

The changes were so radical that, for the first time in years, I felt healthy again. I realized that I could still live a happy and joyful life despite my Alpha-Gal diagnosis.

Alpha Gal is no fun, but you don’t have to go through it alone! Let’s do it together. One day at a time. One choice at a time. Let’s encourage each other and share discoveries and strategies. Let’s live life to its fullest and spread joy, laughter, and peace as we go.