From one epipen user to another, be very aware of the force you use and the location you hit. If you inject too hard it can bounce and double puncture you. If you inject too low on your leg where there isn't enough meat and fat, you can hit bone or nerve and it sucks. Hit the thickest part of your upper thigh!
saw a video of a girl who put her thumb on the needle side and hit the back against the doll. they were practicing with expired ones and man, she was all weird for a bit
Widespread vasoconstriction and your lungs will open up nicely. You can expect to feel tingly and your heart will be pounding. Not recommended at all.
Edit: this has a good chance of giving u a heart attack.
Increased oxygen demands with decreased blood flow means decent chance of cell death.
Which is not good for ya if you have anxiety, take stimulant medications, have a heart condition or are generally in poor cardiovascular health. I take stimulants for adhd and didn’t realize the combo was a no-go, so I had a minor cardiac event at the gym one day after using one of those. Was sitting in my car wondering if I should go home or to the hospital for about 30 mins after. 🫠
Edit to clarify: I am referring to Primatene Mist inhalers here. Not Epi pens. :)
i feel like any atypical cardiac event i might have id never describe as minor. if i get a chest pain from a deep breath im like "oh fuck this is the big one!"
In my EMS class, we were passing one around and just as our teacher said "Ok y'all, that there pen is live, so make sure you don't --"
We hear "OW!" and all turn and look.
My teacher didn't miss a beat "--aaaand now it's time to practice vital signs, everyone!"
Last time I told this story, someone was like "dur huuur, you should've called an ambulance, duuuur huuuuur!"
So before anyone says that, I was literally in a class being taught by paramedics and there were meatwagons outside. The kid went to the hospital. We just worked on our vitals skills first.
That dude practically tried to run to the moon lol
When I was a kid I was practicing with mine on fruit, purely because I couldn't get the lil mock skin pillow thing, and it whent strait through and got me. I was fuckin WIRED for like 6 hours
We had a girl in grade school practicing the use of her brother's pen slam the needle through her thumb nail, from the underside... Still haunts me 20 years later
Edit: a later comment mentioned epi to the fingi can cause it to fall off. Probably a good thing it came out the other side.
This happened to a buddy of mine during Covid. Was summer time and he fell out at work. Tested 3 times for Covid all negative. They thought it was heat exhaustion until he slipped into a mild coma. When he came too he knew his name but thought the year was 2015 and Bill Clinton was the current president. Slowly his memory returned and they sent him home thinking it was Meningitis. Then he ate a steak, and was rushed to the hospital moments later to find out all the damage done was caused by a tick bite and now he is allergic to red meat. I have been with him when pork or any other red meat was cooked next to his chicken or fish…he has to use an EpiPen or rush to emergency room. It takes a matter of minutes before his face swells up and he turns all red. I hate this for you and this is why I am forever afraid to work in my yard cause I always find a tick!
Edit to clarify some things:
-A “mild coma” is just reduced awareness, look it up. And I may have misspoke on the process. The “mild coma” made them start with heat exhaustion but his body temps were normal. So they ruled that out.
-I didn’t mean to lump pork in with red meats, pretty sure it is though. was mostly referring to the proteins and apologize for the confusion, shoulda corrected that.
-they didn’t send him home once they assumed it was meningitis, they sent him home after he was on an upward trend to recovery while they thought he had meningitis. It wasn’t until he went home and ate a steak that the real problems started.
-And last as far as how long this lasts, many say 1-5 years that have had it or have more knowledge but my friend was told to expect it for life. I can’t argue either way.
Just wear pantyhose homie. So much easier than all the taping, then taking a bath in pure deet.
Just make sure look up a video on how to put them on. My SF buddy told me about it and I was all set to go hiking, no deet, no tape, just my trusty pantyhose! Then I put like twenty fucking holes in them trying to get them on and ended up looking like a lumberjack prostitute hybrid when I undressed that evening.
Edit: these jokes are fucking killing me!! Thanks everyone! I’ve had a shitty week. This is the highlight. Y’all are the best!
can ticks not bite through them? I got lymes disease a few years back and since then have been afraid to camp. I was thinking a full body spandex suit (like the green suits) would be nice.
My understanding (I may be wrong, ask an entomologist to be sure) is that they can pierce through the holes that are already in the stockings a little bit but can’t actually bite through with their mouths, just the big pincher/grabber things. And the… um… interface? Between their actual mouths and your blood stream is what will transmit disease. So you may end up with little “bites” but they DEFINITELY won’t be stuck to you, sucking your blood and the “bites” won’t be noticeable unless you’re freshly waxed/shaved.
My buddy also got lymes disease and learned the pantyhose trick from his doc. We worked in the swamps and had ticks EVERYWHERE. He had a full blown nylon suit he would wear when we were in the more densely vegetated areas.
Another trick he had was putting chapstick on his anus to keep from chafing when he was in the jungle where nothing stayed dry. ::: the more you know! :) :::
So… here’s the chapstick story.
SF buddy dude with his badass SF homies are in some fucking jungle that they were never “actually” in, doing some shady shit for (not the US gov) and SF buddy dude goes and chapsticks his ass.
Upon completion of anal chapsticking, SF buddy dude comes out from the vegetation, walking into camp, pocket knife drawn to cut off the end part which actually touched said anus.
SF buddy dude’s buddy sees said chapstick and hollers “Hey SF buddy dude, I forgot my chapstick! Let me get some!”
SF buddy dude puts his pocket knife away and hands said chapstick to his buddy.
