Hives - itchy!!!

[spyrosmom]

I can't figure this out. Sunday I was fussing that my face way itchy, but I thought it was because it was so flippin' hot out. I was sitting on the couch (no A/C yet, its only April) doing my cross stitch project and my face was all itchy. I didn't get up to look to see what it was, I figured I was hot/sweaty/oily. I had half a PB sandwich for lunch prior to plopping on the couch.

Monday morning I was at work and my face was itching like crazy. WTH? I got up and looked in the mirror, and had hives/welts on both of my cheeks. I ran to Walgreens at lunch and got some Benadryl and was fine. The last thing I ate prior to that was a Luna Nutz Over Chocolate bar.

Monday night I was exercising and the itchies came back. Last thing I ate? PB pancakes for dinner. Took some Benadryl and was fine.

Yesterday afternoon at work - itchies and hives again. Last thing I ate? A Nature Valley Apple Crisp granola bar. No peanuts on the label, but a May Contain Peanuts warning.

It's only on my face, and only on my cheeks. The only thing I can possibly tie it to is peanuts. But I've eaten peanut butter probably almost daily since I was a kid. Last night when I got home from work I ate a spoonful to see what would happen, and nothing. I can't think of anything else. I've not eaten anything I don't normally eat over the past couple days. It all seems to tie back to the PB, but that doesn't make sense to me. How to I figure out what's causing this? Or maybe it's just something in the Spring air and a coincidence. Other than itchy face I feel fine, no breathing problems or anything. Help!

Nan

 

[NRG Woman]

I may not be of much help, but here it goes.

I recently found out that I have sensitivities to several foods. Sensitivities sounds mild, but it isn't necessarily. I have a lot of allergies, so it isn't surprising. After I reacted to the last food I went to the allergist to be tested. The good thing is that the tests came back negative which essentially means I won't have a life threatening reaction to those foods. But that doesn't mean when I eat those foods I won't get really sick. I asked the allergist about one of the suspected foods saying I ate it every day. They said that these things can happen very quickly and even though you eat the food every day all of a sudden you can develop a reaction to it. The solution for me is simple, but not easy...take the foods out of my diet. For me it is absolutely life changing how much I feel better.

So you can try taking the suspected food out of your diet for a couple of weeks. Then try a bit of the food that you suspect and see if you have any reactions.

Good luck.

Shayne

 

[kathryn]

So you can try taking the suspected food out of your diet for a couple of weeks. Then try a bit of the food that you suspect and see if you have any reactions.

You can look up 'elimination diet' online, and find out how to do this. Basically, you stick with foods that usually don't cause allergies in anyone (like rice) for two weeks, then gradually add in other foods to check to see if any of them trigger a reaction.