March 30, 2026

Ticks & Alpha-Gal Syndrome: What Every RVer Needs to Know

Send us Fan Mail Ticks & Alpha-Gal Syndrome Sponsored by RV Roofing Solutions Ticks aren't just creepy — they can change your life. In this eye-opening episode, Tasha and Jennifer dig into one of the most underreported tick-borne conditions on the rise across the U.S.: Alpha-Gal Syndrome. Tasha shares her family’s personal journey after her son David was diagnosed last year, revealing how a single tick bite triggered a red meat and mammal-product allergy that impacts everything from groce...

Show Notes
Transcript

Send us Fan Mail

Ticks & Alpha-Gal Syndrome Sponsored by RV Roofing Solutions

Ticks aren't just creepy — they can change your life. In this eye-opening episode, Tasha and Jennifer dig into one of the most underreported tick-borne conditions on the rise across the U.S.: Alpha-Gal Syndrome. Tasha shares her family’s personal journey after her son David was diagnosed last year, revealing how a single tick bite triggered a red meat and mammal-product allergy that impacts everything from grocery shopping to dining out on the road.

Learn How:

• To identify Alpha-Gal Syndrome and which ticks (yes, more than one!) can cause it

• Alpha-Gal Syndrome is spreading into new regions and what that means for RVers and outdoor explorers

• Alpha-Gal hides in everyday food products and medicines, not just red meat

• To know you should talk to your doctor

• Practical steps can protect your family on the trail

Links & Resources:

🚐 RV Roofing Solutions: rvroofingsolutions.com

🌿 Mayo Clinic, Alpha-Gal Syndrome: mayoclinic.org

🏥 Cleveland Clinic, Alpha-Gal Syndrome: my.clevelandclinic.org

🛒 Fig App (grocery scanner): foodisgood.com

🥾 Hikas Gaiters by Gear Envie (outdoor protection): gearenvie.com

🍳 Allergen-Sensitive Cooking on the Road: learntorv.com

👥 Join Our Free Facebook Community: Learn to RV: The Community

📸 Follow Our Adventures: @LearnToRV

👉 More RV Life Resources: learntorv.com

📺 Watch on YouTube: Learn To RV Channel

🎙️ Podcast Website: learntorvthepodcast.com

💛 Support the Podcast:

Patreon (Join the Campfire Crew for bonus content, early access, + swag)

Buy Me a Coffee (drop us a tip ☕)

💬 Impacted by a small creepy crawly in a big way? Share your story in our Facebook community!

✨ If this episode opened your eyes, subscribe, share learntorvthepodcast.com, and leave a review. Your support keeps the stories coming!

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WEBVTT

00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:07.200
Welcome to Learn to RV the podcast.

00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:11.119
I am Tasha, and I'm here with my buddy Jennifer.

00:00:11.279 --> 00:00:16.079
And today we are here to talk to you about everyone's favorite thing.

00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:28.399
Ticks! Not the kind that you get whenever your kids are driving you crazy or you're backing up the camper and you're fighting with your partner through the walkie-talkie.

00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:31.600
The kind that crawls up your legs when you're hiking in the mountains.

00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:33.439
So Jennifer ticks.

00:00:33.759 --> 00:00:35.679
This is not a fun topic tonight.

00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:37.679
They gross me out.

00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:39.200
They're so gross.

00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:43.679
And I get to talk all about them, but it's for a good cause, you know?

00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:51.119
And it's, I wanted to let everybody know why we're putting them through this horrible, horrible moment in time.

00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:52.799
It's for a good cause.

00:00:53.119 --> 00:01:05.599
The reason for it is that in case you didn't know, and in case you haven't heard me bark about it over and over and over again on the show, Alpha Gal syndrome is on the rise.

00:01:05.680 --> 00:01:08.719
It is a real thing, and my son has it.

00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:13.920
And we traveled up the East Coast this last year.

00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:22.159
When we were going up, what we learned is that the change in climates is actually changing the migration pattern of ticks.

00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:31.439
So ticks that were normally southeastern-based ticks, they are starting to move further north in the country.

00:01:31.599 --> 00:01:42.799
So some of those illnesses that were kind of landlocked to certain areas of the country are starting to spread into parts of the country that haven't had to deal with them yet.

00:01:42.879 --> 00:01:44.640
And Alpha Gal is one of them.

00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:47.840
We're also seeing a spread of Lyme disease and things like that.

00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:59.519
So we wanted to spread that information to you guys and get some of those facts out to you so that you can prepare yourselves, know what you're getting yourselves into when you go for a hike.

00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:02.480
Not that you shouldn't go hiking, but that you should be prepared.

00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:05.120
So, Jen, what do you know about Alpha Gail?

00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:08.800
Do you know anything other than me just telling you that David can't eat there?

00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:10.080
Well, I know enough.

00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:21.520
So I mean, like, I actually have a friend, I don't think it's Alpha Gales, but her girls all had tick bites, and she was back in California, and it drastically changed their whole lives in many, many ways.

00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:34.080
And so, like, I think that, you know, for an RV episode, I think talking about ticks is kind of like maybe a little weird, but the reality is we all don't think about it until we're impacted by it.

