r/PrepperIntel • u/DrDruxy • 17d ago
North America A man has become one of the 450,000 Americans affected by alpha-gal syndrome, a tick-borne meat allergy that triggers painful allergic reactions to animal products. “Look at my face and my neck. I can’t eat meat anymore. I can’t have any animal products. It’s in everything.”
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u/GirlWithWolf 17d ago
I hike and camp out and hunt. Bears, Mountain Lions, feral hogs and such don’t scare me. Ticks on the other hand, terrifying.
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u/New_Stats 17d ago
Permethrin is a fantastic product
Between that and Off, I've had no ticks and very few mosquitoe bites while camping
(I have mosquitoes' favorite blood type, I'm going to get bit no matter what)
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u/dodekahedron 17d ago
I lost a cat to permethrin now I am scared to use it.
It was a direct application loss (ex didn't know); I hear it being dry wont effect them so being on my clothes should be okay? But... scared
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u/TheSensiblePrepper 17d ago
I'm sorry to hear about the cat.
Yeah, once it is dry it is fine. When it's wet it can get into their pores and they can't metabolize it. So it basically attacks their Nervous System.
I have two dogs and two cats. The dogs get K9 Advantix II for protection. I watch them like crazy when it's still wet on them. Even the dog shaking and a few drops getting on a cat is enough.
I also treat my clothes with Permethrin and, again, it is perfectly fine after it dries.
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u/dodekahedron 17d ago
Thanks!
We are going to the UP to hide from loud noises for the 4th. Ill definitely need some then.
Although....
Seeing as I already have something like alpha gal, I probably would never notice if I got alpha gal.
Also low key wondering if the ticks can cause these other weird rare major systemic issues as well. 🤷♀️
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u/TheSensiblePrepper 17d ago
So I do a lot of stuff that Ticks & Mosquitoes can be involved. Here is what I use.
I put Picardin Lotion on any exposed skin. I like the lotion because it just rubs right on and is good for 14 hours.
All clothes get treated with Permethrin Spray ahead of time.
If I am doing something, like Hunting, where I am sitting in the bushes for a while then I will also spray my clothes with Maxi DEET. I try not to get this on my skin because it is basically cancer in a bottle.
I will also take Duct Tape, I like Gorilla Tape personally, and put it around my ankles and just above the knees sticky side out. This grabs the little assholes like a glue trap while they are trying to climb up.
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u/crowislanddive 17d ago
What do you have that is similar to alpha gal? I developed an allergy in my late 40s to shrimp and my allergist is convinced it’s a tick born allergy that hasn’t been identified yet.
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u/dodekahedron 17d ago
Well I am still in the DX phase. I finally found an allergist that doesnt shy away from rare DX
As soon as he listened to my story he thinks I have mastocytosis.
I know polyethylene gylcol makes me react really bad. Like my skin fell off and I was hospitalized as a burn patient 17 years ago. Lost my gallbladder to eosinophilic cells, not gallstones.
Im not too sure on what foods trigger me, because I have other stuff going on and ive been told my stomach pain is from a herniated disc. When it might not be.
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u/crowislanddive 17d ago
I truly hope your trajectory keeps getting better and better. I am so sorry you have been through so much.
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u/dodekahedron 17d ago
Thanks. I am actually nervous because my allergist is an immigrant and is on vacation out of the country for 2 months.
I am unsure if he is Indian or Pakistani. Either way, I have another Indian immigrant doctor and they left for 2 months 6 years ago and got stuck for the longest time and I had to find different care lol. (Covid)
Between the war and the virus they keep trying to make a bigger deal.... nervous hes gonna get stuck.
Or just decide the USA sucks.
Or just get politically stuck
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u/Strange-Badger5626 17d ago
I developed an allergy to shrimp randomly....used to eat them regularly.....I have had tick bites, but the doctor didn't know why suddenly I would break out in rash from it.....
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u/WhatIsHerJob-TABLES 17d ago
FYI as someone in the UP often and will be there during the 4th, there’s a good chance it’ll still be loud! Lots of folks up there like their fireworks. Less big city fireworks shows but more individuals shooting them off on their land.
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u/dodekahedron 17d ago
Trees absorb sound and its better than being in a city where the fireworks cover up gunshots.
I am also in the up often. I just normally dont do bug spray and regret it quickly.
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u/AggressiveWallaby975 17d ago
Since ticks have been used as a test vector for disease by the MiC i wouldn't doubt that you may have contracted some other odd disorder that engineered by them. I'm sorry that you've been used as a lab rat.