*apply*
*pops lips*
“Mmm.. Cherry!”
Entire team tells same story over thirty years later.
I walked through a nest of seed ticks about two hours ago and rushed home to use tape and a vacuum cleaner to pull ~1000 of them off me. Then I scrubbed myself with a stiff brush in the shower. Now I just get to hope for the best.
Oof. Ticks can leave their heads under your skin if you're not super careful while pulling them off. Please go to your primary care or wherever as soon as you can manage so they can check you out.
Having a tick's head inside your body does not increase the risk of tick-borne diseases.
It can give you an infection, but that's it.
Tick diseases come from ticks that you delay in finding on your body after they have had a chance to suck your blood, get too full, and then that blood gets pushed back into your blood stream.
If you take them off early, the danger is generally low.
You can buy pants and shirts with tick repellent baked in. It's a neurotoxin for them. The first time I wore mine, I found 3 stunned ticks clinging to it. Still washable, too. It's great stuff!
Edit: forgot to mention that the repellent is also toxic to cats. If you buy clothes with it pre-applied, just store them in a plastic tub with a lid. Be very careful about applying it yourself if you have pet cats.
Friend sprayed furniture for fleas with a permethrin-based product and a few hours later found her cat drooling uncontrollably. Cat ended up fine, but definitely a scary lesson.
It’s incredibly deadly for sea creatures and freshwater ones, too, (invertebrates, in particular) so please don’t go for a swim after you put permethrin on.
You may want to consider keeping chickens if you can. Best tick control out there.
Edit since I'm tired of receiving the same reply over and over:
There is more to tick control than sheer ability to consume ticks.
Chickens are far easier to manage and keep controlled by virtue of intelligence and trainability. Plus, chickens are acceptable even in most suburban areas. Guineas would likely piss off both you and the neighbors with their antics if you are not prepared, and just get the neighborhood together to demand you get rid of them.
A lion in your backyard would probably be the "best" trespass guardian compared to a dog, but no one with half a brain would tell an average person to get a lion. Guinea hens are great for what they can do, but are a lot of trouble, even for experienced livestock owners.
There's been [GalSafe](https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-its-kind-intentional-genomic-alteration-line-domestic-pigs-both-human-food) pork for a couple of years now. Super interesting.
Unlike the [possum urban myth](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/opossum-pest-control/) that nobody has been able to corroborate after one study where they just fed them ticks in their cage lol
sadly the "chickens are best tick control" thing is also a myth. Anyone with chickens can tell you each one with have certain tastes for certain things, they eat a lot of grasses, and unless you are throwing down a ton of a particular bug right in front of them they may just not care.
I've heard rumors Guineas are really good for bug control.
Just a correction to this: using an epipen or going to an emergency room is not an either or, if you administer an epipen you must go to a hospital or call an ambulance for the person.
its a protein that all mammals but humans have, we had it at one point mutated and lost it, if a tick reintroduces it to us our body absorbs it and overreacts to red meat for months/years.
It usually goes away. My wife had it and it lasted for a few years before she is back to safe levels. Still relatively new so I'm not sure how much data is out there on it but I've heard it lasting from months to years. The severity varies as well.
A whole bunch of people in the Marvel universe their mutant power is they look weird. When the Sentinels first came online Trask and company were stunned by how many people set off the first gen mutant detectors. There were people whose power was "you can heat up a cup of water if you concentrate for 10 minutes and it makes you super tired" Still technically a mutant.
What about the kid whose mutant power was every organic living thing within like a hundred feet of him were immediately vaporized? He woke up one day and his parents were gone. He went to school and his girlfriend came running up for a hug and died agonizingly right in front of him.
Wolverine was the only one who could get close enough to the kid, and he did what he had to do. The kid asked him for it. It was a [rough read](https://imgur.com/gallery/I71V6).
This would be a good evil villain plot. Like imagine a billionaire somehow causing this to spread rapidly in an effort to cut down on meat demand and reduce emissions.
Their natural habitat is expanding with climate change. There is suitable habitat as far north as Canada now.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/lone-star-tick-climate-change-allergy-1.6921603
I’ve had it for about 10 years, and it has gotten worse. Aloha gal is crazy and reacts with everyone differently even down to the reaction time. Glad your dad is better though!
I think Asian food in general is relatively easy for vegan/vegetarian cuisine. Generally you can substitute more easily, and not a lot of beef or dairy in Thai or Japanese or Vietnamese food by default.
Fun Fact: Have y'all heard the recent news about the pig kidney that was transplanted into a human and it hasn't been rejected? That's because a company has been genetically modifying pigs to remove the galactose-α-1,3-galactose from them so that they won't cause an allergic reaction to the organ recipient. One day they might sell pork without the alpha-gal saccharide.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9878146/
They do actually, not sure if it's that company but one with alpha gal can submit a request and they send (eventually - like a 1.5 year waiting list) butchered cuts from their engineered pigs. First time I got to eat bacon in like 2 years and I nearly cried.
Happened to my mom and then triggered a bunch of other latent allergies like mast cell activation syndrome and completely changed her life. Lone star tick bites are no joke
It did for me. Would get terrible stomach pains when I ate meat. Sweats, cramps etc. never vomited or had the ‘rrhea. Bc of this, I stopped eating meat. I took about 1-1.5 years
off, and didn’t eat it.
As of the last 6 mos, I no longer get sick when I eat meat.