00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:36.159
And I think that's what happened to you, right?

00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:44.479
I actually have a friend that had something very similar to David, and it wasn't until we started talking about this that I was like, oh, I wonder if that's what they had.

00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:46.960
Similar tick bite, that sort of thing.

00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:51.280
But I think you don't know what you don't know until it's a point where you have to know it.

00:02:51.439 --> 00:03:02.159
And so for our listeners out there, I think that if you're avid hikers or if you just sometimes find yourself in longer graphs than usual at a campground, you know, this could happen to you.

00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:04.400
And you don't know until it does.

00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:08.000
So this is kind of just like a warning call, I think, more than anything else.

00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:08.719
Yeah.

00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:17.120
So I before we hit the road, I had a coworker who had this, but I didn't know this is what she had.

00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:23.520
I just knew that she had a food allergy and she had very particular things that she could not eat.

00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:32.960
And so it wasn't until after David got diagnosed with it last summer that I started seeing her posts pop up on Facebook.

00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:38.560
And I was like, wait a minute, I know what that is because my son just got diagnosed with that.

00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:46.400
And I know like that's what we're kind of dealing with, trying to get our bearings and and figure out what everything means.

00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:48.639
And so you're I think you're totally right.

00:03:49.120 --> 00:04:07.840
It doesn't only hit people who RV, um, but I think that it is really important if you are someone who likes to get out and enjoy the outdoors with your family, if you are someone who likes to get out and mow your yard and you don't have an RV, like ticks are everywhere.

00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:17.839
And I think it's just really important to know so that you can watch for symptoms, so that you can take care of yourself and prepare for it.

00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:25.199
I'm going to jump into Alpha Gal and then kind of touch on some other things and then we'll go from there.

00:04:25.519 --> 00:04:38.560
I started to pull out some other things that you know maybe we should watch for whenever we're like swimming in creeks or we're doing these things, and then that seemed like a rabbit hole that was gonna take us to next year.

00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:39.120
Okay.

00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:45.120
Actually, just so you know, I started a companion blog post that does have some of those things listed.

00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:47.600
So I did think ahead that way.

00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:52.000
So there is a whole companion blog that's coming that does have a lot of other stuff.

00:04:52.079 --> 00:04:53.600
But can I ask you a question first?

00:04:53.839 --> 00:04:54.480
Yes, ma'am.

00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:59.279
So did David have any other did David have food allergies prior to this?

00:04:59.519 --> 00:05:05.439
So when he was a baby, his sweet little baby face, he was already killing you.

00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:06.959
He's gonna kill me.

00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:17.759
Um he was he was sensitive to soy, and so we we already had that sensitivity, but he didn't really have anything that we were aware of.

00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:21.439
We knew that his stomach was sensitive here and there.

00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:26.639
He had more stomach problems like sensitivities than the rest of us did.

00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:41.360
But last summer it really got bad, and we were back around his doctor, and he was going in for like his checkups, and I just asked them, could we do like a full panel workup?

00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:45.120
Could we just see like, is there a food allergy that we're not aware of?

00:05:45.279 --> 00:05:47.759
Is there something that we haven't checked for?

00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:54.240
Because he is sick to his stomach so much, and it's just progressively getting worse.

00:05:54.399 --> 00:06:03.439
And when they did that panel, they checked for all sorts of things, and that's when we found out that he is allergic to all sorts of things.

00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:22.560
So, you know, he's allergic to gluten, he's allergic to soy, he's allergic to peanuts and hazelnuts and walnuts and shrimp and cod and you know, there's there's just a whole I have a I literally have an Excel document that tells me these are the things he's allergic to.

00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:34.319
And then I it's actually color-coded yellow, green, red for severity, so that like I can kind of go, these were the ones that were like, Mayday, Mayday, find an epipin.

00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:42.959
Well, I think it's important to note here that David is a connoisseur, like he's not just a teenager that goes and buys a burger and fries, yeah.

00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:47.120
And so I'll never forget the first time we went out to dinner together and David was with you.

00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:54.000
We had been we were in Lake Havasu and he ordered this meal, but he ordered it like with the accent and everything.

00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:56.399
And I was like, wow, kid.

00:06:56.639 --> 00:07:01.519
And I mean, I was just genuinely impressed by his knowledge of different foods.

00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:06.800
And so, like, this isn't like didn't he say what do you think I'm uncultured?

00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:08.319
Yes, he did.

00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:19.360
But so, I mean, like, but he loves things like shrimp and like shrimp is favorite, so that was so this has seriously impacted him, but yeah, it really, really has.

00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:28.800
And for me, I think that's why this is such a passion project for me to let people know about this because I don't want anybody else to suffer this way.

00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:44.720
One of the things that I've got on my notes for us to go through tonight is that unfortunately the medical community has not been able to figure out why, but Alpha Gal syndrome affects different people in differing degrees.

00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:49.920
The only thing consistent about Alpha Gal syndrome is that it's different for everybody.

00:07:50.079 --> 00:07:52.639
That is the only consistent thing about it.