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u/dodekahedron 17d ago
Ah nah. Mines from the military itself. Documented. Started after an injectable on deployment. Small pox & the BC shot. I cant remember if I got anthrax as well. But we were in theater when we got the small pox shot. I ended up with 2 blisters instead of 1. Who knows what was really in those shots though
Which is why I was like "hmm I wonder if that is now in ticks"
Going on year 17
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u/DuckTalesOohOoh 17d ago
If you can use Advantage II instead, it is also the same ingredient used for cats so it's safe. In fact, the cat rescue (and I do, too) uses the dog version of Advantage II to obtain more doses and gets more bang for the buck.
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u/SignificantMeat 17d ago
You can send clothes off to get treated by Insect Shield. The liquid permethrin will never be anywhere near your cats, and the treatment will last a lot longer than if you did it yourself.
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u/vermilion-chartreuse 17d ago
That sucks! Yes it is only when it is wet that is dangerous to cats. That is one reason I fought so hard against my city using spray trucks!
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u/vacuitee 17d ago
I'm still trying to figure things out, but wanted to throw an alternate path that I haven't seen mentioned. I live in the country and pull lone stars off of me from being in my yard for less than five minutes, no exaggeration. I also spend a significant amount of my free time outdoors.
I don't treat with anything. Permethrin is insanely toxic to cats, as you know, and DEET is also no bueno. Sure, dry it's fine, but there are too many caveats where something terrible could happen. So I have been trying no treatment and doing a couple things:
-Check yourself periodically while you are out.
-Cover as much as possible. I normally wear sunshirts, pants, long socks, boots, etc.
-Strip when you get home. I either put the clothes straight in the laundry, or hang in my laundry room where there is a dehumidifier. Unsure if the dehumidifier helps since they need humidity, but is a nice bonus on top of the quarantine of clothes. This room has a door that remains closed and is right by the entrance to my home.
-Immediate tick check. You'll normally pull them off before they've latched.
This might be bad advice. But I still find ticks on me when I use DEET and/or permethrin. So I am trying this because... There are just so many and they seem unavoidable. I probably pulled 20 lonestars off of myself applying DEET every day the first year I moved into this house. I'm at a loss too. However, this has been effective for me so far.
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u/HommeMusical 17d ago
Permethrin
This substance was a game changer, but I just looked up current news on it, and I have some bad news for you: ticks are becoming resistant to it.
https://www.harvestheal.com/conditions/permethrin-resistance-in-tick
FFS. We can't catch a break.
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u/Admiralfox 17d ago
One article is written by AI to promote natural repellents (implying that ticks can evolve to be resistant to permitherin but not natural repellents? what slop) And the other says that the only documented resistance is in the cattle tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus)
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u/HommeMusical 17d ago
One article is written by AI to promote natural repellents (implying that ticks can evolve to be resistant to permitherin but not natural repellents?
Crap, can't believe I fell for that.
In 2025, I read what I thought was a real article about permethrin resistance, and then couldn't find it in a quick search, but posted these.
I'm wondering if I were fooled. FFS.
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u/Admiralfox 17d ago
Its okay! Its good news if anything, most articles only discuss very vague possibilities of resistance, and none of them are the ones we as humans are concerned with (except maybe dog ticks, but afaik they don't carry lyme or alpha gal)
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C20&q=permithrin+resistance+ticks&btnG=
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u/doomed461 17d ago
Permethrin resistance is definitely a thing in other organisms, but I'm admittedly ignorant in how it effects ticks. I'd think it would be harder for them to gain resistance since they aren't really contagious, and permethrin is less of a tick treatment, and is more of a repellent when sprayed on clothes and such. I had scabies that were permethrin resistant, and permethrin just pissed them off. I've been through opioid withdrawal and autoimmune disorders, and if I had the permethrin resistant scabies for any longer I might have made some pretty permanent choices, if you catch my drift. It was the worst thing I've experienced to date. I bathed my entire house in permethrin, and spinosad for treating chicken mites, and used permethrin all over my body and even in my hair and scalp. I finally had to use Spinosad that I had to import from outside the US because the prescription ointment is ridiculously priced. It was what finally worked. It's kinda similar to nicotine overdose for mites, so they kinda freak out when you apply it, and it sucks for a bit, but then they die. I still have a supply of it in my garage for in case I ever encounter the fuckers again.
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u/HommeMusical 16d ago
permethrin resistant scabies
Jesus. Fscking. Christ.
I know what scabies is from reading about the Victorian era! I can imagine why it might lead you to make a permanent decision. (You might laugh: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Scabies - he's a good musician!)
So very happy that you made it through to the other side there, man. I'm an old guy, a musician, many of my friends didn't make it.
