Advocating For Yourself as a Patient with Food Allergies in Medical Settings

Please note that I am not a medical professional and that this post and video are not intended to provide any medical advice. The intention of this video is to provide food for thought for both patients and caregivers, and to empower patients to speak up for themselves in order to make informed and educated decisions about their health.

Advocating for yourself and your needs as a person with food allergies is so important because no one can read your mind and identify your exact, individual needs as a patient. It’s your job and responsibility to tell others what you need. Many others with allergies have shared with me the times that they have been woven off by medical professionals who did not appreciate the severity of their allergy or who did not connect the dots between food allergy and medications. But although these situations can be incredibly stressful and difficult, it is so important to use your voice to speak up for yourself and be firm about your needs.

In this video, I share my experiences as a person with life-long anaphylactic food allergies and how I have navigated medical environments.

Specifically, I discuss:

• Allergy to non-medicinal fillers in medications (ex. dairy or soy, but there are others)

• An example of when I improperly communicated my food allergies and ran into issues

• An example of when I communicated my needs properly but still ran into issues with my prescription

• How to empower yourself as a patient through education and making informed decisions

• Explaining what self-advocacy is and why it is important

• Doing an oral challenge for a medication that had non-medicinal ingredients that I was allergic to

• When does advocacy turn into protest? And why this is important as patients with specific medical needs

• An example of when I had to advocate for myself during a medical diagnostic test, and how I reacted to being met with annoyance and impatience