Allergic to Weed (Cannabis)

I am not a Cannabis smoker.  Yet, I have a severe allergy to Cannabis.  Not only do I get a contact rash and or irritation I also get the watery eyes, shortness of breath, etc.  Normal allergy symptoms.  The problem is it does not stop there.  In fact it has become deathly for me as my respiratory system shuts down all together without some sort of immediate help.  I have been hospitalized twice and of course the doctors all say it has to be something else.  In fact other than being told to take Benadryl I have never received any medical help to save my life.  I'm sorry if I sound angry ... I am just really frustrated.  I can no longer go to concerts, or even amusement parks.  Shoot I had a reaction in the grocery store parking lot the other day.  If you have any words of wisdom on how to keep my reactions under control enough where I am not scared to go anywhere I would really appreciate it.  The Benadryl doesn't work .. most antihistamines have no effect whatsoever.  The only counter remedy I have even been able to find is an albuterol inhaler and a menthol cigarette to open my lungs as much as possible so I can cough out the toxin.  This is not only dangerous but very painful.  So again if you have any ideas ... please help.  I would like to go on living in this country ... not hiding from it.

Thank You

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Thanks for writing to the forum!
Has your allergy to cannabis been found by tests? What is important is you must find out what is causing this allergy. Common allergens are pollen, mold, dust, pet dander, synthetic fiber, cosmetics or drugs. You must get an allergy test done, either a skin test or RAST, to know what you are allergic to. Many fruits, wheat, sea food, coloring agents, preservatives in food etc cause food allergy. There are various tests designed to test for food allergy. You need to take those tests to know if your allergy is due to any food item.
Keep an Epipen with you for emergencies.
Hope this helps. It is difficult to comment beyond this at this stage. Do consult your doctor. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!

[kookeraa]

hi, i have the exact same problem as you, and i recently found out about this.

The first time i ever had to encounter this problem, was when i went out to downtown to celebrate the montreal habs hockey playoffs win with my friends, couple of weeks ago.

There were lots of people. Lots of people, attracting lots of cops, accidents and violent actions occured and cops eventually had to pop their pepper spray bombs and i thought the pepper spray had caused my body and my face as well, to get rashes and bumps like an allergy that lasted for 2days; causing me to look like an oversteroid zombie(ugly).

But today, I was playing basketball with my friends and as soon as i smelled weed in the court, my ears started heating up, my forehead was getting hot and in a minute or two, my face was back to the zombie mode that i feared... i ran home, took a 20minute cold shower, and finally had doubts about this allergy, if it had to do anything with weed.

so then i asked my friends and talked to my family, and came to a conclusion that the night of hockey celebration night, wasn't the pepper spray but weed, like earlier today.

I am now angry and mad because my face is swollen and having to think that i won't be able to go out to concerts and playgrounds like you have mentioned, im honestly frustrated and worried to hell.

you said that Benadryl doesn't work... i'm going to go get this checked out, but im still scared about this and just like you, i would like some answers.

[Scared2go]

I also am allergic to weed and hemp. My throat starts itching, my tongue swells and my throat starts closing. In addition I am covered in hives wherever i was touched by the exposure to weed. It is so bad that if my husband, who works in a pot friendly industry, shakes hands with someone who has touch marijuana, hemp, or the smoke. When my husband gets home, if he hasn't washed that hand, I have a reaction. If he wipes his hands on his pants until he can get to a sink, I am safe until I was his pants. It has made it very annoying to go anywhere. I am especially afraid when going to events related to his career as people aren't open about it. I've tried saying I have a cold but people still get offended if I won't touch them. I have an epipen. But they are expensive and expire too frequently for the money. I take Zyrtec daily and it doesn't always keep me safe enough.