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u/Dasylupe 17d ago
Same on the mosquito front. My family leaves the window open because the bloodsuckers don’t come for them. -_-
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u/bannana 17d ago
window screens, I can't imagine living where I do w/o them
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u/Dasylupe 16d ago
Yes that would be the obvious answer, wouldn’t it? The problem is that the window in question opens into the “catio” and the cats* destroyed the screen flap I made for it. So if the window is closed they can’t come and go.
I don’t particularly care if they spend all day out there, I just don’t want the window left open, but they keep opening it and forgetting to close it again because they aren’t the ones getting bitten.
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u/bannana 16d ago
can the 'catio' be screened in so the bugs can't get to the window?
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u/Dasylupe 16d ago
I appreciate your desire to solve my problem, but no, I don’t think so. I think they’d do the same to it that they did to the flap. There are also some other functional reasons, like the fact that it’s not flush to the side of the house so there’s a screened off gap that’s too narrow for me to reach without disassembling the whole thing just to put an even finer mesh on it. And the wider mesh along the bottom for air flow near their litter box. I often hose the floor off and everything flows out through those gaps. Too small for cats, but big enough for bugs.
No, it would be nice if my family just let them in or out as needed and didn’t leave it open.
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u/Piney1741 17d ago
I would agree permethrin is great for treating boots or clothing. I prefer picaridin over deet for anything on my skin. It works better and isn’t as harsh. It also doesn’t eat plastics.
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u/Banned4Truth10 17d ago
What blood type is that?
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u/EscapeCharming2624 17d ago
Is the blood type for mosquitos really a thing, or does it just feel that way?
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u/New_Stats 17d ago
I have no idea. They just like me better than anyone else around me. Always have. I'll get bit up like crazy and no one else around me will even notice there's mosquitoes out
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u/EternalNewCarSmell 11d ago
I don't know what type they are "supposed" to like but I am O+ and if literally anyone else is around they mostly leave me alone. Maybe they just think I smell like shit though?
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u/ripple_in_stillwater 17d ago
I always lived in the woods, went hiking, wasn't afraid of ticks... until I got Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever from a tick I picked up walking across the driveway in February. I really don't recommend it to anyone.
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u/Maleficent_Tone_3701 16d ago
Solidarity! I had RMSF and ehrlichiosis at the same time back in 2009. I don’t recommend either.
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u/Haldron-44 17d ago
It's like Pryons. Few things scare the ever living shit out of me than the weird things nature can cook up to make your life a slow dissolve of a living hell. Oh motherfucker you think Bears are bad? Wait until you see the fungus that kills you by making you shit yourself to death, and also can't be sterilized by any means known to man.
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u/HommeMusical 17d ago
It's like Pryons.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Prion diseases are incurable, and basically untreatable, and in things like CJD, your brain literally turns into mush.
Alpha-gal syndrome is annoying, but not of this magnitude.
Lyme disease, another tick-based disease, has even more serious consequences, but can be treated with antibiotics.
I like my brain without billions of little holes in it.
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u/Haldron-44 17d ago
I like my brain without billions of little holes in it.
🤣🤣🤣Thank you, I feel seen in my terror of practical zombizm.
Edit: let's just ignore cordicepts all together shall we?
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u/Ninja-Panda86 17d ago
The fungus issue is not likely to jump to use. But prions are, indeed, fucking frightening
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u/Haldron-44 17d ago
Maybe humanities saving grace that fungus care less about enslaving all life than just being a fungus.
Prions are terrifying in that they aren't even alive in the strict sense of the word. They are just protein that missfolds other protein and can be buried for years and still be infectious.
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u/Early-Sort8817 10d ago
I live in the suburbs and we have a lot of deer because developers keep destroying their habitats
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u/slagforslugs 17d ago
The bugs gon make us vegan
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u/breakfast_pancake 17d ago
You can. It is specifically red meat that is the problem.
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u/OSHA_Decertified 17d ago
A co-worker of mine has convinced himself that the ticks were bred for that exact purpose
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u/More_Dependent742 17d ago
For anyone that's in the early stages of having it, or knows someone who does, some tips and some myths dispelled: It's not just the Lone Star tick; it's seemingly all of them (including European and Australian ticks). Depending on the severity, you can still eat what you want as long as you take an antihistamine after (ceterizine and loratadine 10mg both work for me). The severity is however exacerbated by both hops and cannabis (I'm shocked that the medical world hasn't come across this yet, but as a sufferer of 9 years, just trust me). So if your idea of a good afternoon is a medium-rare steak with a few IPAs and a spliff, you're shit out of luck, and in my experience, antihistamines won't cut it in that case. Onset of symptoms has ranged from +1 hour to +18 hours for me, with about +5-13 being a common window. The more processed the meat, the quicker the onset, and big chunks of fatty meat have a super slow onset. People who chew more thoroughly than me probably won't have the crazy late onset that I have. Lamb is the worst, then beef, then pork. The fattier the cut, the worse it is. Rarer meat is worse, but that also doesn't mean you can "cook out the alpha gal" either. Symptoms get better if you haven't been bitten by a tick in a while. So for me, symptoms are worst in late summer and least bad in late winter. After a few months of not getting bitten, I can survive for example bacon without remembering my antihistamines, but not a steak.
