She’s a Whopper girl trapped in a tofu world — and it wasn’t by choice.
Daisy Holstine was forced to go vegan earlier this year after developing a severe allergy to meat and dairy, seemingly overnight.
“I was waking up with my eyes swollen shut,” the 36-year-old from Mountain Home, Arkansas, told The Post. “The hives were all over my body, even on my scalp, my hands, the bottoms of my feet.”
And her tragic cheeseburger-free illness could happen to anyone.
The culprit? A creepy crawler known as the lone star tick, whose bite has saddled thousands of Americans with a a bizarre condition that can trigger life-threatening reactions to red meat and dairy.
Once virtually unheard of in the US, cases of alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) are now on the rise across the country — with one hot spot lurking just outside the Big Apple.
Friends, fun and a flare-up
Holstine’s nightmare began on a trip to Nashville in December, when she noticed a crop of red patches on her skin. But the Korean mom of two dismissed it as “Asian glow,” a red flushing of the skin that’s common after drinking alcohol. She took a Benadryl and it went away.
When the red splotches popped up again days later, she tried a steroid. By the following weekend, “I was hiving out,” she said. “They were everywhere.”
Her doctor suggested testing for AGS, but Holstine was skeptical. A remote nurse case manager with United Healthcare, she lives in a rural patch of Arkansas and travels often for work, frequently in patients’ homes — but she’s “pretty vigilant about bugs.”
She hadn’t spotted a tick or noticed any signs of a bite — not even the classic bullseye rash.
Not to mention, she’d leared about AGS years before — and couldn’t imagine having to deal with it.
“I’m literally going to die if I ever get that diagnosis,” she remembered thinking. “I’m a big red meat eater … if I’m going to a restaurant, I’m going to have a steak.”
“As a medical necessity, I went vegan … That’s a big deal in Arkansas.”
Daisy Holstine
Because the blood test for AGS is expensive and not always covered by insurance, her doctor suggested a a wait-and-see approach and referred her to a dermatologist.
Misdiagnosis mayhem
Derms diagnosed her with chronic urticaria, or unexplained hives, and threw everything at the wall.
First came antihistamines. Then Xolair, an injectable medicine that suppresses the immune system.
Next up was methotrexate, a powerful drug used to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases. It made her hair fall out. She was plagued by lethargy. Still no relief.
“I was desperate at this point,” Holstine said. “I went from taking one pill daily to 10 to 15.”
The stress of the medical mystery led her to start taking an antidepressant and anti-anxiety medication.
“I was definitely irritable because I’m raising a baby, raising a teenager and then on top of that, I’m just itchy all the time,” Holstine said.
The reluctant vegan
Frustrated and fed up, Holstine turned to an unlikely source: ChatGPT. The AI platform suggested an elimination diet, which she embraced by cutting out gluten and meat, leaning into bland fish and veggies — and the hives vanished.
“I was finally without hives for a week straight,” she said. By then, it was May, five months after her symptoms started.
When Holstine reintroduced red meat into her diet, the hives came roaring back. The AGS confirmed it.
“I could have cried getting that diagnosis,” Holstine said. “We finally figured out what the heck was going on with me.”
“At this point, as a medical necessity, I went vegan,” Holstine said.
While AGS doesn’t trigger reactions to every animal product, it was easier to cut it all out than obsess over every ingredient on a nutrition label.
And it wasn’t just Holstine’s kitchen that needed an overhaul — it was her entire life. Suddenly, she found herself hunting down vegan toothpaste, cosmetics, even laundry detergent.
“That’s a big deal in Arkansas,” Holstine said. “If you make that choice to be vegan for life, I think it’s very commendable, because it is not easy.”
Will wear needles for a burger
Currently, there is no cure for AGS. Desperate for relief — and a real burger — she turned to alternative medicine: Soliman Auricular Allergy Treatment (SAAT).
The therapy, offered by a chiropractor, involves inserting a tiny needle into a pressure point in the ear linked to the liver, which is thought to play a role in the AGS allergic response.
The needle stays in for four weeks, continuously stimulating the point to desensitize the body to the alpha-gal allergen.
“I want a Whopper so bad, but it’s OK, I’m getting there,” she said. “I can see the end in sight.”
Daisy Holstine
“The first night, I was pretty nervous because they were fresh — I was just so aware that they were there,” Holstine said. “But then as time went on, I forgot they were even there.”
SAAT is still being researched, but it’s shown promise. In one study of 137 AGS patients, 96% reported symptom remission after the treatment. Researchers noted no adverse reactions and called it a “low-risk” option with high potential.
Four weeks after getting the ear pricks, Holstine began phase two: reintroducing red meat.
It started with baby steps, cooking ground beef just to smell it. After three days, she took her first taste by dipping a hard-boiled egg into the meat juices.
Her tastebuds rejoiced — briefly. But after three attempts, something shifted.
“My skin started crawling,” Holstine said. Looking down, a hive had flared up in the crook of her arm. Her chiropractor told her to pause for three days and try again.
She’s since restarted the tasting and hasn’t had anymore hives, but she has yet to actually eat red meat.
“I want a Whopper so bad, but it’s OK, I’m getting there,” she said. “I can see the end in sight.”
Tick trouble
AGS cases usually show up where lone star ticks are abundant, but these pesky parasites are spreading beyond their southeastern habitat — marching as far north as New York and Maine, and pushing westward.
On Long Island, Suffolk County is a known hot spot, accounting for about 4% of all US cases, according to a 2023 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This summer, the strange, life-threatening tick-borne illness forced hundreds on Martha’s Vineyard to go vegan right in the middle of BBQ season. Some upscale island restaurants even started offering “alpha-gal entrees” to keep up with the allergy surge.
“It’s definitely been life-changing, but you can adapt,” Holstine said.
“It’s going to become more and more prevalent, so if you’re having these reactions or something that’s so unexplained, it doesn’t hurt to get tested,” she advised.
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