00:07:52.879 --> 00:08:06.399
And so there, if you start Googling it, you'll find stories of the gentleman who didn't know he had been bitten and had it and went out for a cheeseburger and had to be rushed to the hospital and passed away.

00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:15.920
And then you'll find stories of people who have it and can basically eat whatever they want and they just get like a little itchy afterwards.

00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:25.360
So it's the the gamut of how much it affects your life is so varying person to person.

00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:36.799
I just think like if everybody could just know to tuck their socks and you know, their pants into their socks before they go hiking, check for ticks when they come back in, like these would be good things.

00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:40.720
But also saying I should not hike in sandals, is what you're saying.

00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:43.919
I'm saying stop hiking in sandals, Jennifer.

00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:45.519
Don't do it.

00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:46.799
Just don't do it.

00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:50.639
But also, there's some information that has changed out there about Alpha Gallon.

00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:52.080
So I want to get that out there too.

00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:53.519
So I'm gonna I'm gonna dive in.

00:08:53.679 --> 00:09:18.000
But yes, this has been this has been life-changing for him, and he is somewhere in that medium spectrum where it's not bad enough that he has to go to a hospital, but it is bad enough that if he decides, dang it, I'm going in, Bobby, I'm eating that cheeseburger, it his stomach is gonna be very, very unhappy for the next one to two days.

00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:31.840
So it's you know, it's it just it's a he decides if he's if he's gonna do the crime and if he's willing to pay the pay the price for it, you know.

00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:34.080
Well, and that's the other side of it, right?

00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:37.360
Like he's not like a seven-year-old where you're controlling his entire diet.

00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:38.879
Yes, he's what, 18.

00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:40.080
Yep, he is 18.

00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:46.960
So he has to live with it and make those decisions like an adult now, even though he's still a high schooler technically.

00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:50.000
But yeah, at some point he's gotta own this for himself.

00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:51.840
Yep, and so and let's get into it.

00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:52.960
All right, here we go.

00:09:53.120 --> 00:09:55.120
So, what is Alpha Gauss syndrome?

00:09:55.200 --> 00:09:59.519
Well, first of all, it is an allergy to products that come from mammals.

00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:00.879
And what is a mammal?

00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:22.240
It's anything that lactates, it's anything that you know gives birth to babies and you know, has fur, and you're talking beef, you're talking pork, you're talking lamb, you're talking, you know, but it's it's not just those meat products, it's any product that is a byproduct of those animals.

00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:28.399
So you're talking jello, because gelatin is made from those products or from those animals.

00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:41.759
You're talking sugar that's not vegan sugar because cane sugar, which I didn't know, but I learned afterwards, they ground sugar with bone chart, which is just the weirdest thing I've ever heard of in my whole entire life.

00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:44.480
But that's one of the ways that it gets processed.

00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:54.320
Some medicines have gelatin in it, so some medicines, you know, you've got to completely cut out soaps, lotions, things like that.

00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:57.200
So anything like that can cause an allergy.

00:10:57.440 --> 00:11:00.159
We have a pet coming in hot.

00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:03.279
Wesley is making an entrance.

00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:04.720
Hi, buddy.

00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:07.279
This is not now he's being bad.

00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:11.440
You missed your you missed your entrance, sweetheart.

00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:14.480
Hi, mama Bobbers.

00:11:14.720 --> 00:11:16.799
We have to tell him this is not the pets episode.

00:11:17.039 --> 00:11:19.039
This is not the pets episode, Wesley.

00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:19.840
I'm too much sorry.

00:11:20.799 --> 00:11:21.919
But you will see his ears.

00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:26.320
If you're watching on YouTube, you get some Wesley ears, and they're awfully cute.

00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:30.639
You should follow him at Wesley the Frog on all the things.

00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:31.600
Are you all the symptoms?

00:11:34.799 --> 00:11:37.840
This episode is sponsored by Wesley the Frog.

00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:41.919
Okay, so as we've mentioned, he cares about ticks.

00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:44.720
I mean, yeah, he's low to the ground.

00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:45.759
He's concerned.

00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:46.879
He's concerned about it.

00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:49.120
Ticks can affect your pets too.

00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:49.919
They can.

00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:50.480
They can.

00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:52.159
So he's like, what do I need to know?

00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:53.279
Load me up with the information.

00:11:53.679 --> 00:11:55.039
He's all ears, literally.

00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:57.840
He is, he's all ears.

00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:05.200
So we will so Alpha Gal Syndrome is caused by a tick bite, which we've talked about in the United States.

00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:11.600
It's most commonly caused by the Lone Star Tick, which I thought was the only tick that carried it.

00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:16.799
But as I was researching this, I found out that that information has changed.

00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:23.279
And that scared the living daylights out of me because I really liked it when it was just one tick, but it is no longer just one tick.

00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:26.720
So I have written down the names of the ticks and I'm going to tell them to you.

00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:27.600
Are you ready?

00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:29.759
They are the black-legged tick.

00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:32.639
I just didn't need to know that there were this many ticks.

00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:34.480
Also, I need to throw that out there.

00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:36.639
The western black-legged tick.