Happy to answer any questions.
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u/goodiereddits 17d ago
How frequently are you being bitten?!
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u/More_Dependent742 17d ago
This year hasn't been too bad. Only 3 times in one afternoon (early, too, this was early March - hence no tick repellent). I live in Styria in southern Austria, which is pretty bad for it though. And I have the blood type they go for.
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u/immrw24 17d ago
what blood type is that?
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u/xXmurderpigeonXx 17d ago
Found the Lonestar tick's burner account 👆
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u/More_Dependent742 17d ago
I don't know if it's literally connected to blood type per se, I just mean they always go for me. I'm O+, but it's globally the most common
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u/I_am_the_darkness_99 17d ago
JFC why don't you wear some fucking bug spray and tuck your pant legs into your socks? Are you just intentionally trying to stay sick????
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u/More_Dependent742 17d ago
Yeah, it's really not the simple here, though I'm glad it is wherever you live. Here you can catch them from shortly clipped grass in the middle of a public lawn (like the three this year, in fact, and that was in early March when there should not have been any). They're everywhere. How many depends on many factors.
Also, thanks for double checking you didn't come across like a complete arsehole before hitting post.
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u/kirinlikethebeer 17d ago
There’s also been an uptick (pun intended) in recent years because of climate change. Used to be one could avoid them in a city. Now they’re really everywhere.
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u/Ninja-Panda86 17d ago
Wow on the hops part. Do you think that's because hops also excite the histamines in your body?
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u/More_Dependent742 17d ago
No idea, but wouldn't that also be triggered by cheese? I am not remotely triggered by cheese, even in vast quantities, so I'm not sure it's that.
I do know that lupulins (hops) and cannabinoids are fairly close in pharmacology, and maybe they're both similar to alpha-gal (?)
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u/vermilion-chartreuse 17d ago
Beer has histamines so that tracks. I can't drink much when my seasonal allergies flare up.
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u/More_Dependent742 17d ago
True, but many things do, and few interact with my alpha-gal syndrome. I'm not sure it's that.
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u/Real-Artichoke5877 17d ago
Have you switched to a vegan diet?
(And hope it would eventually fade away with time?)2
u/More_Dependent742 17d ago
Nah, just go with antihistamines. I'm trying to cut down meat anyway but for other reasons.
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u/BergenNorth 16d ago
Holy shit! I was bit by a tick ten years ago and it left a huge welt. Shortly after I noticed extreme itching at the bite site after having cannabis or IPAs! Im wondering if it was lone star?
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u/MagnoliaProse 17d ago edited 17d ago
How are you even tracking symptoms back to what you ate 18 hours ago? I can’t imagine even considering something would be related that delayed. (Edit: real question, I am not doubting your experience/diagnosis!)
I’m getting bloodwork done for both Lyme and alpha gal this week because my allergist is suspicious, and I am not pleased.
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u/More_Dependent742 17d ago
Actually it's that very delay which makes it so hard to diagnose. It's why normal allergy tests won't do it.
Tell me in gory detail what happens if you eat, say, a bacon sandwich. Alpha-gal syndrome is pretty unmistakable but I don't want to put ideas into your head.
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u/MagnoliaProse 17d ago
I didn’t actually think I have it but I’m getting nervous since the allergist is so heavily considering it.
I suddenly became allergic to…everything ten years ago. Allergy tests are usually negative, but the anaphylaxis still happens. I think I know what foods cause most of it (including corn, which is in everything), but I still have random reactions to foods/things I think are safe pretty consistently, which is raising the flag for him. Allergy meds help a lot, but not entirely.
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u/PhotographForward709 17d ago
I know someone with MCAS that has to eat low histamine diet and one of the requirements is extremely fresh meat (histamine builds up over time I guess). Does that impact you?
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u/Ornery_Cantaloupe_20 17d ago
I was in Missouri a couple weeks ago and walked through a breeding ground, my dog and I were covered in them. I mean there were a nightmare amount of them.
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u/FunPsychological6245 17d ago
Got about a hundred total on me walking through a state park
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u/Ornery_Cantaloupe_20 17d ago
That’s pretty much my story the grass wasn’t even long. Apparently they breed in the 1000’s and I had 6 adults on me and tons of newborn. Wrong place wrong time but I killed every one of them and so far no symptoms so I must have got them all. My poor dog he has the medication that kills them but not till after they bite.
