Jeffrey Lin: Allergy Boy, Trader, Media Artist, Engineer, Entrepreneur, Survivor

#LINNING. All I do is Lin Lin Lin

admin — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 07:15:11 +0000

Jeremy Lin T-shirts: #LINNING

Jeremy Lin LINSANITY! I Could Sign Autographs…

admin — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 07:08:45 +0000

Jeremy Lin LINSANITY sweeping the nation. J.Lin. Same initials, same last name. Coincidence? No. It’s the formula for awesomeness, for bringitness.

This is what Kobe Bryant had to say about the LINSANITY…before Jeremy Lin and the Knicks beat the Lakers tonight.

More Symptoms & Discomforts. Considering Skipping a Dose of Xolair

admin — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 04:08:14 +0000

I’m having some other noticeable reactions the last few days. Not sure if it’s from Xolair, CellCept, or changes my body is having from these. But these symptoms are becoming a real disruption in my daily life and thus my mental health.

Motion sickness symptoms has been persistent the whole 2 weeks since last Xolair shot.
More persistent chest tightening.
Having a hard time with detailed motor functions like driving or writing with a pen. I was journaling everyday but now an unable to write properly. Also hard to use my iPhone. That’s something huh? And all iPhone really needs is thumb control.
Small hives, a dozen or so on both legs/thighs and hands. ~1cm diameter. Itches

Want to skip a dose of Xolair (originally scheduled for tomorrow, 1/25/12). Will meet with a new allergist at Kaiser, Dr. Burnet (replacing the retiring Dr. Roth).

Is This Possible? IgE Allergy Levels Dropped from 22,000 to 8,000!

admin — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 04:17:11 +0000

IgE and EOS came down a ton. Always skeptical of Kaiser’s results, but usually it wouldn’t be off by such a magnitude. Keeping positive we’re working in the right direction! The dose of Xolair I’ve been receiving isn’t supposed to be enough for even an IgE level of 1000, so definitely not the 22,000 I have. And as the patient data from Xolair treatments are still pretty limited, no doctors I’ve talked to could say exactly what to expect, both for the good and the bad.

Still feeling motion-sickness like syndromes since starting Xolair. But maybe it’s because of the dramatic IgE changes my body is adjusting to? Just a thought. However, I do not FEEL that my allergy levels have dropped by more than 50%. Still reacting to foods that I try, just as I usually do.

Attached are the blood tests on 1/13/12 for some IgE and other tests.

Second Xolair shot but feeling some reactions

admin — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 02:07:59 +0000

Second time taking Xolair, bumped it up to 450mg so we don’t waste any. Each vial is 150mg (3vials = 450mg)…if I don’t use it all they throw away the rest! (and each vial costs ~$900!)

Would I be overdosing? Actually with my 22,000+ IgE level, this dosage of Xolair is a drop in the ocean. Think of it like adding spices to soup. You have to add enough to change the flavor. In people like me with severe allergies, the flavor changes is changes in my allergic reactions. However, with 22,000+ IgE, using this dose of Xolair is like dropping a spec of salt in a tub of soup – wont taste a thing.

So why try? Well, it will make a tiny difference, even if unnoticeable, it should lessen the load on my body fighting off constant allergic reactions. Hopefully that’ll give my body more of a chance to fight back. Ive had enough miracles happen to me to know the improbable does happen. It’s why I’m still here. It’s the story of my life. Even if its a slim chance, If you don’t try, there’s no chance.

That said, it’ll take probably 3 months to notice improvements, if any. But the 2 times I’ve taken Xolair I’ve felt bad effects. The only bad effect it should have is allergic reactions. I have many kinds of allergic reactions. One is a motion sickness like feeling with weakness and hot sweats. I get this kind of reaction more from smells, like perfume, but other things trigger it too. That’s what I’m feeling now so it’s been a sluggish and unproductive few days. Hard to be out of bed doing much.

Will see if these symptoms last and if I can hang in with Xolair for 3 months. Will be great if I can and this helps. It’s a surprisingly safe medication with barely any side effects, which would make for a very short Medication TV ad.