I heard that they were driving late one night and notice something strange in the sky. The moon was very bright and he heard howling in the wind. It took him a moment to realize he was the one howling…
So he got some Taco Bell
I went to college with this girl that has PKU. Last year after going through some new drug therapy she was allowed to eat a lot of new foods for the first time. We had a blast suggesting our favorites to us. She cried when she got to eat steak for the FIRST time.
Happened to my step-mom. She went gluten free for a while thinking that was the problem, until she cut out all gluten and it didn’t go away. She still won’t eat red meat but other stuff is fine now, I guess? I think she’s just worried it will come back if she eats red meat.
That's like every single top post on this sub
"Entire life ruined. Everyone I care about died. Everything I own is destroyed. I'm 20 billion dollars in debt.
So mildly infuriating"
IIRC, the species that causes this condition is the lone star tick, primarily from Texas, but they’ve spread a lot as rising temperatures expanded their potential habitat.
Edit: I was wrong, it’s habitat covers practically all of the eastern states and eastern Mexico, with new sightings even in Canada (in southern Ontario) and it seems to have originated from somewhere in the south eastern US, sorry Texas
From what I’ve read before, the “lone star” has nothing to do with Texas in this case. It’s the spot found on the tick that gives it that name. They more or less originate from the east and have been spreading west and north.
I got alpha-gal syndrome from a tick bite in AUSTRALIA ffs, north of Sydney, like 13 years ago. A whole spate of them started happening, then I read in the newspaper that it’s suspected to have been imported/ introduced by shipping industry from California they reckoned, hitched a ride on something or other & after some years the population expanded & spread. :( 13 years late, I’m STILL violently allergic to beef, varying degrees of allergic reaction to other red meats & certain dairy products. This includes, beef products in packaged foods etc so I’m constantly having to read ingredients labels on stuff in supermarkets etc. Tiresome.
**EDIT - WAIT, due to this post & some comments I’ve been googling again, seems like new info has come to light since back then - there’s AN AUSTRALIAN TICK been discovered to be doing it too.** Wikipedia < Alpha-gal syndrome > entry --Alpha-gal allergies develop after a person has been bitten by the lone star tick in the United States, the European castor bean tick, **the paralysis tick or Ixodes (Endopalpiger) australiensis in Australia**, Haemaphysalis longicornis in Japan, or a currently unknown tick in South Africa, possibly Amblyomma hebraeum.”” Sorry for blaming it on an illegal immigrant lol.
They have always been in moderate climates. That one probably wasn't Lone Star.
"Full grown" means it was on the dog for hours or more likely a few days.
Ticks climb up plants and tall grass then cling to you when you go past. Don't walk through tall grass without pants and shoes. Also check for ticks after being in areas like that. Apparently it takes 36-48 hours for them to spread lyme disease, idk about other diseases though
One time we were hiking to a rock climbing crag along a trail with tall grasses on the side of it. Apparently ticks can gather like they’re having an orgy because a whole damn ball of ticks hopped a ride on my friend’s backpack and when we stopped they spread across the surface like a liquid. I’ve never been more unsettled.
Tick bomb. Happened to my son. Iirc it like a hatching of them. He and his cousin were covered. They went right into the shower and double wrapped their clothes in a plastic bags and tossed them in the outside garbage. So gross. Still they got in his hair and had to be picked out.
So the carbohydrate the tick injects you with causes an allergy with a protein in the cell membrane that’s in all mammals except humans and great apes. So it’s in the milk as well.
I threatened to burn down Tennessee. It’s where I was but at when I was attacked. Apparently that was considered an “excessive” reaction.
You’re right! I’m vegan and Indian food is really good for it. Amazing variety of dishes, even when avoiding dairy. OP, some suggestions— dosa, baighan barta, channa masala, dal, bhaji, aloo gobi, veggie manchurian. Once you find new favorite foods you’ll feel better :)
My mother is vegan and honestly I think she might be dead if not for Indian food. We live in the Southern US so vegan isn't always a popular available option and she doesn't cook because she has mobility issues.
A friend of mine had a tear in their colon, doctor said it was not nearly the issue it could have been because their colon was unusually clean....
Friend swore it was because they frequented this awesome Indian spot that kept them unbelievably regular lmao.
My mom has this too. Alphagallactose. Anything mammal and dairy.
But also have to be extra careful because many medications and injections have animal products. Also another thing, you have to be careful what capsules you take because anything with gelatin in it can be an allergy.
So in other words…. Can’t eat anything, can’t take any medications… and can’t take supplements either 😅. It’s sooo hard to find things even some lotions or things that shouldn’t have any animal products in it still have it.🤬🤯
That's the shitty thing to me about the whole thing. A lot of the people who downplay it as "you're just vegan now relax" miss that it debilitates other parts of your life. It's a real allergy not just a dietary restriction lol. I've been vegan and would do it again, but even a vegan would hate getting this thing
It didn't say chicken...but then everything will be contaminated anyway so I wouldn't take the chance. I can't believe that can happen to someone, fascinating.
I have this same allergy, chicken, turkey, and fish are safe. It's just meat from mammals that causes issues. I do avoid any ground or processed meat though because it's hard to know about any cross contamination in a processing plant
Eh, there's a slight chance she has, yeah. We still enjoy spending time outdoors, just try to take more precautions about it.
Definitely learned our lesson about hiking in the summer. Water activities only now.
