Discussion Boards => Main Discussion Board => Topic started by: Foxy on March 17, 2012, 10:48:21 AM
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Title: I need help!
Post by: Foxy on March 17, 2012, 10:48:21 AM
I don't know how to word this but I do believe you gals talked about it in the past. So I know that certain fruits and pollens react when eaten and pollenating. I think it maybe what is happening to me. Is there a chart or something I can look at? I am in SW PA and our weather is BOGUS for this time of year! We are setting a record high today of near 80 degrees! Everything is coming to life and I am breaking out in MYSTERY HIVES and WELTS everywhere! OMG! I have never had this happen that I can remember.
I called an allergist and the receptionist was like eh... do you have environmental allergies and I'm like not really but how the heck do I really know! She's like... let me see if he will see you and then came back and said he would only see for environmental and food allergies. I have a peanut allergy and I need help! She finally fit me in.
If you gals can help me before I get in I would love you all more than I do now! ;D I need help! :-/
Title: Re: I need help!
Post by: Foxy on March 17, 2012, 10:52:38 AM
I have been taking benedryle and using the cream too but I have to go back to work tonight and there is no way I can have the benedryle! It knocks me out! If I could have showed you all my butt the other day you'd of thought me and hubby were in some kinda sick and twisted love affair! Itchy, hived and welted beyond belief! :misspeak: The nape of my neck and upper back is the same. My hairline behind my ear has been going nuts even my shins and the top of my feet.
UGH!
Title: Re: I need help!
Post by: Mookie86 on March 17, 2012, 10:59:29 AM
I spent last week dealing with a rash, hives, and welts due to a virus. At first I thought it was the pollen, for I've heard that can happen. You have my sympathy. It was awful!
Are you taking a 24-hour antihistamine? Allegra is a nondrowsy one. Claritin would be another option, though I'd try Allegra first. It tends to be more effective. You can take Allegra and Benadryl at the same time.
Other options to control the rash or at least ease itching: Benadryl cream or spray, oatmeal bath
Title: Re: I need help!
Post by: Foxy on March 17, 2012, 11:03:36 AM
This was my back last night.
(http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/8479/mailmk.jpg)
I don't know if it's a virus or not Mookie. :-/ I eat a lot of fruit so I'm just trying to figure out what the heck it is.
Title: Re: I need help!
Post by: GingerPye on March 17, 2012, 12:13:51 PM
oh dear, that looks awful. I have no idea, but I am sorry you are dealing with this on top of your ankle problems!
Title: Re: I need help!
Post by: Mfamom on March 17, 2012, 12:29:45 PM
I would start taking Allegra or Claritin or some sort of anti histimine daily.
Also, don't double up on oral benadryl AND benadryl cream.
Try a bath in baking soda or oatmeal or both.
Do you have other symptoms besides the hives?
I hope you're better soon!!!!
Title: Re: I need help!
Post by: Mookie86 on March 17, 2012, 12:40:16 PM
Last week, the pharmacist told me it was fine to combine oral Benadryl and Benadryl cream, and she knew I was taking 50 mg Benadryl orally as well as Allegra.
IF, here's a link to the thread where I posted photos of the rash I had last week. IDK if the photos will help you. A friend told me that her child once had viral hives and it looked the same as mine. It's hard to tell from your photo. I think yours is different. What caused this reaction?
Title: Re: I need help!
Post by: Foxy on March 17, 2012, 01:17:23 PM
My chest will get a little like yours but not so wide spread. Just itchy and break out out of no where. I get the occasional skeeter bite looking hives on my hands and arms too. My back between my blades is just out of control and very baffling atm.
Title: Re: I need help!
Post by: yelloww on March 17, 2012, 02:13:55 PM
What fruit are you eating? Specifically? Can you list them, maybe we can figure out if there's a tree in bloom that is cross reactive with the fruit.
Ds can't eat any pitted fruits in the spring because of his pollen allergies. It puts him over the top. Maybe this is now the same for you since spring came so early to PA this year.
Title: Re: I need help!
Post by: Mookie86 on March 17, 2012, 02:24:35 PM
During pollen season, fruits with skin are off limits for some people. dh can't eat apples or peaches without clawing his eyes out, for instance.
I know there are lists online how fruits cross-react with pollen. I tried finding it, but I see only lists regarding OAS and cross-reactivity.
Title: Re: I need help!
Post by: CMdeux on March 17, 2012, 02:32:36 PM
Birch pollen (that is, anything in the birch family) is cross-reactive with apple, peach, pear, plums, cherries, etc. etc.
