During the Covid 19 pandemic I had a chance to ponder about things I would not normally have time to consider, like… is it possible to heal from allergies? During visits to cat owners I had to endure incredibly uncomfortable symptoms; at the very least a runny nose and some tightening of the throat, at its worst difficulty breathing and needing to pull out the inhaler. I liked cats but I could not be near them and feel at ease, let alone touch them, despite the sweet sensation of their silky fur.
I had tried immunotherapy for dust mites, as well as antihistamines and corticosteroids for my chronic symptoms of multiple allergies. I had been on all the drugs and quit all the drugs. Quitting helped a little. Not consuming dairy products and acupuncture helped with the chronic rhinitis, but I could still not approach cats unscathed.
I started searching the net for people’s testimonials of healing from allergies. I found one person, who claimed not to experience symptoms when unaware that there were cats around. I had so far been influenced by the medical model and, although, it felt plausible that there was a strong psychosomatic component to allergies, I had not researched this possibility in any depth.
Piecing together different strategies from my psychological toolbox I came up with an experimental approach that I was ready to test on myself. The first step consisted in understanding at which point in my life I had been exposed to cats in any way that the brain could construe as “dangerous”. If I managed to find instances like this, that could explain why my immune system learnt to react to cats as threatening stimuli.
Using imagery and floating myself back into the the past, I found two relevant memories. One where I was a child playing on a beach with a street cat. I was enchanted by the cat but at some point my eyes started itching and they became watery. When I got home I saw the skin around my eyes was covered in little red dots. When reliving this memory, I told myself that the cat might have had some disease. However, when I was a child, I concluded that the cat was harmful for me.
The second memory involved a little kitten that my family adopted and which I found dead in front of the fridge one morning just a few days after it having arrived into our home. I was the first person to find the kitten dead and it had a great impact on me. It was the first animal I ever saw in dead. I felt shocked and saddened. I could not wrap my head around the fact that it had died, and so young. I had some feelings of guilt, wondering if I had failed to take good enough care of the kitten. From this memory arose the association of the presence of cats causing emotional pain. So, with these two memories identified, it seemed plausible that my immune system would try to protect me from these “unsafe” creatures.
Then I needed to reprogram myself so as to break the association of cats being unsafe by “telling” my body to stay calm in the presence of cats. I did this in a two-step fashion. The first step consisted of (1) looking at pictures of cats while regulating my breathing. Working on the breathing was key because when our brain perceives danger, the stress response begins with hyperventilation, which allows greater oxygenation of the muscles, so we can fight or escape from danger. By slowing down my breathing and keeping it regular, I was telling my body that seeing cats could be done without initiating the stress response.
Then (2) I used imagery again combined with breathwork again. I would imagine being in the presence of cats and interacting with them in a pleasurable way with no negative consequences. Throughout the imagery exercises I would focus on regulating my breathing. This reinforced the new association that had started forming while looking at photos of cats and breathing steadily and regularly at the same time.
After a few trials of exposure through photos and imagery, I felt ready to try some live exposure. So, I asked a cat-owner friend if I could expose myself to their cat. I remember entering the building and going up the stairs with some expectancy and curiosity while trying to pace my breathing and telling my brain that it was going to be a delightful encounter.
My friend opened the door and the cat was playfully tempting me to engage with her. I walked in eagerly and we started playing. This was very new to me: letting a cat approach me and touching it without reservations. This went on for a good while. I remember then sitting on the couch with my friend and sharing how I was feeling. There was a little bit of watery snot dripping down my nose but I could breathe and I felt relaxed. I was enjoying being in the presence of my friend’s cat and I could hardly believe it was true.
My next live experiment was at another friend’s place, this time with two cats at once. I repeated the same procedure. I was on the floor with both cats, playing and brushing their fur. I had zero symptoms and my friend, who was aware of my allergy, was quite astonished. I asked her to film me, so I could share with people, who had seen me out of breath with cats in the past. I was rejoiced.
I continued with the live experiments. After some time I stopped calling them experiments. It was the new normal. Since then I have even slept over at places with multiple cats without symptoms. Today I can say I am symptom free. I can’t remember the last time I used the inhaler. I stopped carrying it with me. My lung capacity is now in the normal range and other allergies have also disappeared. I can enjoy spring outdoors!
I shared this experience with a Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) practitioner friend and, in response, he shared this video with me (https://jevondangeli.com/nlp-allergy-relief-process/). In the video he is carrying out an intervention on a client, who used to be allergic to pollen. The client recovered completely and permanently. To our surprise the method I used was incredibly similar to the NLP method for allergy relief. I am sharing here some more resources from NLP masters Robert Dilts (https://anlp.org/people/robert-dilts) and Tim Hallbom (https://www.timhallbom.com/). The book in which Hallbom & Dilts describe the NLP Allergy Relief Procedure is: https://www.amazon.com/Beliefs-Pathways-Well-Being-Robert-Dilts/dp/1555520294.
It is possible to recover from allergic conditions without medication! This, I believe, is something worth sharing. I hope you find it useful. Feel free to share.
Multilingual Psychological Services, Dr Désirée gonzalo 