The risks of country living are outweighed only by the rewards of country life.
We dive in despite the dangers, believing we’re well-informed. But some threats are so obscure we fail to notice them.
Alpha-gal syndrome is one of these. As positive cases rise around the world, this mysterious illness is morphing into a homesteading hazard everyone needs to know about.
It’s vital to learn who is at risk for alpha-gal, watch for symptoms, and take the proper steps before and after diagnosis. That way, we can stay ahead of the curve to protect ourselves, our families, and our homesteads.
What is Alpha-Gal Syndrome?
Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) is an allergy to galactose-α-1,3-galactose, a carbohydrate molecule found in all non-primate mammals.
Basically, it’s a meat allergy. For many, it’s a meat and dairy allergy. In some cases, it’s an allergy to leather, soap, and other products containing mere traces of mammal.
Unlike other allergies bestowed upon us seemingly at random, AGS is contracted. People usually get it from the bite of a Lone Star tick, though other tick species have also been associated with the syndrome.
As the tick feeds on mammals like deer and squirrels, it draws in the alpha-gal carbohydrate, which circulates through its system and remains in its saliva. It might inject us with a bit of that alpha-gal when it bites us.
For many people, this isn’t an issue. However, some immune systems recognize alpha-gal as a threat and produce antibodies against it. This is called sensitization, and it usually takes between one and three months for complete sensitization to occur.
Once we’re sensitized, those antibodies can activate when we take in more alpha-gal (i.e., eating meat), and our immune systems produce an allergic reaction.
Homesteads at Risk
So, who is at risk for alpha-gal? Well, we are.
Those living in rural areas are more likely to be exposed to ticks. In the US, cases of AGS are concentrated in the southeast. With mild winters and an abundance of blood-suckers, these woods are alive with potential.
However, residents of all areas need to stay vigilant. The multitudes of summertime ticks aren’t dying off as they have in previous years. As winters get milder and milder, tickborne diseases become more common. All are insidious for homesteaders, but alpha-gal syndrome is uniquely nasty.
It can cause us to become allergic to our animals, dairy, and even things like lard and leather. Not only do many of us need meat as a food source, but we also rely on meat byproducts to produce income and make our lifestyle work.
Luckily, there are ways to protect against AGS — and ways to manage it after diagnosis, so you can keep on living your best homesteading life.
Protecting Yourself and Your Family
Any homesteader may be a person who is at risk for alpha-gal. Many of us work with tick-laden livestock or outside in the woods, with bugs running rampant.
While some people take precautions to avoid getting bit, many don’t. Between errands and endless chores, paying attention to insects always seems to fall by the wayside.
During the summer in rural Arkansas, I get bitten by multiple ticks every single day despite giving myself a cursory spritz of bug spray in the morning. And this is normal for lots of people. It doesn’t mean you have somehow failed morally; it just means you’re busy.
However, it’s never too late to start protecting yourself. The first step is to avoid getting bitten in the first place.
Here are my cardinal rules for avoiding tick bites:
- Treat work clothes with permethrin.
- Apply bug spray to exposed skin. You should do this every two hours when working outside for long periods. Deet is king, but there are also natural products out there.
- Wear long pants even in the summertime. Make sure they’re loose and light.
- Tape your socks. Ticks crawl below pant fabric and up your legs, and wrapping tape around your ankles will stop them from their bloodthirsty journey.
- Check yourself. We don’t know how long it takes a tick to transmit AGS, so pulling one off doesn’t necessarily make you safe. Still, it’s good to know when you were bitten and take note of the day. If you begin having symptoms, you’ll have data to back up your suspicions.
Repeated tick bites increase your chances for alpha-gal sensitization. They can also worsen current symptoms and decrease your likelihood of becoming de-sensitized over time.
So, even if you already have AGS, you still need to avoid getting bit.
Knowing What to Look For
Alpha-gal can be difficult to spot. Since it takes time to develop, most people don’t immediately make the connection between an allergic reaction and a tick bite they got months ago. And while peanuts and shellfish can cause anaphylaxis in minutes, AGS takes two to six hours to trigger a reaction.
Reactions can be confusing (and terrifying) since many people don’t know why the symptoms are occurring. For some, it can be incredibly dangerous. Symptoms can be mild, but they can also be severe and life-threatening.
