This is the part of my allergies that I hate: When the rash
reappears and I can’t figure out what happened to make it appear. Two days ago,
I had a small itchy spot on my neck. Nothing big enough to worry about. This
morning, I woke up to bumpy skin all over my neck and face, and over the side
of my right hand (from the bottom of my thumb to my wrist). My neck’s a bit
itchy but I’m resisting the urge to scratch it. Thankfully, you can’t really
notice the bumpy skin on my face, and my shirt collar covers up most of my
neck. However, I now need to figure out what happened to result in this
reaction and this is the frustrating part, so let’s see if I can work it through
here and now. (This will give you a good indication of what I go through.)
Two Sunday’s ago, we went and ate at a food court that I’m
not familiar with. The only thing relatively safe for me to eat was either hot chips
or a made-to-order rice noodle stir fry. I considered just eating chips but
couldn’t find a place where the oil that they deep fried the chips in was
relatively clear of other foods that may have had preservatives in them. In the
end, I passed on that, and opted on the stir fry. I ordered the chilli basil
beef, with rice noodles and absolutely no egg. This is usually okay, but I knew
that it wasn’t quite right after the first few bites. It was greasy and it
tasted like there was butter or remnants of egg in there. (There’s always a
chance that pans and cooking utensils aren’t cleaned properly between making
meals.) I didn’t finish eating my stir fry. It tasted wrong and I’d rather be
hungry than suffer with an allergic reaction. A few hours later, I noticed that
the skin around my lips were bumpy, which is a tell-tale allergy symptom for
me. From then on, I made sure that my soy intake was kept to a minimum and that
any food I ate was 99.99% safe. (100% safe if it was something I made at home.)
I also made sure that I didn’t make any changes to my soaps, toothpaste,
shampoo, etc.
Before the last Sunday came around, I developed an itchy patch
at the base of my right thumb, on the outside of my hand. Within a day it dried
and cracked, leaving an open slit, in the crease of my skin there. The following
day, an itchy patch on my right wrist, just in the same line as my thumb,
appeared. That’s generally a sign for me, that my liver is having trouble processing
the chemicals, so I knew something was wrong. At this point in time, I assumed
that it would be another week before I’d go back to normal.
Here’s where I think I went wrong: The skin on my hand,
where the itchy dry patches developed, kept cracking because they were so dry,
so I applied a Vitamin E cream. The cream contains a natural preservative, but
it didn’t state what that preservative would translate to in chemical terms. I
took a risk and applied the cream on my right hand and neck. I did this daily
as it offered relief. After a few days, I used it on my face too, specifically
around my lips. That now brings me to today and the lumpy skin I now have.
I think it’s the cream, so I didn’t use it today. The skin
on my hand doesn’t look as bumpy as it did this morning, but it’s sometimes
hard to tell if I’m seeing straight or not. Just in case though, I’m continuing
to monitor everything I come into contact with. I’ve also cut out coffee for
the time being, as I’ve found that it can overstimulate my adrenalin glands
which are generally in overdrive when I’m going through an allergic reaction.
Today, I’m drinking rosehip tea and water. I’ve eaten fresh fruit, potatoes and
some meat (that I know is free from preservatives). I’ll probably keep dinner
simple too – maybe some vegetable gluten free pasta with pesto. I’d like to say
that I’ll give myself some extra quiet time and head to bed early, to help my
body recuperate, but I’m a mother to two little kids, so that isn’t going to
happen. I am however, going to try to take things easy this week, steer clear
of that cream and see how I do. I’ll be sure to let you know in my next post.
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