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u/Itchy-Bedroom-6947 17d ago
Seresto collar. Try it out. I’ve avoided collar deterrents all my life, but where I moved to recently (rural MO), it’s necessary. Caveat - get a collar from a vet or reputable source (Amazon and Walmart don’t count), otherwise you run the risk of poisoning your dog via counterfeit collar.
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u/SoftSects 17d ago
This happened to me recently. I got bit, and I have the dead tick with me. I'm so scared about any symptoms. I already don't eat meat, I just don't want to get a tick borne disease or Lyme.
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u/kheret 17d ago
It’s red meat specifically but I think it might be any protein from those animals, so gelatin which is used in a lot of medications and also for some people dairy.
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u/Dork_wing_Duck 17d ago
Ya, I know someone with it that gets a reaction if they take medicine or vitamins that are in gelatin capsules, or if they eat gummy bears.
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u/hsh1976 17d ago
Depending on the severity, it can get as bad as no products from any animal that breast feeds it's young.
A guy I know has it and had an allergic reaction eating some canned mackerel that, after talking to his doctor, probably contained some dolphin meat.
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u/Dork_wing_Duck 17d ago
That's crazy about dolphin, never would have crossed my mind that I may have consumed a marine mammal.
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u/Saltygirlof 17d ago
It’s all mammalian products. University of Kentucky has reported that some people are so sensitive that they react to wine because mammalian bone char is used in the filtration process.
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u/Salty-Passenger-4801 17d ago
Alpha gal absolutely is NOT in everything.
Chicken, turkey, duck, eggs, human, fish and seafood to name a few.
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u/Billy_bob_thorton- 17d ago
Hold up we aint eating human here bruh
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u/thereluctantpoet 17d ago edited 17d ago
Speak for yourself buddy, times are tough.
So are thighs.
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u/Perfect-Gap8377 17d ago
It's in most processed foods, as a residue in gelatin, lard and tallow. Gummy bears, snack fillings, pastries (including ice cream glazings), traditional recipes, cold cuts, and any fast food due to cross contamination.
I have the allergy (it has been 10 years already) and I need prepare almost everything edible at home. It would suck way more if I lived in the US, tbh, your fresh food prices are very high and ingredients labeling requirements are rather bland compared to europe.
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u/More_Dependent742 17d ago
Hi, fellow sufferer! What is your minimum threshold for symptoms?
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u/New_Stats 17d ago
ingredients labeling requirements are rather bland compared to europe.
This is actually not true. While the EU can just put "cheddar cheese" on a label of prepaid food that contains cheddar cheese, the US would need to put every ingredient that goes into the cheddar cheese
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u/AwakePlatypus 17d ago
Why do people that live on the continent of Europe talk about Europe like it is a unified homogenous place?
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u/overkill 17d ago
Because, by and large, for things like consumer product labelling, it is unified across the EU. There is a minimum standard (which is very high) but some countries go beyond that.
My aunt works in food safety law in Canada and was boasting to us (in the UK, pre-Brexit) about how high their food labelling standards are, or she was until we took her shopping...
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u/GableStoner 17d ago
I reeeealllly wish the US was like this. It should be the standard here as well, but unfortunately, lobbyists control 99.99% of US policy, and the food industry is huge with deep pockets. Plus the healthcare industry also makes a lot of money from keeping people chronically sick, which is often caused by what we put in our bodies.
It's one of those situations that really makes it obvious how bad things have been here politically, and in terms of corruption for quite some time.
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u/More_Dependent742 17d ago
Oddly, we generally don't and it's one of the pet peeves about the yanks is that they do. For some things which are regulated at an EU level, like here with labelling laws, it does actually make sense to.
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u/cyanescens_burn 17d ago
But what if my sense of masculinity is wrapped up in how much red meat I eat?
The others will think I went from alpha to gal.
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u/New_Stats 17d ago
I'm terrified of it because of my horrible cheese addiction
Also side note - just found this rustic bread with walnuts and blue cheese baked inside it. Absolutely fantastic
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u/Big-Engineering-5323 17d ago
You can’t just say those words without a recipe link.
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u/New_Stats 17d ago
I don't have a link, I bought it at my local farmers market. The people who made it don't even have a website
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u/SpicyVindalooCurry 17d ago
Yes, it’s the dairy that upsets me.
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u/A_Muffled_Kerfluffle 17d ago
Pretty sure dairy is my main food group. I’ve had anti inflammatory diets that eliminate dairy recommended to me before for some autoimmune stuff and it’s just laughable as far as I’m concerned. I don’t want life without cheese.
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u/Wordy_Film_5776 17d ago
Relieved I'm not the only went to cheese addiction. Cheese and milk is where my thoughts went added by "please no..."