Reactions are different for everyone. People have reported the hives, throat swelling, and intense itching characteristic of many allergies. But, unique symptoms like extreme GI distress, muscle cramping, and intense abdominal pain are extremely common. Anaphylaxis can also occur.
Symptoms get weird. Nail cracking, hair loss, joint swelling, weight loss, vertigo, tinnitus, and muscle wastage are all too common when the condition progresses. Some people become reactive to touching, inhaling, or even being close to mammals. Some become reactive to pets, friends, family, and partners working with or consuming mammals.
Fortunately, there are steps you can take to mitigate unpleasantness. Discovering the alpha-gal early is key for good outcomes.
Here’s what to look out for in both the adults and children on your homestead:
- Random stomach upset or GI distress
- Arthritis-like flare-ups
- Mystery hives, rashes, and swelling
- Food aversions
- Allergy symptoms appearing at random
- Midnight anaphylaxis or nighttime symptoms
It’s important to note that research on AGS is sorely lacking, and everyone has different symptoms. The progression of the disease also varies.
If you suspect you or a member of your household has contracted AGS, take them in for testing immediately. For some, continuing to eat meat or be exposed to mammalian products will make the symptoms much worse and may cause long-term damage.
What to Do After Diagnosis
Getting diagnosed with AGS is difficult for anyone, but it’s especially burdensome for homesteaders. Mammalian triggers are commonplace for us — how can you navigate life allergic to your homestead?
Since the syndrome is so new, doctors may not offer any advice beyond “avoid your triggers.” But since triggers are different for everyone, how do you know what to avoid?
The good news is you’re not alone. Getting the support you need, learning your triggers, and taking steps to mitigate your reactions are all things you can do to stay in control of your life.
Get Support
Telling friends, family, and partners is crucial. These people are your primary support network. They can offer a shoulder to lean on, help you research vital information, and even advocate on your behalf in a medical emergency.
If you homestead together, your partner is yet another person who is at risk for alpha-gal — and one you need to educate. They mustn’t endanger you with triggers, and they must also avoid contracting alpha-gal syndrome themselves.
Unfortunately, not everyone has a great support network in place. Even if you do, empathy and true understanding could be lacking. It’s important that your people understand how serious the condition is and the changes that need to happen.
It’s vital to contact others with AGS when you first get diagnosed, especially other homesteaders. The advice you’ll get from medical websites (and sometimes medical professionals) is full of gaps and may not apply to your specific situation.
Solid, concrete advice from people living the same lifestyle can make all the difference in your success as a homesteader with alpha-gal.
You might feel stranded in a rural area, but there are many online support groups to turn to. Facebook, YouTube, and Reddit communities have been lifesavers for me.
Learn Your Triggers
Most doctors advise newly diagnosed patients to stop eating all mammalian meat. This includes beef, pork, venison, rabbit, goat, and sheep. If it has fins or feathers, it doesn’t have alpha-gal, so it’s safe — though obviously, things like whales and dolphins are exceptions.
Unfortunately, AGS triggers go beyond consuming mammals. Animal byproducts are used to manufacture many products, from lotion to clothing. Bovine bone char is used widely in processing commercial cane sugar, and animal-derived magnesium stearate is used in common OTC pharmaceuticals like Tylenol.
Of course, you may not react to any of that. Some do, but it’s highly individual.
Instead of throwing away hundreds of dollars worth of food and products immediately, keep a diary and write down everything you consume. Pay attention to your reactions and narrow down your triggers, eliminating foods and products when you find what’s making you react.
Remember that reactions can expand to include things you were not previously sensitive to. Sometimes it gets better (especially if you manage to avoid all your triggers), and sometimes it gets worse.
The AGS community is quick to point out that this is an “anytime” allergy rather than an “every time” allergy. You may get hives from a grilled cheese one day and have no reaction the next, and vice versa.
This is a confusing time, but it will improve as you become more accustomed to the changes you must make. An outlook of positivity is vital. Fortunately, this is one thing that homesteaders excel in.
Make Adjustments
We’re a creative bunch, and we aren’t going to let an allergy stop us. Giving up your lifestyle is not an option, but making adjustments to improve the quality of your life and keep your health intact is.
