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Women's health stories

Whether it's going through the menopause, living with breast cancer or coming to terms with endometriosis, you're far from being alone. This is where you can hear other patients' experiences of living with and treating certain women's health-related issues. If you’d like to share your own story, please get in touch with us!

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Food & allergies

My Random Allergy - Poppy Seeds and Exercise Induced Anaphylaxis

I've had hayfever since the age of 7 and at the age of around 23, I suddenly developed an allergy to horses. They are standard and very common as far as allergies go, and both are pretty easy to deal with.

If I can't avoid freshly cut grass or being around horses (surprisingly difficult as my sister has a horse, that I would often look after whilst she went on holiday), I am able to medicate myself with antihistamines and I can limit the severity of my symptoms by using eye drops, wearing sun glasses and not rubbing my eyes.

So far, so humdrum. The same can't be said for the rather odd allergy I was diagnosed with a few years ago at the age of 34. Being a bit of a gym bunny as well as a snowboarder, I was visiting the gym several times a week and was generally fit, active and well.

 

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Shell, UK