Can you tolerate a certain amount of an allergen?

Answer 1

There are a number of views about Allergies. Most doctors agree that not all allergies are "all or none"; you may be able to tolerate a certain amount of an allergen without reacting. Once you exceed a certain amount, your body reacts. NOTE: this is not true of all allergens, especially peanuts and shellfish, which may cause quick, life threatening reactions. For some allergens, any amount is too much!

Your doctor may use various metaphors when discussing allergies. Most have to do with some threshold amount of allergens that a person can tolerate. Once this amount is exceeded, allergic symptoms appear. (One common term is "glass of resistance" -- once the glass is full, you react). The amount of allergens tolerated can depend on a number of things: stress levels, the particular allergen, the combination of allergens, illness, etc. As time goes on, an allergy sufferer can determine just how much, if any, of what is ok. For food allergies, some recommend a rotation diet in which various foods are eaten in rotation so that no one food is ever eaten more than once in a three-to-five day period. (The food juggling gets very complicated, but some find that the rotation diet helps them. The best thing to do is read about it and decide for yourself.)