Very weird allergic reaction to something...

[SkyRibbons]

My older daughter who has seasonal allergies developed hives on her from her shoulders down to her thighs. Not just hives, but huge huge welts.  The itching and pain was so bad that she was crying.  That morning she had gone tanning (something she does, she knows I don't like this but I digress).  This allergy attack happened shortly after we arrived at my father-in-law's wake.  I left to get her Benadryl and Cortisone cream.  She took 2 Benadryl which helped a little, but then her lips and hands started to swell. I grabbed my pa daughter's epi-pen and ran down to the walk-in doctor's office.  He agreed it was likely an allergic reaction to something and gave her an rx for Prednisone and some other kind of cream but he couldn't rule out a virus.  She didn't sleep well that night because she was so itchy and in pain.  The lip swelling went down but not the hands. She felt warm to me, but I didn't have a thermometer.  The next day the hives were mostly gone but she was still very itchy.  I left her at my mother-in-law's house sleeping, my sister-in-law checking on her, and then I went to the church for the funeral.  Now we're back home, and I didn't see her before she left for work this morning, but she texted me that she feels much better but she's still a bit itchy.   The kicker? I got a cold and had a low-grade fever last night.

So we don't know if she had a virus or an allergic reaction to maybe the funeral flowers?  The prednisone clearly helped with the hives, but would it have helped whether a virus or reaction? 

[lakeswimr]

Does she have food allergies?  Lip and hand swelling make me think food allergic reaction.  I don't hear of people with seasonal and other allergies getting lip and hand swelling but I suppose it is possible. 

[starlight]

I have no idea why, but for some reason I'm under the impression that the stuff they make you spray on your whole body before tanning is kinda like Nair or hair coloring - you can be fine one time and have a horrible reaction the next....

ETA: Could be from the bed itself as well?

http://www.webmd.com/fda/indoor-tanning-risks-ultraviolet-rays?page=2

[twinturbo]

I know there are viral hives but I've never heard of viral hives with lip swelling.

[SkyRibbons]

It is weird, right?  We thought of the tanning spray, and she's been using the stuff for a while.  And the lip swelling thing doesn't match up with a virus that I know of either.  She finished the prednisone yesterday, but she's still itchy; I think she's afraid to use any lotions now & her skin is dry.

Because her seasonal allergies are pretty bad, I'm leaning toward the funeral flowers coupled with the stress of the death and her boyfriend breaking up with her. 

She was tested for food allergies once already, but I do think she's got something going on with wheat. She hadn't eaten that morning though. 

[SkyRibbons]

My daughter went to the tanning salon today and checked the tanning lotion.  It has cinnamon in it.  It's one of those "tingle" lotions.  She's had reactions to cinnamon in the past.  So, basically, she rubbed herself in the stuff, then baked in the oven.  No wonder it didn't go away for days. 

I guess she never used this specific tanning lotion before.  And don't get me started on tanning booths.  I'm totally against them and she knows it.