First Xolair Shot – 375mg and Feeling Ok!

admin — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:46:41 +0000

Had the first Xolair shots today, 375mg split into 5 shots on the underside on both arms. Xolair comes as this viscous, gooey stuff, not liquid like most shots. They inject it into your fatty tissue areas. But because it’s not liquid, if they injected the whole dose in just 1 shot in 1 location on your arms, it’ll create a huge lump of the medication under your skin. So they split the shot into 5 smaller portions and injected each in a different place on the underside of my arms.

Was a bit anxious at first knowing the potential for anaphylactic shock. Even though that’s only about 1/1000 people, I’m usually that 1. Stayed in the nurses station for 2hrs for observation for any adverse effects. Immediately after the shots were administered I felt my temperature rise, skin rashes seemed more inflamed, and chest tightening which made breathing harder. Did a few flow meter tests for asthma and they continuously monitored my blood oxygen level, but after the 2 hrs I felt ok and have returned home to rest. However, adverse effects including rashes, hives, asthma, and shock may still occur within 7 days, so I’m praying that nothing happens!

Tyler Warren Show at OC Best Standup Comedian Semis

admin — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 13:24:09 +0000

What a night! My friend and comedian Tyler Warren invited watch him perform, or in comedian slang, “do his bit.” Laughed hard through 9 great standup comedians at the Orange County’s Funniest Person contest.

I have to agree with Tyler though, he is the best “sit down” stand up comedian in Orange County, and maybe all the West! Here’s his 8-minute comedy routine I recorded on Youtube:

First Xolair Shot Tomorrow. Not Going into Anaphylactic Shock Would Be Good

admin — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:44:07 +0000

Will let everyone know how i take it.

Update Advice Email: UVB Light Treatment & Skin Condition

admin — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 00:44:58 +0000

Sent the following email update to Dr. Gleich and Dr. Leiferman (Univ of Utah) as compounding skin discomforts from increased breakouts, severity of breakouts, and further worsened by UVB light treatment burns:

Hi, wanted to update you on changes and need some input.

- After 2 UVB treatments at 220mj that was ok, 3rd treatment on Thurs felt really burned and hot.

- Should I just stop or go to a very low dose of UVB given the deterioration of the quality of my skin while waiting for CellCept to kick in?

- I feel as though my skin condition is a moving target now (vs. stable on Cyclosporin) so a UVB dose that works one week could burn and accelerate rashes and irritation.

- Also, skin in certain areas starting to feel thicker (neck below neckline, inner thighs, forehead)

- More tiny lesions in the skin (can’t really see them but definitely feel them in salt bath)

- Dr. Sarpa prescribed Fluocinonide in addition to the Triamcinoline and Protopic. She also mentioned possibly using Prednisone if rashes get out of control. I do not like prednisone one bit (thins my skin even more), but let me know if you think it is ok in this instance if used in a short cycle (the 6-day pack maybe?)

- Should I increase doses of Cetirizine and Famotidine (costco)? Currently on 40mg of both, 20mg in AM, 20mg in PM. Tolerating fine and non-drowsy.

Thanks for all the help and always getting back right away. Look forward to seeing you in 2 weeks.

First Day on CellCept (Mycophenolate), Just to Note

admin — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 07:25:32 +0000

Just a record for myself: started CellCept tonight. Dermatologist Dr. Hege Sarpa, working in communication with Univ of Utah’s Dr. Gleich and Leiferman (under whom Dr. Sarpa was a resident), prescribed 1000 mg of CellCept to be taken daily: one 500mg tablet, twice a day. This is in place of the other immunosuppressant Cyclosporin, which was tapered down from 125mg & 100mg down to 0mg over a four week period ending this past Monday, October 3, 2011.

Dr. Sarpa had conducted blood tests for the following panels and all my readings were ok to go ahead to try CellCept:

Alkaline Phosphatase
Alt
Bilirubin
Sodium
Potassium
Chloride
CO2
Creatinine
Glomerular Filtration Rate

For those curious, what is CellCept? The National Institute of Health (NIH) describes it as:

“Mycophenolate (CellCept) is used with other medications to help prevent transplant organ rejection (attack of the transplanted organ by the immune system of the person receiving the organ) in people who have received kidney, heart, and liver transplants. Mycophenolate (Myfortic) is used with other medications to help prevent the body from rejecting kidney transplants. Mycophenolate is in a class of medications called immunosuppressive agents. It works by weakening the body’s immune system so it will not attack and reject the transplanted organ.”