00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:40.720
Can we all just say they're like if they're black-legged, they're just bad.

00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:46.480
The American dog tick, the Asian longhorn tick, and cayenne ticks.

00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:56.480
Like I hope they don't, I know I'm like, I hope they're not small and like the color of cayenne pepper, because if they get mixed in with my spices, we're gonna have worse.

00:12:56.720 --> 00:13:04.639
But also, what I found out is that it's not just in the US and it's not just in North America.

00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:08.159
This is actually something that is spreading worldwide.

00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:17.039
So, for those of our friends who are listening across the world or maybe planning some worldwide trips, I wanted to give you some information.

00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:20.480
In Europe, the primary carrier is the castor bean tick.

00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:32.399
In Australia, the tick that is responsible for 95% of tick bites in Australia is the tick that carries Alpha Gall syndrome.

00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:39.039
And that tick is called the Australian paralysis tick, which is just a horrible name.

00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:40.799
He's a horrible little guy.

00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:42.080
We don't like him.

00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:45.039
Then Asia is the Asian Longhorn tick.

00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:48.320
Africa has three with names that I cannot pronounce.

00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:49.519
So I'm not even going to try it.

00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:51.200
If you're going to Africa, look it up.

00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:56.000
I also cannot say the name of the South and Central America ticks, but they have it there too.

00:13:56.159 --> 00:13:58.320
So this is a worldwide condition.

00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:04.240
And if you've got ticks and you've got mammals, you got a chance of getting Alpha Gal syndrome.

00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:07.440
So be prepared, take some bug spray, do whatever you need to do.

00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:12.240
So what exactly is starting to itch, actually, you know, just thinking about it.

00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:12.720
You know, I think it's a good thing.

00:14:12.879 --> 00:14:16.399
Everybody's in their car like scratching their necks.

00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:22.399
So Alpha Gally the least watched or the most watched episode we have today.

00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:25.360
We're gonna have like a thousand thumbs down.

00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:34.559
Alpha Gal is short for Galactos, Alpha 1.3 Galactos.

00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:35.759
So I'm so glad that we can see that.

00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:39.360
I know.

00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:41.840
So I'm really glad that we can just call it Alpha Gal.

00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:43.440
Big I'm a big fan.

00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:47.759
But also, Alpha Gal sounds like it's like the number one gal.

00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:50.480
Like I'm the Alpha Gal, you know?

00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:51.440
But it's not.

00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:54.000
It's not the sh star of the show.

00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:58.480
So is this like mosquitoes where only the girl ticks bite or do all ticks bite?

00:14:58.639 --> 00:14:59.360
All ticks.

00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:03.120
I think I think it's all ticks, and I will verify that.

00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:05.679
Unless you've verified that, do you know that?

00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:08.879
I didn't see anything that said that none of that there's any that don't.

00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:13.120
Well, I just know like mosquitoes, you know, the girls are the only ones that actually bite.

00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:14.000
Those mosquitoes.

00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:15.039
Suck your blood.

00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:17.279
Let me Google it right now.

00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:20.559
You guys are getting me hot in the moment.

00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:28.240
So what you may or may not know about Tasha is that she is a chronic, no, that might not be the right word.

00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:33.200
Well, she's just a researcher by nature because of what she does in real life.

00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:36.159
So as a copywriter, she kind of has to know her stuff.

00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:45.279
So when we decided we were doing this episode, she was like the normal, like she was the most logical choice because she's the most impacted by it.

00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:50.399
But it also meant that she was gonna go down a deep dark rabbit hole and her faces are fantastic.

00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:51.919
And I don't have my glasses on.

00:15:52.000 --> 00:16:03.759
So both male and female ticks bite, but only adult females require a large long-term blood meal to lay eggs.

00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:17.679
So what that kind of sounds like, and then it goes on to say that it makes them the primary transmitters of diseases like Lyme disease or diseases that are transmitted through blood pathogens, which would be alpha gal.

00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:19.360
Because they hang on for dear life.

00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:19.679
Yep.

00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:25.919
And because they they need all the blood that they can get so that they can really lay those eggs.

00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:27.120
Crazy little babies, yeah.

00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:29.039
Way more information than I needed.

00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:31.440
But because I'm not gonna check the ticks.

00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:35.440
Everybody else is a boy tick or a girl tick.

00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:39.440
You know, if it's a tick, it needs to not be on my body.

00:16:39.600 --> 00:16:41.600
End of sentence, full stop.

00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:53.200
Like, I don't care if it's a male or female, non-binary tick, whatever, just does not need to be attached to any part of my body at all, at all.

00:16:53.440 --> 00:17:04.799
But if you happen to know how to tell if a tick is a male or a female, and you're feeling spicy and you want to put one of them on your skin, go with the male.

00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:09.680
You'll have a lower chance of getting a bloodborne disease.

00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:16.559
Now, are we gonna get into like not medical advice if you are if you are a bit are we gonna get into that a little bit?

00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:22.559
Like if you do suspect you've been per chance, but first I gotta talk about what Alpha Gal does.

00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:23.039
I know.

00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:24.079
I'm just curious.

00:17:24.559 --> 00:17:26.000
We're gonna do this part first.

