As a kid I was allergic to everything (enough to get flu-like symptoms, blotches, swellings and asthma, but nothing life-threatening). I had a course of injections as a kid and have "outgrown" a lot of the allergies, so they're mostly eliminated (or a lot less severe now).
I'd often stay at people's houses and find that my allergic symptoms (like hayfever) would flare up, and I'd occasionally get chest infections. I always put that down to them having cats, or not dusting properly.
When my mum got ill and died, I went into a full on anxiety-driven breakdown and my allergies got much worse. I avoided visiting people and moaned about my allergies, and they went out of their way to make sure the place was pet-free, dust-free, etc. And I still suffered worse than ever. After a week at my sisters, I was nearly hospitalised with pleurisy and pneumonia. I was ill for three weeks, aching all over, taking powerful antibiotics.
ANYWAY... My psychotherapist was talking about how asthma and allergies are auto-immune diseases, and how (surprisingly) they're correlated with anxiety... And he obliquely implied that perhaps my "allergic reactions" were due to my psychological anxiety. I thought he was nuts! He was effectively saying that "it's all in my mind!" and yet it was OBVIOUS that the symptoms were real, whatever the cause, and I refused to believe him!
However... he was incredibly effective in helping me overcome my anxiety... and over the next year or so as it reduced further, I noticed that it was taking longer for the "allergic reactions" to appear... Eventually I was able to relax and actually enjoy visiting other people... and when I was happy and relaxed, the allergies vanished completely. I've now become confident enough to stroke the cats that were always banished from the houses I was visiting... and I'm still not getting ill/anxious/allergies.
I really wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't experienced it myself, but... Is it possible that you might be more stressed/anxious than usual, and that that might be contributing to the severity of your reactions?
Anxiety is basically a prolonged and mis-guided "fight or flight" response, where your brain goes into overdrive trying to figure out how to save your life. It involves putting your brain, heart and muscles into "performance" mode, at the cost of other biological processes such as general maintenance/repair. So, I guess it makes sense that anxiety leaves you more susceptible to illness/allergies, etc.
I don't even know if you experience anxiety. So maybe none of this applies to you, but I just thought I'd throw in a few thoughts in case it helps you or anyone else....