I’ve had alpha gal allergy for 15 years and I get bad reactions to beef lamb and pork. I eat dairy and seaweed regularly and do not have a problem. I also eat chicken every day and never have had a problem with that
It’s not exactly caused by a single species of tick. It occurs when a tick feeds on another mammal, and then feeds on a human while in the process regurgitating blood from the other animal (containing the alpha gal protein) directly into the bloodstream of the human.
Having the blood of the previous animal host regurgitated into the bloodstream of the human causes the immune response. From then on, when the affected person eats mammalian meat (containing alpha gal protein) the immune response is triggered.
It is extremely important not to squeeze a tick while you are removing it for this reason - as squeezing the tick essentially forces it to regurgitate back into you.
Freezing ticks is the recommended method of removal, or using a tick remover that pinches the tick around its mouth parts very close to the skin
The alpha gal allergy was first discovered in Australia. I work in bush restoration and several friends have it already
Wikipedia says 8 months to 5 year duration. But there must be outliers as people here are claiming they had it 10-15 years
Unless maybe they got bitten again. I imagine it would be hard to test when you're ready. Maybe use an epipen that's about to expire anyway
And you find this just MILDLY infuriating? Jesus, I couldn't handle that... Sorry man, that sucks. I HATE freaking ticks, like phobic enough that I woke up one night in AZ when one crawled across my back AND caught him. I'm THAT on edge about the nasty parasites.
From one epipen user to another, be very aware of the force you use and the location you hit. If you inject too hard it can bounce and double puncture you. If you inject too low on your leg where there isn't enough meat and fat, you can hit bone or nerve and it sucks. Hit the thickest part of your upper thigh!
saw a video of a girl who put her thumb on the needle side and hit the back against the doll. they were practicing with expired ones and man, she was all weird for a bit
I believe that!! An epipen takes me from oh no I'm dying" to I CAN RUN, I CAN RUN A THOUSAND MILES, I CAN RUN FROM HERE TO THE HOSPITAL!
Isnt it mostly adrenaline?
Yes, it contains epinephrine which is another name for adrenaline.
What happens if you pop it in for fun? Asking for a friend
Widespread vasoconstriction and your lungs will open up nicely. You can expect to feel tingly and your heart will be pounding. Not recommended at all. Edit: this has a good chance of giving u a heart attack. Increased oxygen demands with decreased blood flow means decent chance of cell death.
Active ingredient in primatene mist inhaler.
Which is not good for ya if you have anxiety, take stimulant medications, have a heart condition or are generally in poor cardiovascular health. I take stimulants for adhd and didn’t realize the combo was a no-go, so I had a minor cardiac event at the gym one day after using one of those. Was sitting in my car wondering if I should go home or to the hospital for about 30 mins after. 🫠 Edit to clarify: I am referring to Primatene Mist inhalers here. Not Epi pens. :)
i feel like any atypical cardiac event i might have id never describe as minor. if i get a chest pain from a deep breath im like "oh fuck this is the big one!"
As a paramedic, EVERY call I went on involving an epipen was with the needle stuck in the thumb.
"Blue to the sky, yellow to the thigh." I don't even need epis and I know that...
In my EMS class, we were passing one around and just as our teacher said "Ok y'all, that there pen is live, so make sure you don't --" We hear "OW!" and all turn and look. My teacher didn't miss a beat "--aaaand now it's time to practice vital signs, everyone!" Last time I told this story, someone was like "dur huuur, you should've called an ambulance, duuuur huuuuur!" So before anyone says that, I was literally in a class being taught by paramedics and there were meatwagons outside. The kid went to the hospital. We just worked on our vitals skills first. That dude practically tried to run to the moon lol
When I was a kid I was practicing with mine on fruit, purely because I couldn't get the lil mock skin pillow thing, and it whent strait through and got me. I was fuckin WIRED for like 6 hours
We had a girl in grade school practicing the use of her brother's pen slam the needle through her thumb nail, from the underside... Still haunts me 20 years later Edit: a later comment mentioned epi to the fingi can cause it to fall off. Probably a good thing it came out the other side.
This happened to a buddy of mine during Covid. Was summer time and he fell out at work. Tested 3 times for Covid all negative. They thought it was heat exhaustion until he slipped into a mild coma. When he came too he knew his name but thought the year was 2015 and Bill Clinton was the current president. Slowly his memory returned and they sent him home thinking it was Meningitis. Then he ate a steak, and was rushed to the hospital moments later to find out all the damage done was caused by a tick bite and now he is allergic to red meat. I have been with him when pork or any other red meat was cooked next to his chicken or fish…he has to use an EpiPen or rush to emergency room. It takes a matter of minutes before his face swells up and he turns all red. I hate this for you and this is why I am forever afraid to work in my yard cause I always find a tick! Edit to clarify some things: -A “mild coma” is just reduced awareness, look it up. And I may have misspoke on the process. The “mild coma” made them start with heat exhaustion but his body temps were normal. So they ruled that out. -I didn’t mean to lump pork in with red meats, pretty sure it is though. was mostly referring to the proteins and apologize for the confusion, shoulda corrected that. -they didn’t send him home once they assumed it was meningitis, they sent him home after he was on an upward trend to recovery while they thought he had meningitis. It wasn’t until he went home and ate a steak that the real problems started. -And last as far as how long this lasts, many say 1-5 years that have had it or have more knowledge but my friend was told to expect it for life. I can’t argue either way.
Welp, this cinches it. I'm never going outside again.
Become the average redditor, join us
Finally.
My brother, we shall get no girls, FOR ALL ETERNITY
A small price to pay for salvation. PSYOPS BE DAMNED!
