Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Trying to solve a reaction mystery

What do you do when you finally have a handle on your daily routine and diet to avoid allergens and then suddenly a skin rash pops up.  That is my situation this week.  Suddenly I  have a skin rash which means, either I got exposed to something I already know I am allergic to, or my immune system has found something new to dislike. 

The usual suspects:  I am carefully re-reading labels for things that I have recently eaten.  Companies are notorious for changing the ingredient list for their products.  I am also examining my recent activities to see if I accidentally exposed myself.  The pollen counts are listed at zero so my airborne pollen allergies shouldn't be triggered.

I have two suspects on my list:

1.  I chaperoned a 4-H project where they did baking.  Wheat is one of my known allergies.  The kids are very energetic and messy when mixing so I could have been exposed to breathing in wheat particles.  Since I know I am allergic I stayed back away from the activity but there could still have been airborne.

2.  I tried a new product that included Quinoa and mango.  It is possible that I have developed an allergy to one of the ingredients in that product.

Now, to avoid all of these things for at least a couple of weeks and do a challenge with one thing at a time (obviously not with wheat which is a known allergen for me.)

Living with allergies is an ongoing ever changing adventure.

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