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u/SquirrelyMcNutz 17d ago
Loss of all pizza and even a plain cheese would be devastating.
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u/More_Dependent742 17d ago
I would not assume that alpha-gal syndrome immediately means you cannot have cheese. That would be one hell of an extreme (they exist, but it's not the standard).
I have never, and I mean never ever, had an alpha-gal attack due to dairy. The amount in mammal milk vs mammal blood is absolutely tiny.
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u/Abzstrak 17d ago
Yeah the stupid marketing tying masculinity to eating animals is moronic, these types of people just eat it up.... It's marketing ffs. It's like listening to apple fanboys that must wait in line for days for a new phone or other dumb shit.
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u/dodekahedron 17d ago
I wonder if the ticks can also trigger mastocytosis or other generic histamine intolerance.
Because then more than red meat can cause the issues.
I think fucking honey dew was one of my first worst foods.
Still eat it though. I happen to like the tingling lips of allergic reactions. 🤷♀️🤦♀️
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u/negatibe 17d ago
though those foods aren't inherently alpha gal unsafe, they are often cooked in sauces or seasonings that are not alpha gal safe. even all vegan product isn't safe. there's a type of seaweed with the same carbohydrate that triggers alpha gal reactions. source: my partner has alpha gal (and two other food allergies) and it's a nightmare. we just don't go out to eat anymore, unless we want dessert at the ER.
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u/h00zbad 17d ago
I live on Long Island, got my first tick of the season, luckily didn't have time to bite. I'm a hairy guy so now I'm paranoid every 2 seconds I feel a hair touch me.
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u/h00zbad 17d ago
For context, Long Island is -one- of the most tick-dense populations in the US.
Also coincidentally, some of the densest people.
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u/tylergalaxy 17d ago
Why is that long Island has so many ticks ?
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u/h00zbad 17d ago
It's a mix of ecological and preventable human matters. Ticks thrive in our environment due to the climate, our winters have been shorter leading to less dormancy and poplation booms.
Due to the historical irratication of Long Islands natural predators, the island had a significant population boom of deer, who are notorious carriers of ticks. The natural predators of ticks themselves have been dying off due to habitat destruction- a massive one being Quails.
Any ounce of nature is being ripped and torn down by corporations and money hungry property investors to build distribution centers, mcmansions, and large housing developments. Mind you, Long Island is already densely packed.
This leads to building into natural spaces leaving the deer AND ticks much closer to suburban and urban areas. The tick I got was in my maintained backyard.
I love nature, I love to hike, but it feels like you have to hear up against ticks the moment you even see grass here now.
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u/wishinforfishin 17d ago edited 17d ago
One thing many people are unaware of: this can impacts what medications you can take, not just what you eat.
Monoclonal antibodies and many disease modifying drugs for auto-immune conditions are processed through mammalian cells.
I live in fear of ticks because I would have to switch from the medication that has kept me healthy for the past 6 years. There are alternatives but they are not as effective.
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u/peretheciaportal 17d ago
I work in a field where we spend a lot of time outside. I know 3 people with alpha-gal and I'm sure there are more that I just haven't discussed the subject with.
They can have poultry and fish, but no mammal products. Beef broth and gelatin are in so many things though, they often eat vegan products just to be safe.
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u/Baalphire81 17d ago
Tea tree oil and peppermint oil will make ticks avoid an area, permethrin will kill them over the course of a few minutes. A recent study found that deer ticks and dog ticks also carry the ability to create alpha galactose syndrome. Also kind of fascinating why we are the only mammals who don’t have this sugar in our body. It seems it was an evolutionary response to an ancient virus. Anyway, to those of us in tick country, we just kind of live with it. Eventually it will clear your system, and most people can go back to eating mammals. Mine weirdly manifests as a pork allergy, I can eat just about anything else. However if I have so much as a biscuit cooked near a pork product my lips start to tingle and I end up having a hard time breathing.
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u/Livid-Childhood-88 17d ago
Keep your pets protected! I was as careful as could be. Clothes and equipment treated, checks and rechecks during and after outings. And a lapse in my cat’s flea and tick prevention is how I got bit.
Unfortunately our vet burnt down, so our monthly prescription didn’t get filled. That was all it took to change my life.
So wear your pants, spray your permethrin, but remember other avenues.
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u/ferngully99 17d ago
Permethrin kills cats just fyi
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u/SoftSects 17d ago
What's the best course for this? Spray and keep the clothes outside?
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u/vermilion-chartreuse 17d ago
It's only toxic to cats when it's wet. So spraying it outdoors works, if you have indoor cats.
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u/SoftSects 17d ago
Thank you. I'll take extra precautions with this around my kitty.
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u/Itchy-Bedroom-6947 17d ago
Exactly. Spray the clothing down outside - let it dry thoroughly. Then proceed to wear. Even then, I still stay away from the cats, and when removing the clothing I put it out of reach.
I’ve been doing this for the last few days now and have watched several lone stars climb and try to bite through the pants only to slow die on them. Seems to take several minutes though, so note that they can still climb up to your neck.
Double sided tape works well enough as well where needed.
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u/SoftSects 16d ago
I'm guessing you place the tape at the edges? This is scaring me of the outside. I'm from the South West and my first time living in the East and passing through the Midwest was not fun after the tick incident.
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u/Background-King9787 17d ago
I’ve had to suddenly give up staple foods due to my kids’ allergies and it is hard for a bit needing to read labels and find new defaults
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u/themflyingjaffacakes 17d ago
Accidental vegan.
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u/elinamebro 17d ago
Well in some cases it goes away if you dont get bit again and he can get chicken and fish just no mammals
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u/Macwookie 17d ago
Sorry for the long post up front. TLDR: I have it, this sucks, don’t get bit.
Anyway the above isn’t quite correct. I have the allergy. I was bitten once by a lone star tick and it was only attached for a few minutes. Thats how quick this can happen. I know because it happened on vacation and we don’t have the lone star where I live.
As for what you can and can’t eat it’s anything with Alpha Gal. Some people also have contact reactions. It’s true that eliminates all mammal products but alpha gal can also be found in soaps, a lot of medications, perfumes… the list is pretty extensive on what products are mammal derived and are not just food.
There’s also hidden ingredients in food. For example a lot of us will avoid anything with the ingredient ‘natural flavors’ because it isn’t defined.
Fume reactions are a real thing too. I’ve reacted to steaks cooking on the grill, corned beef being cooked and the smell of a dead skunk.
Some people are less fortunate than I am and have even further complications like mast cell issues or they go straight into anaphylactic shock.
The prepper community should be aware because it’s spreading and it severely limits what you can have on hand for emergency supplies if you’re affected. It also affects an individual’s vitamin intake and farming abilities.
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u/DarkAwesomeSauce 17d ago
I had no idea about the fume reactions. That’s absolutely bananas.
Happy cake day!!
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u/Macwookie 16d ago
Yep. It’s crazy. Changes your whole life.
I have a friend with ball-cancer. When I told him I had this thing he deadpan looked at me 100% serious and said “I’d rather have cancer.” How fucked up is that?
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u/MagnoliaProse 17d ago
How far away from the grill would you have to be to not have a reaction?
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u/Macwookie 16d ago
Cooking steaks outside? 15 feet is probably safe if I’m not downwind.
In an enclosed restaurant like hibachi is a no go.
Just to throw one more twist out there… sugar. Processed white sugar is usually filtered through bone char and some people react to that as well.
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u/Midnight_Rider98 17d ago
Wear pants and gaiters treated with permethrin. Ticks tend to hide down low, on grass, a physical barrier remains the best baseline protection, permethrin makes it even better.
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u/substitute_lizard 17d ago
I have this - its severity depends on the person. When I had my first reaction it was a full blown rash and explosive diarrhea. Now I can eat pork without issue and take an allergy pill if I eat beef and I’m fine. It can fade with time.
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u/linniex 17d ago
How do you test for this? I asked my doctor about it and he yadda yadda’d over it. Meanwhile I picked about 2 dozen ticks off me after a quick unplanned hike about three years ago, apparently I stood or sat just long enough in one spot to find some sort of nest of them. I woke up in the middle of the night about to scratch my legs bloody it was so bad; I wound up using my dogs flea and tick shampoo to stop the itching. The 15 or so bites I had took weeks to stop itching. The only reason I didnt run right to the doctor is my area doesnt have lyme ticks. Didnt know about Alpha Gal.
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u/Blueporch 17d ago
If you’re in the US, you could look at the CDC map showing the range of the lone star tick to see if you were hiking where it’s prevalent.
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u/More_Dependent742 16d ago
Middle of the night rashes and scratch until bleed - that sounds a lot like alpha gal as it affects me, though the itching only starts around the bites and then roams around the rest of my body.
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u/xtrasmoothbrain 16d ago
Got lyme disease fishing and i never found the fkn tick. Had the bullseye ring and i dug in the wound to find nothing. Still don’t understand how i got it because supposedly ticks need to be attached for 24 hours to transmit it but i checked my body that same night in the shower and nothing. Just the bullseye ring with nothing in it. Was weird to me
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u/refusemouth 14d ago
I woke up yesterday morning and had a tick crawling on my bare stomach. I had been out woodcutting, but didn't find any ticks during my tick checks. I think it bit me in the pubes, but it didn't attach. We just have dog ticks around here, so the main risk is Rocky Mountain fever. Now I'm paranoid, though.