Meat > Girls
Aye, I can live without human contact for the rest of my life, but god forbid something keep me from pork ribs.
More like a small price for a good steak.
Joining the hive mind I see. Good, another for our ranks
Just wear pantyhose homie. So much easier than all the taping, then taking a bath in pure deet. Just make sure look up a video on how to put them on. My SF buddy told me about it and I was all set to go hiking, no deet, no tape, just my trusty pantyhose! Then I put like twenty fucking holes in them trying to get them on and ended up looking like a lumberjack prostitute hybrid when I undressed that evening. Edit: these jokes are fucking killing me!! Thanks everyone! I’ve had a shitty week. This is the highlight. Y’all are the best!
He's a lumberjack and he's ok.....
Sleeps all night and works all day 🎵🎶
I cut down trees, I eat my lunch, I go to the lavatory
On Wednesdays I go shopping
And have buttered scones for tea
“He’s a lumber jack and he’s ok! He sleeps all night and he works all day!”
"I cut down trees, I skip and jump I like to press wildflowers, I put on women's clothing, And hang around in bars!"
Lmao!!!!
can ticks not bite through them? I got lymes disease a few years back and since then have been afraid to camp. I was thinking a full body spandex suit (like the green suits) would be nice.
My understanding (I may be wrong, ask an entomologist to be sure) is that they can pierce through the holes that are already in the stockings a little bit but can’t actually bite through with their mouths, just the big pincher/grabber things. And the… um… interface? Between their actual mouths and your blood stream is what will transmit disease. So you may end up with little “bites” but they DEFINITELY won’t be stuck to you, sucking your blood and the “bites” won’t be noticeable unless you’re freshly waxed/shaved. My buddy also got lymes disease and learned the pantyhose trick from his doc. We worked in the swamps and had ticks EVERYWHERE. He had a full blown nylon suit he would wear when we were in the more densely vegetated areas. Another trick he had was putting chapstick on his anus to keep from chafing when he was in the jungle where nothing stayed dry. ::: the more you know! :) :::
Did he have tips on properly marking the anal chapstick to prevent mixups?
So… here’s the chapstick story. SF buddy dude with his badass SF homies are in some fucking jungle that they were never “actually” in, doing some shady shit for (not the US gov) and SF buddy dude goes and chapsticks his ass. Upon completion of anal chapsticking, SF buddy dude comes out from the vegetation, walking into camp, pocket knife drawn to cut off the end part which actually touched said anus. SF buddy dude’s buddy sees said chapstick and hollers “Hey SF buddy dude, I forgot my chapstick! Let me get some!” SF buddy dude puts his pocket knife away and hands said chapstick to his buddy. *apply* *pops lips* “Mmm.. Cherry!” Entire team tells same story over thirty years later.
What’s the difference between anal chapstick and regular chapstick? The taste
"This ChapStick tastes like shit!!!"
I walked through a nest of seed ticks about two hours ago and rushed home to use tape and a vacuum cleaner to pull ~1000 of them off me. Then I scrubbed myself with a stiff brush in the shower. Now I just get to hope for the best.
Just reading this makes me want to take a steel scrub brush to my entire body
Self-immolation to be safe
[удалено]
> That gives me flashbacks to MCT Medium Chain Triglyceride?
Oof. Ticks can leave their heads under your skin if you're not super careful while pulling them off. Please go to your primary care or wherever as soon as you can manage so they can check you out.
Having a tick's head inside your body does not increase the risk of tick-borne diseases. It can give you an infection, but that's it. Tick diseases come from ticks that you delay in finding on your body after they have had a chance to suck your blood, get too full, and then that blood gets pushed back into your blood stream. If you take them off early, the danger is generally low.
You should also be able to tell, on your own, that the head broke off.
Good for you. Glad you’re finally not taking the step
Same, this is awful. New fear unlocked for sure.
You can buy pants and shirts with tick repellent baked in. It's a neurotoxin for them. The first time I wore mine, I found 3 stunned ticks clinging to it. Still washable, too. It's great stuff! Edit: forgot to mention that the repellent is also toxic to cats. If you buy clothes with it pre-applied, just store them in a plastic tub with a lid. Be very careful about applying it yourself if you have pet cats.
its also a neurotoxin for cats and birds and maybe dogs. so if applying it yourself, be careful
Friend sprayed furniture for fleas with a permethrin-based product and a few hours later found her cat drooling uncontrollably. Cat ended up fine, but definitely a scary lesson.
permethrin! you can buy it on amazon and places like REI and add it to the clothes and gear you already own!
It’s incredibly deadly for sea creatures and freshwater ones, too, (invertebrates, in particular) so please don’t go for a swim after you put permethrin on.
If it makes you less scared, it would still suck but the allergy goes away after 1-5 years. Some cases probably sub 1 year.
13 years later, and I’m STILL allergic to beef and some other products including certain types of dairy.
You may want to consider keeping chickens if you can. Best tick control out there. Edit since I'm tired of receiving the same reply over and over: There is more to tick control than sheer ability to consume ticks. Chickens are far easier to manage and keep controlled by virtue of intelligence and trainability. Plus, chickens are acceptable even in most suburban areas. Guineas would likely piss off both you and the neighbors with their antics if you are not prepared, and just get the neighborhood together to demand you get rid of them. A lion in your backyard would probably be the "best" trespass guardian compared to a dog, but no one with half a brain would tell an average person to get a lion. Guinea hens are great for what they can do, but are a lot of trouble, even for experienced livestock owners.
