how my eyes reacted to cats (i'm allergic) & kashi cereal

[cereallover]

hi all,

so i just wanted to inform and/or ask you all if you've experienced what i'm about to share with your dry eyes and allergies.

i just started volunteering at a humane society with cats. i have two at home and have known for about 7 years that i am really allergic to cats. my doctor told my that i'm prob pretty immune to my own since i've had them for so long. yet i'm on meds etc so i figured i'd be ok with volunteering. last time i was there, i was around A LOT of cats. pet many, many sat with me, etc. i'm sniffling and sneezling after about 45 mins in. and my eyes start to feel dry and weird when i'm there, but no itching! i go home and a few hours later i'm in the shower and my eyes start itching like CRAZY. so i rub the inner corner part (bad idea) and i realize about 10 mins later that one of my eyes is REALLLLLY red. i have never it seen it so bad. so nevertheless i don't think i'm going to be able to volunteer anymore it's weird because my eyes have never been itchy after being around cats before but i think the dryness that i feel when i'm there goes to show much allergies can really cause that dry sensation when you're near your allergens.

2- i love kashi cereal, but i cut it out of my diet for awhile since i started eating it about 6 months before all my problems and wanted to get soy out of my diet. got an allergy test awhile ago too, allergic to seasame seeds, oats, corn, the list goes on! haha but none were THAT severe, nothing to break out with. since there are many, i try to avoid them but it's hard. some i don't really even try. anyway, the last few times i went to the grocery store i've picked up their "heart to heart" cereal, which is really good. i notice usually while i eat it, my eyes kinda burn, basically htey just feel weird. i can't explain it. i don't know what's in it that's causing this, but it's got some of the things i mentioned above that i'm allergic to. i may take it to my allergist and have her test me on all the ingredients, i just feel bad because there is A LOT. but i think i may be getting to something.... i hope so at least. does this happen to anyone right after they eat a food? i thought usually these sorts of things were delayed by some amount of time but i may be wrong.

last thing..when both of these occured, esp the cat reaction, i always wonder which came first, the chicken or the egg style...are my allergies a causation my dry eye, or are my eyes affected by my allergies because of their sensitivity?

[NYer]

No, a food allergy reaction can come on very quickly. A partial list of the ingredients in Heart to Heart includes:

WHOLE OAT FLOUR, OAT BRAN, EVAPORATED CANE JUICE, YELLOW CORN MEAL, CORN FLOUR, WHOLE: OATS, LONG GRAIN BROWN RICE, RYE, HARD RED WINTER WHEAT, TRITICALE, BUCKWHEAT, BARLEY, SESAME SEEDS, OAT FIBER, WHEAT GERM

Well, oats, barley, and wheat contain gluten and you may have a sensitivity to that. Corn is another common allergen. And you already know you're allergic to sesame and there is plenty of that in there.

Try sticking to rice cereals. Rice crispies, puffed rice, Nutty Rice. You can find good ones in Health Food Stores. Erewhon makes a good brown Rice Crispies.

You may already have had dry eye from something else, but allergies absolutely exacerbate dry eye and itching is not a requirement for an ocular allergic reaction.

Too bad about the kitties, though.

[Meebo]

No, a food allergy reaction can come on very quickly. A partial list of the ingredients in Heart to Heart includes:

WHOLE OAT FLOUR, OAT BRAN, EVAPORATED CANE JUICE, YELLOW CORN MEAL, CORN FLOUR, WHOLE: OATS, LONG GRAIN BROWN RICE, RYE, HARD RED WINTER WHEAT, TRITICALE, BUCKWHEAT, BARLEY, SESAME SEEDS, OAT FIBER, WHEAT GERM

Well, oats, barley, and wheat contain gluten and you may have a sensitivity to that. Corn is another common allergen. And you already know you're allergic to sesame and there is plenty of that in there.

Try sticking to rice cereals. Rice crispies, puffed rice, Nutty Rice. You can find good ones in Health Food Stores. Erewhon makes a good brown Rice Crispies.

You may already have had dry eye from something else, but allergies absolutely exacerbate dry eye and itching is not a requirement for an ocular allergic reaction.

Too bad about the kitties, though.

I like your hypothesis on allergies as I have a feeling food allergie may play a role in ocular rosacea/MGD, etc.

Do you have any rosacea diets handy I can take a look at?