A couple of months ago, I was sitting at my desk at work, scratching my arms through the final several hours of my shift. It wasn't until I got home and changed out of my work clothes that I noticed my arms and upper body were covered in hives.
I hoped they would go away and went to bed. When I woke up the next morning, a good number of the hives on my upper body had gone away, but new ones were on my legs. As the day progressed, the hives returned to my chest. Concerned, I went to the urgent care clinic, where they determined I was most likely having an allergic reaction to something I ate. I'd never had any sort of food allergies, but I recalled the itching started a few hours after I had eaten dinner -- pad see ew with chicken and a side of fried calamari.
I was given doses of steroids, antihistamines and antacids and sent on my way. So the meds did their stuff and I later consulted with my physician, who thinks I've probably developed a shellfish allergy. I think I'll see an allergist to see if this can be confirmed, but I'm going to be really pissed if that's the case. I guess things could be worse -- I recently spoke to someone who developed a wheat allergy when she turned 30 -- but it kind of sucks that I've been able to enjoy shellfish for all these years and might be forced to give it up. (But I did just realize this might be a continuation of problems I've had since my 30th.)
And just the other day, I was joking to my sister as we prepared for a family picture that it takes me a good 30 seconds to get my body to sit down on the grass.
In the meantime, I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to have just a teensy serving of shellfish to see if I can without having another allergic reaction. Because although my last incident wasn't at all life-threatening, it was mighty uncomfortable. I still have most of the necessary medication (alas, I'm out of the 'roids), so I think I'd be OK.
But I'd really rather not die.
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