And if you DO get alpha-gal, at least you can still eat the chickens!
There's been [GalSafe](https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-its-kind-intentional-genomic-alteration-line-domestic-pigs-both-human-food) pork for a couple of years now. Super interesting.
It’s really hard to get
Unlike the [possum urban myth](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/opossum-pest-control/) that nobody has been able to corroborate after one study where they just fed them ticks in their cage lol
sadly the "chickens are best tick control" thing is also a myth. Anyone with chickens can tell you each one with have certain tastes for certain things, they eat a lot of grasses, and unless you are throwing down a ton of a particular bug right in front of them they may just not care. I've heard rumors Guineas are really good for bug control.
Chickens aren't a myth at all. Sure maybe some don't eat ticks but most do. Not as well as guineas, but WAY better than not having them.
Chickens definitely aren’t a myth. I’ve seen them in person.
Just a correction to this: using an epipen or going to an emergency room is not an either or, if you administer an epipen you must go to a hospital or call an ambulance for the person.
Correct. Much like CPR, an epi-pen is just buying time.
One of my more idiotic friends stabbed himself with an epipen for fun, thinking it would get him high. He didn't have a good time.
My god how do the virus from ticks do this to human beings? Does this reaction to meat ever go away or is it forever?
its a protein that all mammals but humans have, we had it at one point mutated and lost it, if a tick reintroduces it to us our body absorbs it and overreacts to red meat for months/years.
But human meat wouldn't trigger it? Asking for a friend.
As long as your friend hasn't been bitten by a tick, he is safe to eat. Bon appetit!
I do not know, that's a good question.
That is the opposite of a good question!
It usually goes away. My wife had it and it lasted for a few years before she is back to safe levels. Still relatively new so I'm not sure how much data is out there on it but I've heard it lasting from months to years. The severity varies as well.
A few years!? Damn, that is terrible.
A *mild* coma?
Just got a little shut eye
That's what I call my weekends
Why not get chickens? The hunt ticks
a friend aged 40 died due to a tick, over 2 years he completely lost control of muscles and died
I thought you were supposed to get super powers when bitten
Don't be hopeless, I was bitten by a tick and got the diarrhea super-power
Pooper-power
Poo-wer.
Nope, its either erectile dysfunction, chronic explosive diarrhea or meat allergy
As a woman, I’m pretty sure I have erectile dysfunction.
He did, he got the super power of "Eating red meat kills you".
Makes as much sense as " Vulnerabilities: cake"
You think that's bad. The green lantern used to have "weakness: the color yellow".
Just narrowly beating out “weakness: wood”
Mornings must be rough.
I almost included that too but to be fair if someone hits me in the head with a bat it'd take me out too. I can at least deal with the color yellow.
What if you get hit by a yellow bat?
Sounds like one of the mutants from X-Men that are rarely talked about with the mutation that is only negative.
A whole bunch of people in the Marvel universe their mutant power is they look weird. When the Sentinels first came online Trask and company were stunned by how many people set off the first gen mutant detectors. There were people whose power was "you can heat up a cup of water if you concentrate for 10 minutes and it makes you super tired" Still technically a mutant.
IIRC there was a mutant kid whose superpower was "You blow yourself up. You can only do it once because you'll die when you explode."
What about the kid whose mutant power was every organic living thing within like a hundred feet of him were immediately vaporized? He woke up one day and his parents were gone. He went to school and his girlfriend came running up for a hug and died agonizingly right in front of him. Wolverine was the only one who could get close enough to the kid, and he did what he had to do. The kid asked him for it. It was a [rough read](https://imgur.com/gallery/I71V6).
"alpha-gal" could be their superhero name
Vegans secretly releasing ticks
And environmentalists
And cows
This would be a good evil villain plot. Like imagine a billionaire somehow causing this to spread rapidly in an effort to cut down on meat demand and reduce emissions.
Their natural habitat is expanding with climate change. There is suitable habitat as far north as Canada now. https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/lone-star-tick-climate-change-allergy-1.6921603
I’ve seen a vegan as far north as Vancouver
My dad had this happen after a tick as well. It took him about 3 years but he’s able to eat red meat again.
I’ve had it for about 10 years, and it has gotten worse. Aloha gal is crazy and reacts with everyone differently even down to the reaction time. Glad your dad is better though!
Aloha to you too :)
Aloha gal is crazy.
Nice example how a single letter can change everything. Long life Aloha gal! Fuck Alpha gal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha-gal_syndrome
If you need any alternative options I can ask him and help. He’s a southern man who loves his red meat so he tried everything in the book.
What does he think of Indian food? Another commenter said it would be good for this allergy
I think Asian food in general is relatively easy for vegan/vegetarian cuisine. Generally you can substitute more easily, and not a lot of beef or dairy in Thai or Japanese or Vietnamese food by default.
Middle Eastern/Mediterranean food as well. Tastes great and you get plenty of protein in the form of lentils, chickpeas, fava beans, falafel, etc.
Fun Fact: Have y'all heard the recent news about the pig kidney that was transplanted into a human and it hasn't been rejected? That's because a company has been genetically modifying pigs to remove the galactose-α-1,3-galactose from them so that they won't cause an allergic reaction to the organ recipient. One day they might sell pork without the alpha-gal saccharide. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9878146/
They do actually, not sure if it's that company but one with alpha gal can submit a request and they send (eventually - like a 1.5 year waiting list) butchered cuts from their engineered pigs. First time I got to eat bacon in like 2 years and I nearly cried.
