How In The World Does One Develop a Soy Allergy in Her 40s???

Last year, we were driving home after visiting another state for a week.  We stopped at a Ruby Tuesdays for dinner.  The salad bar was tempting me so I put together a salad.  While eating my salad, my mouth started to feel weird.  The roof of my mouth felt like it was developing 'ridges' and my nose started to feel like it was closing up.  I knew instinctively that this must be an allergic reaction to something but what?  I let the family finish their meal and then we went out to the car where I took a Benadryl.  The reaction was more annoying than anything else.  The Benadryl starting working shortly afterward so I thought this was a fluke.

I was wrong.

Within a week, it happened again but not as intensely.  My mouth just felt weird but because it wasn't major, I didn't think much of it.  But then it happened again and again and again.

I knew I had some sort of allergy but to what?  Every time it started happening, I'd read the food label or look up the food online if it was from a fast food place or restaurant.  I'm not sure why it took me more than a month to realize it was soy but, I remember specifically having a cookie from Publix and reaction.  I saw the soy hidden in the ingredients and thought, "Why is there soy in a cookie?" And then it hit me, it was the soy. 

So now I knew I had a soy allergy.  Well, that should be easy to avoid I thought.  I don't eat Chinese food that often, how hard could this be.

It's hard.

Soy is in EVERYTHING now or maybe it just seems that way to me.  Sometimes my reactions are barely noticeable and I just think, "Oops, that had soy."  Other times, like the granola cereal I had a month or two back, I think, "I'll NEVER eat that again," because my reaction was enough to cause me to take Benadryl.

I'm starting this blog because I am now really starting to learn about my new allergy.  I want a place to share my experiences and share what I learn.  I also want a place where I can talk to others who have this same allergy. 

I just want to know I'm not alone in this.

Thanks for reading.