Alpha-Gal - Dead and Back Again

I posted this in my blog and posting it here too in case there are others out there with this rare alpha-gal allergy...

This is a story of my recent medical discovery, death, and outlook on life and fitness.

I have been relatively successful with weight loss, losing a total of 50 pounds and running my first marathon a little over a year ago (October 2015). After the marathon, I let my health slip, not getting into a routine and working out so rarely that I gained back 25 pounds in 2016.

Still, being healthy is a life-long goal. So, when I attended a meeting at a gym on riding bicycles in the winter and bicycle law, I took advantage of the free day-pass to jump on the treadmill afterward. That was October 10, 2016. I remember that day well because that’s the day I died. Fortunately for me, the stars aligned and I’m still here.

On the treadmill, I pushed myself to a fast sprint and felt good running again. However, I couldn’t clear my throat and felt thirsty. Little did I know my airway was closing shut. In the locker room, I saw in the mirror that my face and body were red and swollen. I stumbled to the front desk, a little light-headed and my heart still racing, declaring that I was having a medical emergency and asking for Benadryl. The young man said they didn’t have Benadryl, but he would call 911 for me. I felt that was extreme but said OK since I was not catching my breath. The paramedics arrived quickly, within a minute. As soon as they arrived, I sat with my back against the sofa in the lobby and said, “I feel kind of dizzy,” but as the last word trailed off, I suffered a cardiac arrest. I remember being in a dream state, very vague and things moving slowly around me, like essences of light. Like the changing of a TV channel, my dream state was abruptly and gloriously interrupted with this female paramedic over me, clear as day, with the ceiling as a backdrop, saying, “Are you still with us?” The paramedic explained that she gave me epinephrine and performed CPR on me for thirty seconds. I quickly realized that she had just saved my life!

Doctor visits included a cardiologist and allergist. After 30 days of monitoring and tests, everything with my heart checked out fine. In fact, the cardiologist was impressed with my numbers and simply stated, “Avoid anaphylaxis.” The allergist at first diagnosed me with Exercise-Induced Anaphylaxis, yes…that’s a thing, but I’m not convinced I have it. Later, blood tests revealed elevated alpha-gal levels. What is that, you ask? Most people don’t know (I didn’t!), but if you get bitten by a lone-star tick, you can develop a food allergy to mammalian meat. It’s called galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose, or alpha-gal for short. I also found I’m allergic to mold (who isn’t?) which is something I suppose all gyms struggle with, especially 24-hour gyms with swimming pools, hot tubs, and saunas. So the final diagnosis from the allergist is exercise-induced anaphylaxis and/or alpha-gal allergy and/or allergy to mold or something else. I’m advised to take an antihistamine about an hour before running, or once per day. From now on, I will always carry an EpiPen in the running belt around my waist.

So now my diet is restricted, eating only chicken or turkey.

It was two weeks after the incident when I had my first 5k race. I was advised that I could only walk it, so I did. I have since run a couple of other 5k races. My time is much slower than I used to be, but I’m not concerned about that. People (my old self included) talk about paces, times, age-group awards, and PRs, but what I focus on now is my heart rate. I monitor my heart rate during the race and slow down when I need to so that it doesn’t go too high. In my opinion, the most important metric is just getting out there and moving in a way that is safe and healthy for your body. None of the rest of it matters. This is the new philosophy I’m embracing.

I have no fear of treadmills, or gyms, or winter bicycling lectures. My goal of being my best self is even more resolute. I am determined to lose the excess weight that I have previously gained, and be the healthiest and best version of myself that I can be.