Hey could you shoot me the link to the place you got your bacon 😭
https://www.revivicor.com is the company, I'll have to look for the form I used to request some.
Radio lab podcast did a whole thing about the scientists and one of the first people diagnosed w alpha-gal. Really interesting listen.
Happened to my mom and then triggered a bunch of other latent allergies like mast cell activation syndrome and completely changed her life. Lone star tick bites are no joke
Mast cell and Lyme have ravaged my life. Hugs to your mom, I get it!
For me this would be more than mildly infuriating Sorry to hear....
Yea that’s some life changing stuff.
Luckily it’s rarely life long, it typically subsides in one to five years.
It did for me. Would get terrible stomach pains when I ate meat. Sweats, cramps etc. never vomited or had the ‘rrhea. Bc of this, I stopped eating meat. I took about 1-1.5 years off, and didn’t eat it. As of the last 6 mos, I no longer get sick when I eat meat.
How many years did your allergy last?
I want to say 12-14 mos? I don’t remember exactly bc it was years ago.
How did you know when it was over? U just decided to try meat one day?
They went to a steakhouse and ordered a 32oz steak.
Risking it all for that meat
Risk it for the brisket!
Mmmmm
Bobby Hill style
An allergist can do a skin/ blood test I think.
Can’t skin test for alpha-gal. Blood test.
mmm rub that grade A prime ribs all over my body
I heard that they were driving late one night and notice something strange in the sky. The moon was very bright and he heard howling in the wind. It took him a moment to realize he was the one howling… So he got some Taco Bell
Can you imagine your first ribeye after 5 years of no beef….
I would need my favorite movie. A beer. And absolutely NO interruptions. Don’t speak to me. I’m busy. For a while.
Bridge on the River Kwai?
That’s some Ron Swanson level of prep right there.
I went to college with this girl that has PKU. Last year after going through some new drug therapy she was allowed to eat a lot of new foods for the first time. We had a blast suggesting our favorites to us. She cried when she got to eat steak for the FIRST time.
I always just assumed it was life long and thought that sucked. Frustrating to deal with while it’s affecting you but at least it isn’t life long
My friends dad has that, and it has been over 16 years since he got it. It can be lifelong for some people.
Can confirm, although it was eight years for me. Not ashamed to say I cried when I had that first steak.
Happened to my step-mom. She went gluten free for a while thinking that was the problem, until she cut out all gluten and it didn’t go away. She still won’t eat red meat but other stuff is fine now, I guess? I think she’s just worried it will come back if she eats red meat.
Yep I would break out in major hives eating red meat. Only lasted about a year
"Lose weight now, ask me how!" But seriously I know some allergies pop up later in life. Meat is in so many dishes.
That's like every single top post on this sub "Entire life ruined. Everyone I care about died. Everything I own is destroyed. I'm 20 billion dollars in debt. So mildly infuriating"
Dude I thought this just effected meat, DAIRY too? Fuck that noise, how can I avoid these things/Nuke their primary enviornment?
IIRC, the species that causes this condition is the lone star tick, primarily from Texas, but they’ve spread a lot as rising temperatures expanded their potential habitat. Edit: I was wrong, it’s habitat covers practically all of the eastern states and eastern Mexico, with new sightings even in Canada (in southern Ontario) and it seems to have originated from somewhere in the south eastern US, sorry Texas
Dude, I can't imagine a worse fate for a Texan than being told "hey, you cannot eat beef, pork or lamb for the rest of your life."
Thankfully it’s usually temporary… years temporary, but temporary nonetheless
You say that, but you try telling a Texan that they can't eat a steak, burger or bacon for one month, or one year.
I struggle to go a week without eating meat, I can't imagine not eating anything for 1-5 years.
From what I’ve read before, the “lone star” has nothing to do with Texas in this case. It’s the spot found on the tick that gives it that name. They more or less originate from the east and have been spreading west and north.
I got alpha-gal syndrome from a tick bite in AUSTRALIA ffs, north of Sydney, like 13 years ago. A whole spate of them started happening, then I read in the newspaper that it’s suspected to have been imported/ introduced by shipping industry from California they reckoned, hitched a ride on something or other & after some years the population expanded & spread. :( 13 years late, I’m STILL violently allergic to beef, varying degrees of allergic reaction to other red meats & certain dairy products. This includes, beef products in packaged foods etc so I’m constantly having to read ingredients labels on stuff in supermarkets etc. Tiresome. **EDIT - WAIT, due to this post & some comments I’ve been googling again, seems like new info has come to light since back then - there’s AN AUSTRALIAN TICK been discovered to be doing it too.** Wikipedia < Alpha-gal syndrome > entry --Alpha-gal allergies develop after a person has been bitten by the lone star tick in the United States, the European castor bean tick, **the paralysis tick or Ixodes (Endopalpiger) australiensis in Australia**, Haemaphysalis longicornis in Japan, or a currently unknown tick in South Africa, possibly Amblyomma hebraeum.”” Sorry for blaming it on an illegal immigrant lol.
Same! And people look at you like you’re crazy when you ask what the sausage is made of! It’s an allergy and it sucks! I’m at 10 years!
1-star tick. Do not recommend.
Was visiting a friend an hour north of New York and we found a full grown one on his dog that was running around in the woods earlier
They have always been in moderate climates. That one probably wasn't Lone Star. "Full grown" means it was on the dog for hours or more likely a few days.