00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:28.799
And it's not like it's not like in cricket, right?

00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:30.799
Where you can tell the boys and the girls apart.

00:17:30.960 --> 00:17:32.400
So, you know, let's keep going.

00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:37.039
I didn't know that you could tell the difference between boys and girl crickets.

00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:44.480
So we should have that conversation off screen so that you can teach me because I didn't get that lesson at school, but you know so much.

00:17:44.720 --> 00:18:02.960
Okay, so Alpha Gal, Galactose Alpha 1.3 galactose, the Alpha Gal guy is a molecule, it's a sugar molecule that's found in most mammals, but not humans, which is why we have an adverse reaction to it when it is introduced to our bloodstream.

00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:20.640
So the way that it gets introduced to us is when a tick has recently fed on another mammal and then they feed on us, and they still have that sugar molecule in their little pincher gross teeth guys, it then gets introduced to our bloodstream when they bite us.

00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:29.119
So, like I was saying, the most consistent thing about Alpha Gal is that it is not consistent at all, it's the variation.

00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:38.319
So they do not know why, but different people have different responses, and these are the different kinds of things that vary across everybody.

00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:44.160
So one is the period of time that a reaction may occur.

00:18:44.400 --> 00:19:09.359
So if you have alpha gal and you have a product or a food that has mammal or alpha gal in it, um, the amount of time that your reaction takes to trigger can be anywhere from a few minutes to many hours, and they don't know why, and they don't know who's gonna react how.

00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:15.440
I've been asked if it has to do with your blood type, if it has to do with your health history.

00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:21.920
I have found nothing in all of my research that indicates that there's any trigger for any of that.

00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:23.119
They just do not know.

00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:33.039
So David is one who he can eat something and he'll feel fine for the most part, and then in a few hours is when it starts to go downhill.

00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:40.559
So he at least had like a few hours of joy and enjoyment before before he starts to feel the pain.

00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:42.079
Well, see, and that's different, you know.

00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:55.519
We've navigated uh my daughter's, you know, gluten top intolerance the past couple years, and so like for years we thought it was like red meat, and because that always seemed to be what the triggers seemed to be like.

00:19:55.839 --> 00:20:02.000
But what we realized it was a couple years ago now, somebody said, Well, you know, every time you eat a cheeseburger, it seems to happen.

00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:02.880
Could it be the gluten?

00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:04.960
And so that's how we figured it out.

00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:10.880
But she has a face, like she turns green halfway through the bite, but she's like five bites in and she turns green.

00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:16.720
So we would always know right away if she'd been glutened, except we didn't know she was being glutened.

00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:20.079
So this he has kind of and is it the same every time?

00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:25.519
Like in terms of the actual amount of time, the reaction for him differs.

00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:28.079
I haven't figured it out, to be quite honest.

00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:32.160
I have not figured out what triggers him more or less.

00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:40.799
And the other thing is there was something I can't remember where we were, but we thought for sure it was gonna be fine.

00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:54.400
And then I remember him having a reaction to it, and then we realized that it it was an item that had sugar in it, and that was the only thing that we could figure out that had been in the item.

00:20:54.559 --> 00:21:06.880
And it was just one of those things where it was like it was literally the only thing listed, the only thing listed in the ingredients that could have even been anything, like everything else was so clean.

00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:11.119
So it's and it makes it hard because you know, as a parent protect your kids, yeah.

00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:15.680
You know, this is one of those things that there's still so much that's unknown about it.

00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:31.440
Yes, and the FDA has so many very loose and the USDA has so many very loose rules and guidelines around what has to be and what doesn't have to be reported in what they do.

00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:38.240
And so, and that's one of the things that I learned when I was working um in food package design.

00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:48.240
And even when I was in college, I did an internship for a hospital and I worked with some nutritionists doing some ghostwriting for them.

00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:57.519
And there's there's actually like a certain percentage of ingredients, like up to a certain percentage, they don't have to claim it in the ingredients list.

00:21:57.680 --> 00:21:59.759
There's just so much fluctuation.

00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:11.599
And grace given to the food and medicine that industry, that there's not really very clear guidelines.

00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:18.400
So one of the things that we have to be really careful about is anything that says natural flavors cannot come home.

00:22:18.559 --> 00:22:33.279
That's something we absolutely cannot have because a natural flavor, when you start actually looking into it, in the food industry, natural flavors can be used to describe something that is a mammal byproduct.

00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:35.519
So it becomes really dangerous.

00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:43.279
So if it doesn't have the great big vegan sign on it, uh, then you know, we can't trust anything that says natural flavors.

00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:54.720
But then also because he has all of these nut allergies and these gluten allergies and things like that, if it's vegan but it says natural flavors, I also have to look and see, well, does it have the nut free sticker?

00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:56.400
Does it have the gluten-free sticker?

00:22:56.640 --> 00:22:59.599
Does it have the, you know, what does it have on here?

00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:04.480
Because if they're saying natural flavors, there's no way for me to know what that natural flavor is.

00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:06.720
So there's there's just so much.

00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:10.960
The other thing is the amount of time that you can have alpha gal.

