On my recent family holiday in the Lake District a funny thing happened. During a game of Taboo, someone had to describe the word ‘allergies’. If you've never played this game before, you have to describe a word without using a list of key words, so you can't say the actual word or other things e.g. YOU CANNOT SAY: ALLERGIES, ALLERGY, PEANUTS, ETC. They said, “Ruth has a … [Read more...]
Surviving Christmas with Topical Steroid Withdrawal
I love Christmas, and spending time with my amazing family, who are so supportive and understanding, but this TSW journey is so exhausting that stepping out the comfort zone of quiet living and self-care at home fills me with dread. Every time. And even afterwards, when I have had a lovely time, enjoyed myself and taken part in whatever event I've dragged myself to, it takes me … [Read more...]
Cruise holiday with food allergies
This year is proving to be a year of many holidays, this time, 14 days on a cruise of the Baltics with my brother and his lovely family. It was amazing to see seven countries (Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Russia and Estonia) and I loved spending time with Dave, Lily, Lily's mother and the kids. This holiday however, was not without its challenges. I've … [Read more...]
Camping holiday with allergies
I'm not quite sure how it happened but last November I woke up one morning to discover I had booked myself onto the Love Trails festival, which turned out to mean I would be camping alone, for a long weekend in the middle of nowhere in Wales. Eeek! I hadn't even been drinking! I just couldn't sleep and had got up to make a cup of tea and seen the advert on my Instagram … [Read more...]
7,800 allergy experts at EAACI 2014 – event review
If you read my recent blogs about travelling to Copenhagen you may have noticed that I was attending the European Academy for Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) congress as a journalist. It was almost like being famous, I got access to this lovely quiet air-conditioned room with desks, internet access, charging points, iced water and sofas for interviewing. I was a bit … [Read more...]