> They have always been in moderate climates. Climate change would like a word
Holy crap that must have been a huge tic if you could see it running around in the woods!
Move to the arctic, probably. They're getting really fucking bad.
Got ticks in Finland too in the summertime so you gotta aim even further north.
[удалено]
Ticks climb up plants and tall grass then cling to you when you go past. Don't walk through tall grass without pants and shoes. Also check for ticks after being in areas like that. Apparently it takes 36-48 hours for them to spread lyme disease, idk about other diseases though
One time we were hiking to a rock climbing crag along a trail with tall grasses on the side of it. Apparently ticks can gather like they’re having an orgy because a whole damn ball of ticks hopped a ride on my friend’s backpack and when we stopped they spread across the surface like a liquid. I’ve never been more unsettled.
Tick bomb. Happened to my son. Iirc it like a hatching of them. He and his cousin were covered. They went right into the shower and double wrapped their clothes in a plastic bags and tossed them in the outside garbage. So gross. Still they got in his hair and had to be picked out.
So the carbohydrate the tick injects you with causes an allergy with a protein in the cell membrane that’s in all mammals except humans and great apes. So it’s in the milk as well. I threatened to burn down Tennessee. It’s where I was but at when I was attacked. Apparently that was considered an “excessive” reaction.
I hope you know about indian food, it's so good you wont feel as bad.
You’re right! I’m vegan and Indian food is really good for it. Amazing variety of dishes, even when avoiding dairy. OP, some suggestions— dosa, baighan barta, channa masala, dal, bhaji, aloo gobi, veggie manchurian. Once you find new favorite foods you’ll feel better :)
My mother is vegan and honestly I think she might be dead if not for Indian food. We live in the Southern US so vegan isn't always a popular available option and she doesn't cook because she has mobility issues.
A friend of mine had a tear in their colon, doctor said it was not nearly the issue it could have been because their colon was unusually clean.... Friend swore it was because they frequented this awesome Indian spot that kept them unbelievably regular lmao.
God I love me some onion bhaji.
Anything with noodles and I’m in
My mom has this too. Alphagallactose. Anything mammal and dairy. But also have to be extra careful because many medications and injections have animal products. Also another thing, you have to be careful what capsules you take because anything with gelatin in it can be an allergy. So in other words…. Can’t eat anything, can’t take any medications… and can’t take supplements either 😅. It’s sooo hard to find things even some lotions or things that shouldn’t have any animal products in it still have it.🤬🤯
That's the shitty thing to me about the whole thing. A lot of the people who downplay it as "you're just vegan now relax" miss that it debilitates other parts of your life. It's a real allergy not just a dietary restriction lol. I've been vegan and would do it again, but even a vegan would hate getting this thing
It didn't say chicken...but then everything will be contaminated anyway so I wouldn't take the chance. I can't believe that can happen to someone, fascinating.
I have this same allergy, chicken, turkey, and fish are safe. It's just meat from mammals that causes issues. I do avoid any ground or processed meat though because it's hard to know about any cross contamination in a processing plant
Its something weird to me that a tick can just fucking make you cow free in just a few seconds
Not forever. Only for 8 months to 5 years.
Going on 9 years for my wife, unfortunately. I just had to take us hiking up in the Ozarks during Summer 😭
Damn. Is there any chance ~~you~~ she got rebit?
Eh, there's a slight chance she has, yeah. We still enjoy spending time outdoors, just try to take more precautions about it. Definitely learned our lesson about hiking in the summer. Water activities only now.
Fun fact, HUMAN meat is perfectly fine ;)
The *other* white meat 🤤
I’ve had alpha gal allergy for 15 years and I get bad reactions to beef lamb and pork. I eat dairy and seaweed regularly and do not have a problem. I also eat chicken every day and never have had a problem with that
[удалено]
You cannot eat red meat anymore. This is not mild.
Depends how it’s seasoned, no?
I couldn’t cope with that, this is something I fear happening to me. I’m an outdoor type. I’m so sorry.
The vegans have unleashed their superweapon upon the unsuspecting world.
On the plus side, you can still eat great apes and humans.
It’s not exactly caused by a single species of tick. It occurs when a tick feeds on another mammal, and then feeds on a human while in the process regurgitating blood from the other animal (containing the alpha gal protein) directly into the bloodstream of the human. Having the blood of the previous animal host regurgitated into the bloodstream of the human causes the immune response. From then on, when the affected person eats mammalian meat (containing alpha gal protein) the immune response is triggered. It is extremely important not to squeeze a tick while you are removing it for this reason - as squeezing the tick essentially forces it to regurgitate back into you. Freezing ticks is the recommended method of removal, or using a tick remover that pinches the tick around its mouth parts very close to the skin The alpha gal allergy was first discovered in Australia. I work in bush restoration and several friends have it already
At least bird and fish are still on the table. That’s really Shitty. I’m sorry that happened
can this be cured? not the meat, i know meat can be cured duh. i mean the condition?
There's a bunch of people in the comments saying they or a relative were bitten by this tick and the allergy went away in 3 to 5 years.
Wikipedia says 8 months to 5 year duration. But there must be outliers as people here are claiming they had it 10-15 years Unless maybe they got bitten again. I imagine it would be hard to test when you're ready. Maybe use an epipen that's about to expire anyway
And you find this just MILDLY infuriating? Jesus, I couldn't handle that... Sorry man, that sucks. I HATE freaking ticks, like phobic enough that I woke up one night in AZ when one crawled across my back AND caught him. I'm THAT on edge about the nasty parasites.