00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:25.359
And this is something that's really interesting to me, is that you can get bit by it, the tick, and get alpha gal and have it for a year, two years, and it taper off and the allergy leave your system.

00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:27.519
And that would be amazing for him.

00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:33.680
That would be amazing, and you be able to go back to eating the foods that you know and love.

00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:39.759
Or, like my friend that I used to work with, you can have it for your entire life.

00:23:39.920 --> 00:23:45.759
They do not know why it sticks with some people forever and it doesn't with other people.

00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:54.720
The other thing is that there are studies that show that people who get bit by another tick, it intensifies the Alpha Gal syndrome.

00:23:54.960 --> 00:24:01.599
So I did meet a lady who her, God love her husband, he had Alpha Gal.

00:24:01.839 --> 00:24:04.880
He had gotten it from a tick bite during a hunting trip.

00:24:05.039 --> 00:24:15.279
He went through literally like a five-year period where he had gone in and they were monitoring his levels yearly at his checkups, and the doctor said, you know what?

00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:19.279
I think that you can start slowly reintroducing these foods into your diet.

00:24:19.440 --> 00:24:20.880
Your levels have all come down.

00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:27.440
You don't seem to have as your panels are coming out really good for your allergy tests.

00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:28.720
He got cleared.

00:24:28.960 --> 00:24:39.680
He basically like had a cheeseburger, rejoiced, went on a hunting trip, got bit by another tick, and got alpha gal syndrome again.

00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:44.799
No, again, I say those pants saved people.

00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:47.680
Maybe the idea would be to give up hunting at that point.

00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:49.119
I'm like, you know, I don't know.

00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:49.839
Do something.

00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:52.799
I mean, if you're an avid hunter, I can see why you might not want to.

00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:53.279
Right.

00:24:53.680 --> 00:24:56.319
But take some precautions, do what you need to do.

00:24:56.559 --> 00:24:59.839
Because you can't even eat the things that you're hunting now, if that's the case.

00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:00.480
I know.

00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:05.839
What are you gonna- I mean, turkey, you could, but nobody's hunting chicken, you know.

00:25:06.079 --> 00:25:10.000
Like, that's not that's not anything people are going hunting for.

00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:18.720
But so the other thing is, given the opportunity to the dog, my dog Stella, she she would definitely hunt some chickens.

00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:32.880
The other thing that's kind of interesting is that alpha gal is not just in red meat, and this is something that a lot of people don't know, is that there is alpha gal in some non-meat products.

00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:35.440
So red seaweed has alpha gal in it.

00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:42.240
And red seaweed is used in a lot of processed foods, particularly nut milks and deli meats.

00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:54.000
It's used as a thickener, it's an additive, and you'll see it listed in different, it will be listed as carrageenin, C-A-R-A-G-E-E-N-A-N.

00:25:54.319 --> 00:25:57.200
And that's how it'll be listed in your ingredients list.

00:25:57.359 --> 00:26:04.880
It is very hard to find turkey or chicken deli meat that does not have carrageenin added to it.

00:26:05.039 --> 00:26:19.759
It's also very hard to find turkey or chicken deli meat that does not have natural flavor added to it, and a lot of times those natural flavors include like pork or beef juice, which is just the weirdest thing I've ever heard of in my life, but that's what they do.

00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:21.039
So it's very important.

00:26:21.519 --> 00:26:25.440
You're making me not want to eat a lunch snack like that ever again.

00:26:25.680 --> 00:26:26.079
I know.

00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:36.880
I'm just saying that if you do get that sort of diagnosis from your doctor, you can't just go buy any turkey off the shelf, you can't get sliced chicken.

00:26:37.039 --> 00:26:45.680
You really need to pay attention to those ingredients lists to make sure that they don't have carrageenin in it because red seaweed is actually very, very high in alpha gal.

00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:49.359
So and you mentioned fish with him being allergic to fish.

00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:52.480
Like so, like those are not mammals.

00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:59.200
I mean, I know enough to know that he was already allergic to cod and we did not know that.

00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:01.119
Okay, well, that makes more sense then.

00:27:01.279 --> 00:27:16.640
Yeah, yes, he was allergic to cod and he was allergic to shrimp, and so those were gut punches for him, literally and figuratively, because shrimp is is his favorite thing, and now he can never have it.

00:27:16.720 --> 00:27:22.799
And it was actually quite high on his list of these are things that you are very, very, very sensitive to.

00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:25.839
So, but not all shellfish, just shrimp.

00:27:25.920 --> 00:27:30.480
So he can have lobster, he can't have shrimp, he can have crab, he can't have shrimp.

00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:34.480
Well, but shrimp is essentially the cockroach of the sea, so it's okay.

00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:39.680
If you look at it that way, it's not so bad.

00:27:39.920 --> 00:27:41.039
It's not so bad.

00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:51.680
Well, I want to tell everybody kind of the symptoms to watch for with Alpha Gal, just so you can kind of have an idea of what to look for if you've had a tick bite.

00:27:51.839 --> 00:27:57.920
Um, these are things that you may experience after you've eaten red meat of any kind.