I’ve spoken to many ingenious homesteaders affected by AGS who manage to survive, thrive, and innovate despite the diagnosis. It will take adjustments and hard work, but you’re already an expert in both.
Manage Livestock. Are you reacting to your animals? If you rely on them to work your land, invest in complete-coverage work clothes or ask another person to help manage them so you aren’t constantly exposed. If you use them for food, sell them and get new ones — they no longer function for you.
Replace rabbits with chickens, build a stock pond for fish, and get hyped for duck season instead of deer season. Consider selling AGS-safe meat and eggs to the community. Organic fowl can be profitable, and many birds eat ticks, so it’s a double-whammy win.
Manage labor. Are you being exposed to tick bites because of gardening or outdoor chores? Switch chores with your partner or other family members to minimize the potential danger of another bite.
If you live alone or other family members are incapacitated, consider trading neighbors for services. One woman in my community cooks and cleans for another family in exchange for harvesting and watering her garden.
Manage medications. Are you reacting to prescription medication? Get in contact with a compound pharmacy. These outlets can mix custom-blended drugs without AGS triggers to suit your needs. While traveling to a compound pharmacy is inconvenient, it may be necessary.
If you’re reacting to OTC meds, research viable alternatives. For example, many types of Motrin have magnesium stearate, but some varieties of Bayer’s do not. Always read the complete list of ingredients and ask around in your support groups to see what works for others.
Manage products. Are you reacting to personal hygiene or home cleaning products? With alpha-gal syndrome, finding safe soaps, moisturizers, toothpastes, and household cleaning products can be difficult. Consider switching to a vegan brand or, better yet, make your own cleaning products.
Chicken and duck fat can be used to make soap. Charcoal and baking soda can be used to make toothpaste. You can also market your recipes to your community once you perfect them. Since AGS is spreading, there may be considerable interest.
Stay practical. Remember that you control where you go, what you eat, and the products you use. However, you can’t anticipate everything. Stay prepared by packing a go-bag and tossing it in the car whenever you leave the house.
Here’s what to include:
- EpiPen or prescribed epinephrine medication in case of anaphylaxis
- AGS-safe antihistamine medication in case of mild reaction
- AGS information card, including emergency contacts and allergen information
- Safe snack foods or drinks in case you get hungry or thirsty
- Anything else that makes travel a bit easier for you
Manage relationships. AGS is an isolating illness. You may be unable to participate in family dinners, holidays, gatherings, and activities like you used to.
Your kids’ favorite meal could become impossible for you to cook. Bonding with a friend over a mocha might become a minefield of triggers. Those sensitive to meat and dairy must bring their own food to any event, and fume-reactive people may not be able to attend at all.
It’s easy to fall into a depressive mindset, especially if you’re ultra-reactive. In turn, the change in mood and lifestyle can be challenging for your friends and family to deal with.
Remember, it’s ultimately up to you to know and communicate your needs. You deserve to live a safe life full of support, but you have to make that happen.
Find joy. Instead of watching the world pass you by, look for substitutions and forge new ways to connect with friends and family. As veganism and vegetarianism are becoming more popular, there are tons of meat and dairy-free alternative foods out there waiting to be discovered.
I broke down crying the first time I went grocery shopping after AGS. Realizing what a massive change this diagnosis required was overwhelming.
But when I communicated my anxiety to my family, a wonderful thing happened: we piled into the truck, and they took me food shopping at a specialty store several hours away. Now, it’s almost a game to find new safe foods. Trying new things is fun for everyone; it brings us closer together.
While overhauling your diet and lifestyle is hard, it also has a silver lining: bringing the focus back to basic nutrition. Eating an AGS-safe diet will likely lower your processed food intake, and avoiding red meat can lower cholesterol and improve cardiovascular health.
I know many people who have lost weight, lowered inflammation, and improved their bloodwork considerably with an AGS-safe diet. It’s essential to focus on these wins.
An alpha-gal syndrome diagnosis is not the end of your life or lifestyle. Yes, this time is fraught with change and uncertainty — but if you’re willing to adapt ferociously, it’s the beginning of an entirely new adventure.
With a bit of elbow grease, you’ll come out victorious on the other side.