iThei mdcdaelcinfd o c elllllrlllll tcfdohsc dtA previously straight-A student, I barely passed my classes that semester.
Discouraged, I spent the summer after my freshman year going to bed at
9 p.m., only to wake feeling exhausted around 1 or 2 p.m. the next day.
Within a few months, my need for sleep gradually decreased, but I felt I
never fully recovered, requiring much more sleep than I had prior to the
mono infection.
A few years later, during the first year of my pharmacy studies, I was
required to undergo a series of immunizations before starting my clini-
cal rotations, and I developed irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) with diar-
rhea, which seemed to be triggered by soy lecithin. After cutting out soy
lecithin–containing foods, my symptoms reduced from daily to once or
twice a week. Removing red meat from my diet eliminated the symptoms
entirely.
A bout of urinary tract, yeast, and throat infections as well as acne the
following year led to the use of additional antibiotics.
My lifestyle was filled with fast food, late-night study sessions, caffeine,
stress, and virtually no time for myself.
Toward the end of my fourth year of pharmacy school, I started noticing
an onset of anxiety symptoms. I attributed the anxiety to the changes
I was undergoing at the time: graduating, taking board exams, getting
engaged, moving to a new city, finding a new job ...
The following year, I came down with a severe viral infection with the
hacking, lungs-coming-out kind of cough. The lack of energy went away
after a few days of missed work and lying around at home, but the cough
lingered. I would wake up in the middle of the night choking. I often
would experience uncontrollable fits of coughing while counseling pa-
tients at the pharmacy where I worked. One day I was coughing so hard,
I vomited in a trash can in the bathroom.
“Are you pregnant?” one of the clerks asked with an assuming smile.
“No, I take pills for that,” I replied.
Being a pharmacist, I tried every over-the-counter cough syrup that was
available at the drug store where I worked. The cough persisted. I tried
Claritin®, Zyrtec®, Allegra®, Flonase®, Albuterol—none of which helped.
I then saw an allergy specialist after a primary care doctor ran a blood
allergy test that revealed—yikes!—I was allergic to dogs (and potentially
our adorable Pomeranian puppy)! The allergy specialist ran more detailed