00:27:58.079 --> 00:28:07.759
Um, you might experience hives or itching, swelling of the lips, face, throat, or eyelids, wheezing, shortness of breath, stomach pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting.

00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:17.839
Your symptoms may go away, they may lessen, but you also may have weird things like joint pain, which why would anybody ever go?

00:28:18.079 --> 00:28:21.279
I bet this joint pain is because I had a cheeseburger earlier.

00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:29.599
You also may have dizziness or fainting, which again, most people would just go, was I in the sun too long?

00:28:29.759 --> 00:28:31.200
Is it too hot in here?

00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:33.759
No, you had a glass of milk.

00:28:33.920 --> 00:28:37.680
You might have tingling or an itching feeling in your mouth.

00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:46.400
So, like a tightness in your throat, just look for things that are kind of common to an allergic reaction.

00:28:46.559 --> 00:28:57.279
But also, if you get a physical reaction after you eat a food over and over again, so that you know, the joint pain.

00:28:57.519 --> 00:29:10.000
If you're experiencing joint pain every time you eat steak, that may be an indicator that you need to talk to your doctor and ask them to run an allergy panel and and then go from there.

00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:13.920
And there are lots of websites out there that will give you lots of great information.

00:29:14.160 --> 00:29:17.599
Mayo Clinic has got a great list of information.

00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:26.640
Um, the Cleveland, Cleveland Clinic, they have a really good page, and I'll pull some of these into our show notes.

00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:37.680
And then I know that Jen is doing a really great companion piece on Alpha Gal, but also on other illnesses that you can pick up, like legionnaire d disease and things like that.

00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:43.680
But I also want to just call out that there are a whole slew of other things that you can get from ticks.

00:29:43.759 --> 00:29:52.559
So, you know, ticks are picking up this year, you know, as the heat is coming in, it is getting time for ticks season.

00:29:52.720 --> 00:30:05.839
So well, and that being said, if you are bit by a tick, if you can save the tick and bring it in with you because then they can test and see if it is a carrier for Lyme disease, especially if you're removing it.

00:30:06.079 --> 00:30:11.279
And if you don't know how to remove a tick safely, you know it's okay to go to the doctor to have that done.

00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:12.160
Yes.

00:30:12.480 --> 00:30:17.759
I was always told put Vaseline over the top of it and they'll start to back out because they can't breathe.

00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:26.720
And so I don't know if that's I've also heard that with I've also heard that with Dawn dish soap, that they'll like start to suffocate and they'll start to pull out.

00:30:27.039 --> 00:30:27.279
Right.

00:30:27.440 --> 00:30:32.640
So I mean you don't want to leave a tick head in there, and if you do, you definitely need to have somebody take a look at it.

00:30:32.799 --> 00:30:35.279
Those are some things that you know you just don't think about.

00:30:35.440 --> 00:30:43.599
But you know, it's always best to contact your doctor and see if that's the way to do it or go to a primary care clinic somewhere near you, whatever that looks like for you.

00:30:43.759 --> 00:30:44.079
Yeah.

00:30:44.319 --> 00:31:02.319
And we always, because I'm such a weirdo about this, if I find a tick on my family, even if it's not one that I've found biting them, if it's just one that I found crawling on them, I will put it in a ziploc bag and put that Ziploc bag in the freezer.

00:31:02.559 --> 00:31:08.880
Um, that way I know where it is because maybe it did bite them, but it's not biting them now.

00:31:09.039 --> 00:31:10.640
Don't laugh at me, Jennifer.

00:31:10.799 --> 00:31:16.720
I need to be able to find this tick because what if they did get bit and they start having symptoms later?

00:31:17.440 --> 00:31:20.000
You know, I I know where the tick is.

00:31:20.079 --> 00:31:25.279
It's in a ziploc bag, it's in the freezer, it's not getting on anybody else, you know.

00:31:25.519 --> 00:31:26.960
But that's what we've always done.

00:31:27.039 --> 00:31:32.240
We've always put the tick in a Ziploc bag, like in a little sandwich baggie, and then stuck it in the freezer.

00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:38.480
That way it's there, and then I leave it there for a couple days, and then if everybody's fine, then it you know goes.

00:31:38.880 --> 00:31:40.480
It's a well-preserved tick.

00:31:40.640 --> 00:31:41.200
Good job.

00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:42.960
So laughing at my tick.

00:31:43.279 --> 00:31:44.160
I'm not laughing.

00:31:44.319 --> 00:31:46.640
Actually, I'd never thought about putting it in the freezer.

00:31:46.720 --> 00:31:51.759
I mean, like, where do you put yours in a plastic bag, but I don't stick it in the freezer.

00:31:51.920 --> 00:31:54.640
What if it gets loose in the freezer while it's still alive?

00:31:54.880 --> 00:31:56.880
It's it won't.

00:31:57.039 --> 00:31:58.480
It's frozen, you know.

00:31:59.440 --> 00:32:00.799
They don't come out in the cold.

00:32:00.960 --> 00:32:03.039
They're not coming out in the cold, they're coming out in the heat.