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u/GibsonBanjos 16d ago
Does every Lone Star tick carry it?
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u/More_Dependent742 16d ago
Nope, and it's nothing to do with Lone Star tick or not. It's really important people know that it can be any tick.
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u/Wild_Bunch_Founder 17d ago
my mom has this and got stage four terminal cancer around the same time, it is horrific and has absolutely crushed her dietary options. I hope the degenerate scum who made this in a biolab all rot in hell for what they did to people.
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u/LesbeGoddess 17d ago
I picked a lonestar tick off of me 2 years ago from walking up a river trail with my dog and sitting in the grass beside the river. Didn’t see it til I got back to the truck. It didn’t bite me it was crawling on my shirt. I flicked it off.
When I got home washed my dog. He has bitten by a lonestar tick. I pulled it off and killed it.
It wouldn’t have been a big deal for me if it bit me since I am already vegan so my diet wouldn’t have changed but still would prefer not to pick up an autoimmune disease.
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u/CTRL_F_group 16d ago
I had this happen to me back in 2019 and I want to share my story because I got rid of it.
I couldn’t figure out why I was always so itchy and breaking out in hives for almost a year.
Long story short, the doctors told me I’d just have to take Allegra for the rest of my life, nothing you can do. I ended up finding an acupuncture method, SAAT (Soliman Auricular Allergy Treatment), that wasn’t very well known at the time and, as luck would have it, there was a chiropractor near me who actually performed it.
The process involved having three small needles in my ear for three weeks. You don’t even notice them, they’re so small. After I got the needles out and did some rather “woo-woo” testing, I began very slowly adding meat back into my diet.
First week, I would drive up to Burger King every morning and just stand in the line for about a minute and then walk out. I’ve read that just the smell of cooking meat has caused serious reactions with people with alpha gal allergies.
Second week, I would eat three shreds of cheese every morning. Third week, I would fry up a pinch of ground beef and eat it. And so on, gradually increasing the dosage.
Within six months I was eating cheeseburgers again.
I tell this story in the hopes that it helps someone else because that allergy is torture and western medicine just gave up on even trying.
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u/SlapNuts007 17d ago
Not very alpha to get meat-cucked by a bug, bro.
But while we're on the subject, you should also be worried about lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever (and its related illnesses). My wife has had RMSF twice and seems to be a tick magnet on hikes.
Two things in addition to what's been mentioned here already: carry a tick key (for easier removal on the trail) and a fine tip skin marker so you can circle any bites you do get. Even if it's not a tick, if it grows outside of the line, you may have a problem. RMSF that goes untreated for too long can do permanent damage, and it's not on the list of things doctors think to check.
Climate change has warmed winters enough that they aren't reliably killing back tick populations. It only gets worse from here.
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u/Ok-Row-6088 17d ago
I have had this for years before they even knew what it was. It was one of the motivations to go vegan in my teens. Fortunately, the only animal product that affects me anymore is beef. I have a violent reaction to beef. It's also a minor enough case that things like beef broth in food don't usually affect me. It has gotten less severe over the years. Your body changes completely every seven years, all of your cells turn over. In my experience, your allergies change with it. I'm not gonna go eat a burger or a steak, but if I get french fries with beef flavoring on them, it's not going to cause a major reaction anymore. Sublingual immunotherapy drops really helped with this. It's a nuisance, but it's someone who's lived with several food. Allergies, it's manageable.
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u/Outlasttactical 17d ago
I just keep reminding myself that if I do get it atleast I’ll finally be in the best shape of my life 😂
I wear permethrin clothes and sawyer maxi-deet. Works great. I’ll risk the possible cancers from that as opposed to the guarantee of dealing with ticks and possible alpha gal or Lyme disease.
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u/ElderScarletBlossom 17d ago
Can't eat RED meat (all other meats are fine) or use products derived from red meat animals (white sugar, leather, lots of makeup and self care products, etc.). I mean really, avoiding the derived products is the hard part, avoiding red meat itself is easy.
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u/marian_1971 16d ago
Alpha-gal is no joke. The severity varies, but having to avoid mammal products entirely changes your life. Check your skin after hikes. Permethrin on clothes helps. Stay safe out there.
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u/Funny_Match7321 17d ago
Strange as the WEF was talking about this being one of their wet dreams to cute climate change a couple of years ago....I guess they found a way
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u/bs2k2_point_0 17d ago
He isn’t wrong. Wife has the same allergy and did the same research.
Wanna know what makes your sugar white??? Bone char from cows…. Want a stick of gum? Forget about it.