At 02:32 PM 9/29/98 -0400, Mark Feblowitz wrote:

>If it's worse this time of year, you may well be allergic to ragweed
>(depending on where you live). In the NorthEast US it's in full force right
>now, starting to drop of fin the next couple of weeks.

Thanks, Mark - I've been looking at photos and distribution maps for ragweed
and I don't think we have it here (Spanish north coast. But we do have
another plant I am allergic to, Plantago, which is very high right now.
I supposse that, as you say, everything adds to make your life a little
more complicated :-(

>I've never thought of food being contaminated with mites. Are you sure
>you've got this right?

yes, amazing, isn't it. I tried to figure this out for years. All I knew is
that I felt awful after eating some biscuits, some breads, but only sometimes.
Then suddenly it got much worse and I really had to trace it down, so I realised
that it was mostly if the biscuits, etc. had been left open or the bread was
standing for a while. Normally I am fine if I travel to a drier climate, and
there I can eat bread and other flours without any problem. As it's very humid
where I live now I have resorted to not eating any flours at all, but sometimes
I have problems at restaurants with things like sauces or cooked potatoes which
may have been standing uncovered for some time. I've found some articles about
it in case anyone is interested:

http://www1.mosby.com/Mosby/Periodicals/Medical/JACI/ai990307.html
http://www1.mosby.com/Mosby/Periodicals/Medical/JACI/ai990604.html

>If you're having a lot of trouble right now, you may also have trouble with
>things that don't normally push you over your "threshold of tolerance".

I hope you are right, and that I am going to get back to shape sometime. It
has got really bad after my second pregnancy (the baby is now 9 months old).
I have even thought about moving but then I sense that I would come out
with a new allergy in the new climate. I have just started a homeopathic
treatment and it seems to be working somehow.

Thanks again!

Angela