Happy New Year! Never really understood this particular holiday. Just the calendars turning over really. But oh well.
This is possible in situations where people have a lot of different allergies that aren't such a big deal. For me, I have environmental sensitivities, which basically means I am just a tiny bit allergic to just about everything and when enough things combine I am suddenly having allergy symptoms. This happens to my dad with his more major allergies. Being exposed to a lot of dogs and then a lot of dust while cleaning under the house made him practically anaphylactic while being around either one of those things normally wouldn't have been a big problem. It was the combo that tipped things. Maybe sometimes the tea is a tipping point for you and sometimes allergens aren't so bad so you can drink it with no symptoms.But why would an allergy to tea show one allergy symptom, then not be a trigger after no exposure for a long time, then suddenly come back with a completely different symptom that I'm not sure is a traditional allergy symptom, then not be a trigger after no exposure for a period of time, and then come back with a completely different symptom from the first two?
Today I'm trying elimination. I just took my medicine and will wait a few hours and re-examine my body, since medication is necessary to live. Then I'm going to take a shower and use another new towel, re-examine my body since a contact allergy isn't going to be dangerous. But I'm waffling on the tea. I should try to eliminate it. But if something ingested has a rash over a large area of my body, that's a pretty nasty systemic allergic reaction and without husband and transportation I'm not sure I want to risk making it worse.
Well, until fairly recently (100 years or so), in some cultures debts not paid at the New Year were forgiven, which would be reason to celebrate!Happy New Year! Never really understood this particular holiday. Just the calendars turning over really. But oh well.
Could it be something you're not even thinking of. I had a horrible rash all over my hands and arms for almost two years. I'm talking bloody oozing blisters. Couldn't figure it out, nor could the doctor. Long story short, turns out my lotion had a steroid in it. Changed lotions and it cleared right up.My place is always dim even with most of the bulbs being 100w, but last night I thought I saw another rash on the other side. Daylight, good light, and yep another rash on the other side, down the insides of my upper arms, down my hips onto the outside of my thighs and down along the inside of my thighs.
It is definitely different than the eczema, even though it's near some of the same areas, I can visually and physically feel the difference. It is an allergy rash and has undefined borders and some hives and is hot to the touch. The eczema has clear borders and the classic symptom of scaling and the redness is totally different and not hot to the touch.
I reviewed yesterday and there's only three things that could have caused it.
First is the medication. But last night's dose didn't make it worse and the worst area is actually a little less red today.
Second was using a new towel. I had bought some towels because ours are worn enough to be very scratchy. But like everything else, first place it went after getting home was the washer, and I think that particular towel had been washed twice. Plus I had used another new towel three days ago without problem.
Third is all the ice tea I drank yesterday. About 15 years ago a doctor decided I needed an allergy test and the results were scary. I have a nasal allergy to a LOT of things (literally the only things I didn't have any allergy to were dogs, one kind of grass and one kind of mold). I also showed two food allergies, wheat and tea. Eliminating wheat from the diet is hard and when I gave up I had no symptoms. Later on I read that being allergic to a lot of different grasses can cause a false positive to wheat on skin prick tests, which is what I had.
Tea though...I went two weeks without any tea, had a cup of hot tea and horrible, horrible headache shortly after. I suddenly realized those horrible headaches always got a lot worse in the summer, which is when I switch from mostly soda to mostly ice tea. Despite ice tea being my favorite drink, I cut it out of my diet for 10 years. Tried a glass, no headache. I went back to drinking tea, typically half a gallon a day, sometimes more. Then beginning of last year, after 2 years of drinking tea, I started coming down with the symptoms you have when horrible sick, the full body icky feeling where all you want to do is crawl into bed. I realized that always happened shortly after drinking tea. I avoided it for 6 months, tried a glass, didn't feel sick. Back to half a gallon a day, including several glasses yesterday before the rash showed up.
But why would an allergy to tea show one allergy symptom, then not be a trigger after no exposure for a long time, then suddenly come back with a completely different symptom that I'm not sure is a traditional allergy symptom, then not be a trigger after no exposure for a period of time, and then come back with a completely different symptom from the first two?
Today I'm trying elimination. I just took my medicine and will wait a few hours and re-examine my body, since medication is necessary to live. Then I'm going to take a shower and use another new towel, re-examine my body since a contact allergy isn't going to be dangerous. But I'm waffling on the tea. I should try to eliminate it. But if something ingested has a rash over a large area of my body, that's a pretty nasty systemic allergic reaction and without husband and transportation I'm not sure I want to risk making it worse.
One thing; You are NEVER too young for shingles.. it can strike at any age..Definitely too young for shingles (44), but too old for the shot. It was just becoming a thing when my daughter was born.
It might be the blend of tea that changes, or the brand. Some brands use different sources for tea depending on season or price, and it might be an environmental problem from the source of the tea.After my little experiment today, I'm very sure it's the tea, even though I didn't try showering with one of the new towels yet. It was better this morning when I got up, though not gone, and it didn't get worse until after drinking lots of tea. And when it got worse, it is now worse than yesterday. I took a picture last night of the worst area, and that one is now covering more "acreage". The second worse area is also bigger than it was upon wakening and a lot more red.
I hope my doctor can squeeze me in tomorrow.
The allergy test said that the allergy is to the actual tea plant.It might be the blend of tea that changes, or the brand. Some brands use different sources for tea depending on season or price, and it might be an environmental problem from the source of the tea.
When I was young I had a seasonal allergy to milk because the cows ate different spring grasses.
Gettin' close!I've been heaving random contractions for the last couple hours, but they're only lasting a few seconds and they're not regular, so I don't think it's labor. Probably just Braxton Hicks.