A Fair Question

Anonymous asks, re: my post about PIO counteracting my Allegra...

Could you actually be allergic to the PIO?

I could be, sure. But it's unlikely. I'm not displaying symptoms in a way that would suggest that. First, my allergies are at their worst when I'm in my house. Around my cats. Coincidence? I think not! Second, if I had an allergy to the PIO, it is unlikely that it would come across with symptoms similar to seasonal and cat allergies.

More likely, I'd be reacting to the sesame oil. But, though I don't care for sesame a great deal, I've never had a reaction to sesame in anything. But if I were to have a reaction to the sesame, I'd probably have an on-site reaction at the injection-site first. It would be itchy, possibly red and swollen. If it were a terrribly bad reaction, I imagine I could even have a systemic, anaphylactic reaction. But - thank heavens, I am not allergic to sesame.

As for the progesterone ... according to the all-mighty pharmacist in my household, the progesterone in the PIO is derived from potatoes. Or yams or something. I don't know, I'd like to say I was hanging on his every word, but something about it's easier to derive from a plant substance than to weasel it out of a human being or whatever. So, unlikely that I'm having an allergic reaction to that either, unless there was some kind of impurity in it from the manufacturing process, but that's unlikely, and again - the symptoms I'm having are unlikely to be the result of this kind of allergy.

Now, there is some evidence of estrogen and progesterone allergies, but those are with naturally occurring estrogen and progesterone - and those "allergies" are linked with menstrual-cycle-related asthma and migraines. Neither of which I have (I do have migraines, but mine have no relationship to my menstrual cycle whatsoever).

Dr. Beer suggests that there is evidence of a progesterone allergy, stating: Some autoimmune women develop allergies to their own hormones, including progesterone. The antibody which they have produced can be detected by looking for progesterone antibodies in the blood or by doing a skin test that shows the allergy to progesterone. These antibodies further decrease the levels of progesterone in the blood. The cells responsible for this are the CD 19+5+ cells. By 10 weeks of pregnancy these cells are usually suppressed to normal numbers and the progesterone allergy is less of a problem.

But, again, there's no suggestion that this should, say, make me sneeze.

Truthfully, it could just all be coincidental. But I think there *might* be a relationship. When I was pregnant, my Allegra all-out stopped working and I was miserable for months until *boom* it started working again. And I know that "they" say when you're pregnant, allergies are often exacerbated. So I suspect that there is *some* correlation between the worsening of my allergy symptoms and the high levels of progesterone in my system right now. My guess is that the Allegra just isn't able to counterbalance it right now.

That's my theory anyway. And we all know my theory is worth exactly what you paid for it.