This looks like a lot more than that going on, though. I hope you can figure out what is causing it, Foxy. That really looks miserable. :-[
Title: Re: I need help!
Post by: Mfamom on March 17, 2012, 03:50:21 PM
I used to have a really great article about it, but can't find it! UGH
Title: Re: I need help!
Post by: GoingNuts on March 17, 2012, 03:54:50 PM
Yikes, Foxy Mama, that looks awful.
I've had chronic hives for about 5 1/2 years now, that wax and wane. I take Claritin year round for them, but right now it's really not controlling them well at all. Any place on my body where there's pressure (like under my wedding ring or bra-band - that the worst ), I'm super-itchy. I assume for me it's an allergy-cup being full thing.
As for you - I have no idea! Take cool showers rather than hot (when it's bad, hot really sets them off) and take a 24 hour non-drowsy antihistamine. Add benadryl at bed time. And I hope you figure it out soon!
:console:
Title: Re: I need help!
Post by: Foxy on March 17, 2012, 03:56:37 PM
Bananas, oranges, cherries in yogurt, peaches in yogurt, strawberries.
I haven't had any apples recently but have been eating alot of the above in the past 2 weeks. :-/ I never had a problem like this though but you never know in this awful world of allergies. :paddle:
Title: Re: I need help!
Post by: Foxy on March 17, 2012, 04:01:24 PM
I have also been eating carrots, cucumbers, peppers and potatoes. :-/
Title: Re: I need help!
Post by: Mfamom on March 17, 2012, 04:38:46 PM
Eat Junk! LOL that's what you get for being a healthy eater. Feel Better. This seems to be a really bad year for allergy sufferers. So many people have had sinus problems in the past month or so.
Title: Re: I need help!
Post by: Foxy on March 17, 2012, 04:58:15 PM
LMFAO! ;D I'm gonna tell hubby that is my cure! He will flip! ;D
Title: Re: I need help!
Post by: Foxy on March 21, 2012, 10:03:47 AM
Just an update. I stopped eating fruit since posting this and although I still have some symptoms, I am not a big welt like I was. I think my environmentals are getting worse. They used to be tolerable but now are getting out of control. I believe I may have to buck up and start taking a daily dose of Claritin or something. I have an appointment with an allergist on Friday that I'm going to keep.
I bet they will urge me to take allergy shots. I don't know if I want to commit to something like that. I used to take my Boss every week. Most of them go for years. I don't know if it would be worth it. What do you gals think? Anyone here do this?
Title: Re: I need help!
Post by: CMdeux on March 21, 2012, 10:24:15 AM
Allergy shots are a really long-term investment, yes. It's also a huge time commitment, but the first year is generally the worst there (twice weekly, or weekly injections). If you have decent insurance, they may be covered.
I will say that DD's six years of allergy shots literally changed her life. Ditto for her dad as a kid.
She still needs daily zyrtec, but I can usually count on one hand the number of times she uses a rescue inhaler annually, and she hasn't needed nasal steroids or Singulair in about three years.
No question that doing allergy shots altered the allergic march for her. No question.
When she started, she had OAS that was rapidly worsening and growing to include more and more fruit. Now, the only thing that she has trouble with are apples during birch (filbert) pollen season (we live in a filbert growing region, so the pollen levels can get crazy high).
Shots don't help everyone, of course-- and you won't really know which group you're in until you've been at it a year. :-/
Title: Re: I need help!
Post by: Foxy on March 21, 2012, 10:59:46 AM
I have good insurance. That won't be a problem. My problem will lie with the time and commitment for the next year or so. Not so much right now but I am on the list for the next name pull for the DOC which will more than likely be happening in July when the budget passes.
I do feel better not eating any fruit at the moment though but I will still get a bit itchy here and there. Thanks for that info CM. I appreciate it! :coolbeans: :heart:
Title: Re: I need help!
Post by: Mfamom on March 21, 2012, 11:49:30 AM
Honestly, I think that a lot of people are having an unusually difficult spring for allergies. I used to really suffer when I was a teen, but as I got older, one spring I'd be fine, the next horrible depending on the pollen counts.
My ds has done allergy shots and his environmentals have improved vastly, but he's having a bad time right now. So, it just may be that this is a particularly bad spring
Title: Re: I need help!
Post by: GoingNuts on March 21, 2012, 04:02:56 PM
I've often joked that I should be on the Twinkie and Devil Dog diet, since so many fresh fruits and veggies give me the itchies.
I've been all hive-y the past two days. I've been avoiding the raw stuff and sticking with the cooked, but it hasn't made a difference. :disappointed: I guess the pollen is just too much too soon for me this year. :tongue: