My daughter, Madeline, and I fell in love with camping in fall of 2024. As we continued meeting new friends and enjoying new experiences through camping, I discovered a dispersed campground that was entirely primitive and decided to book a weekend. The owner bushhogged some new spots and we selected one of those for our site. I didn’t realize that the ticks would be on the move out of the freshly cleared areas, trying to find tall grass. We used bug spray and stayed out of the overgrowth, but I ended up with five ticks. The following week, I started to feel off. By the end of the week, the back of my leg started itching badly and I discovered a lonestar tick I had missed. The doctor eventually ran bloodwork and the test came back positive for Alpha-gal Syndrome. The doctor’s advice; don’t eat red meat.
Had I known how pervasive mammal products and byproducts are, I probably would have changed my approach to dealing with AGS much more drastically. After eliminating all obvious sources, I kept getting sick, taking up to three days to recover. I narrowed it down further, changing my dish soap, bath soap, toothpaste etc. — anything that had gelatin or glycerin in it. I continued to get sick. I eliminated the medicines I was taking and went to the pharmacy to see if there were any mammal free options, but I got a report basically saying very few medicines were safe for me. I put in a whole-house reverse osmosis system which eliminated my reaction to hot showers on county water. I even microwaved a hot dog for Madeline and had a reaction, which even made breathing feel scary. During this time, I went to the ER seven times and had to take twelve EpiPen shots. Each ER visit meant feeling horrible for three to five days. After my first ER trip, I knew I needed to have an emergency plan in place. Today, I am still dealing with the repercussions of that tick bite, avoiding animal products and byproducts in order to stay well and out of the ER. However, I now have the information and resources necessary to maintain some sense of normalcy.
