Ongoing hives

[Hoofprints]

Hello! This is my first post here I only just discovered this forum and am in love with it already! It seems like a great support group! On Monday at about 11pm while watching a hockey game I very suddenly became itchy on my chest/neck then my stomach and legs. Within an hour I was covered head to toe in hives as well as having tight/scratchy/hoarse throat with slight difficulty swallowing. I am allergic to shellfish/shrimp, tea tree oil and penicillin. I also am allergic to hay (I deal with this daily as we own livestock) but it is fine if I wash hands afterward. That night at 8pm we had gone for supper and steak/prawns were on special but I said no prawns as I'm allergic. I'm not entirely sure of my reaction to it as a youngster it made me feel sick then five years ago I had cross contamination in which my steak was cooked where lobster was and I ended up with the worst case of vomiting I have ever heard of or seen. I popped every blood vessel in my face from it and looked as though I was beat up. I have been told reactions can get more severe and that I should have an epi pen. Anyways back to Monday...the only other thing that was different was I was given a box of chocolates filled with hazelnut filling. Which I have had many times before but with no issues. I also had washed all clothes I was wearing and my bedding but I use sensitive skin detergent but thought maybe it wasn't rinsed properly despite my always doing extra rinses. Finally I was wearing a jacket with a liner in it that had been sitting in the back of our truck for six months on the floor doing who knows what. So that night I immediately took some antihistamines then an hour later took some more of a different variety. This seemed to calm things, I then had an oatmeal bath which also calmed things. It is now Thursday morning and once again I'm waking up with hives I am so incredibly itchy and sore. The hives were still there on Tuesday although not as bad and 95% gone on Wednesday but have returned. I re washed all of my clothing but not yet the bedding, but I have continued eating the chocolates especially before bed as I didn't clue in until now that perhaps they're connected. So I now am once again with hives but am not having the throat problems. I'm finding it very stressful trying to figure this out! Is it possible in suddenly allergic to hazelnuts? (I'm nearly 30). To me I thought it was shellfish cross contamination but to me this reaction seems to long to be from that. Any thoughts or insight? I have sort of accepted that I will never know what's going on but will speculate.

[hezzier]

First and most important question: Do you have an epi pen?  If not, make an appt with a board certified allergist and get one.


I will let others talk about hives who have experience dealing with them.  As for developing new allergies, yes, it can happen at any time.

[rebekahc]

Welcome  and sorry to hear you're having reaction troubles!

It's not unheard of for hives to come and go for days after a reaction (in our experience they will last anywhere from 3-4 days to a week).  We always end up on steroids for several days after a reaction to keep the hives at bay.  This time of year environmental allergies are often worse and you wore a jacket that likely had hay in/on it, so your body was 'primed' for a reaction which could have contributed to the lingering hives as well. 

I agree with you that your two most likely culprits are the possible (probable?) shellfish contamination or the hazelnuts.  I'd suspect a known allergen first, but it couldn't hurt to stop eating the hazelnuts until you can see an allergist and get tested for them. 

FWIW, with a severe food allergy, it's not enough to just tell them "no prawns" because it is likely your food will still come into contact with the allergen during preparation - especially if it's steak and prawn night and the kitchen is handling a lot of your allergen.  Prawn residue will be on the cooking surfaces, tongs and other utensils used to handle your food, cook's and server's hands, cloths used to wipe plate edges, cleaning cloths used to wipe your table, etc., etc., etc. 

[PurpleCat]

I echo what rebekahc said about the hives.  That is our experience with DD.  They do linger and they travel!  (around her body).  She is usually on predisone and her inhaler for 4 or 5 days after a reaction to help control the hives and her asthma.  As the hives go away, she often has nasty eczema that needs a topical prescription to knock down.

[Macabre]

Welcome hoofprints!

What they said.

I have a shellfish allergy, and I have to be really careful about cross contamination (you'll often see it abbreviated as XC here). I can't eat foods cooked on a grill typically, as the grill is rarely a dedicated one. And they'll say they clean it, but I know they're not using soap or bleach, so it's not really rid of the protein.

My worst reaction--with symptoms (uterine cramping) that went on for days--involved cross contamination with tongs.

I would get tested for hazelnuts.