00:32:03.200 --> 00:32:15.359
So I think that it's miserable in that freezer, which I don't like to torture things or beans, but I'm just saying that maybe it shouldn't have crawled on my family or my dog.

00:32:15.519 --> 00:32:18.000
Just it brought it sounds like a threat.

00:32:18.319 --> 00:32:23.519
It brought its its demise upon itself, is really how I feel about that.

00:32:23.680 --> 00:32:26.960
But yeah, those are those are just things that you can do.

00:32:27.279 --> 00:32:30.160
How has your life changed because of that tick bite?

00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:31.039
Oh my gosh.

00:32:31.200 --> 00:32:41.039
Listen, we one of the ways that it's changed is that, and this has been more of like a sad thing for me than probably for him.

00:32:41.359 --> 00:32:44.799
David is is a major introvert.

00:32:45.279 --> 00:32:47.440
He is just a big introvert.

00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:49.200
I I can't say it enough.

00:32:49.359 --> 00:32:55.039
There's no way for me to say it in a way that makes it any more true than what the word introvert already is.

00:32:55.200 --> 00:33:10.000
But if we're talking about going out, he will stay home rather than go out with us, specifically using that like, but what if we can't find a place for me to eat as an excuse to stay home?

00:33:10.160 --> 00:33:15.839
Sometimes it's used as an excuse, you know, and so then I miss out on that time with my kid.

00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:18.640
So that's really like disappointing for me for him.

00:33:18.720 --> 00:33:27.039
He's like, I get to stay home and play on the computer and you know, video game it up without having to fight anybody for the internet download speed.

00:33:27.279 --> 00:33:29.279
So, like, it's a great time for him.

00:33:29.519 --> 00:33:31.200
For the mom, I'm very sad.

00:33:31.359 --> 00:33:46.400
In a very real logistical way, our grocery bill is probably three, four times what it was because the foods that he can eat are so astronomically more expensive.

00:33:46.640 --> 00:34:03.759
That's kind of the for lack of a better word, and pun intended, that is the beef I have with the food industry is that to get the healthy things, to get the things that you do need, um, they do kick the price up on those things.

00:34:03.839 --> 00:34:14.159
So, you know Well, that and the fact that once you find something that you can have, and it's hard to find plentiful, you'll buy four or five times more than you would any other way.

00:34:14.320 --> 00:34:17.920
Because like I know for gluten-free stuff, you don't know where you're gonna find it.

00:34:18.079 --> 00:34:21.440
So I need to buy more of when I do find it.

00:34:21.679 --> 00:34:27.519
Yeah, and he is not a small kid, you know, it's not like I'm shopping to your point for a seven-year-old.

00:34:28.079 --> 00:34:29.199
He's six four.

00:34:29.360 --> 00:34:32.480
Oh, see, he's six four and he's built like a linebacker.

00:34:32.639 --> 00:34:40.159
So, you know, he's like eggs are just when the price of eggs went up, that that was not a small thing for me.

00:34:40.400 --> 00:34:49.760
I was like, I had a spreadsheet of how much our eggs were, like, because that was one of the things that he could eat without a you know, with a bandon.

00:34:49.840 --> 00:34:52.320
Like that was that was a safe food for him.

00:34:52.480 --> 00:35:01.440
And it was, you know, am I gonna spend eight dollars today on a dozen eggs or am I gonna luck out and find somewhere where I could get it for five?

00:35:01.599 --> 00:35:02.159
I don't know.

00:35:02.320 --> 00:35:04.239
We're we're just gonna shop around.

00:35:04.559 --> 00:35:10.400
But it's it's deli meat is something that you don't think about.

00:35:10.559 --> 00:35:16.960
You think anybody can have any deli meat they want, and deli meat runs so cheap, and you know, what are you gonna do for lunch?

00:35:17.039 --> 00:35:18.559
Oh, I'm just gonna make a sandwich.

00:35:18.800 --> 00:35:42.079
Well, okay, but when it's eight dollars at the least for six slices of turkey that doesn't have carrageenan in it, and your son is six foot four and does not like to just have one sandwich for lunch, but likes two sandwiches for lunch, you know, that turkey doesn't last very long.

00:35:42.159 --> 00:35:44.800
And so it's but he's also gluten-free, right?

00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:57.199
Yes, and so then we've got the price of the gluten-free bread, and then you know, he can't have regular cheese, so it's not I'm not grabbing grabbing like the off-brand craft sliced cheese.

00:35:57.280 --> 00:36:04.639
I have to get the crabby cashew cheese or you know, the stuff that you have to like.

00:36:04.800 --> 00:36:18.159
We had this conversation the other day, you know, because we just moved into the new rig, and the cheese, all of the fake cheese says melts just like real cheese, and it never melted just like real cheese.

00:36:18.239 --> 00:36:31.760
Like he would put it in the microwave and it would be in the microwave for five minutes, and and it'd be like, Well, it's hot and still solid, there's no melting happening, but everything's hot.

00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:38.239
And so the first meal that he made nachos here, and Theo was with us.

00:36:38.400 --> 00:36:49.760

Ticks & Alpha-Gal Syndrome: What Every RVer Needs to Know

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