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Sponsor |  vontwiss | Apr 23, 2005 4:28pm | | About a week ago, I was seriously itching. Thought something bit me, then about 4 days ago, I had blotches breaking out all over me, more serious itching, tried over the counter products and that seemed to help, but this morning I woke to find 4 times the amount of blotches and even more serious itching. Went to a walk-in clinic, this is Saturday, this "doctor" says it is definitely an allergic reaction and I need to figure out what it is or it will just happen again and the medicine, prednisone 6 day pak and hydroxyzine 25mg tablets, will help to clear it up, but it won't stop it entirely. Any thoughts on this? I am rewashing everything, since I did buy a different laundry detergent, but that is the only thing different, just in case, I sent my son to the store to buy Dreft, a baby clothes detergent, and whatever hypo-allergenic dryer sheets he could find. I have never seen anything like this, any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Von |
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Sponsor | | buckyreed | Apr 23, 2005 5:15pm | Hey, Von--sorry about the itching!
About the reaction:
1. Were the blotches of uniform size/shape?
2. Clustered in any particular areas?
3. Raised welts like big mosquito bites? Or just a discoloration?
4. Were they accompanied by any non-blotchy swelling (or other symptoms)?
5. Worse at different times of day?
Also, do you have any known allergies? And, finally, did you do anything out of the ordinary before they appeared? By that I mean cleaning out the toolshed/attic/basement/garage, trying a new restaurant, taking new vitamin supplements, switched to a different office, overnight stay somewhere--ANYTHING different.
I got the worst case of welts in my life from taking penicillin for the *last* time at age 13. Before then it hadn't bothered me, but I suddenly developed a pretty strong reaction to it. And I get some degree of blotching and swelling any time I ingest milk protein. Basically, it indicates a system-wide reaction to something. Although it's always uncomfortable, it can range from a minor annoyance to a precursor of a massive, lethal reaction. The potential severity largely depends on the mode of exposure: if it's from skin contact (like with a detergent), what you experienced is probably as bad as it could be (this is the most likely scenario, by the way). On the other hand, if it's something you ate (like shellfish) or inhaled (like mold or someone's new carpet) it could be much worse next time.
So it's pretty important to figure out what it was!
In the meantime, the steroids, along with topical hydrocortisone cream and oral benedryl (diphenhydramine) should help alleviate symptoms. |
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Sponsor | | vontwiss | Apr 24, 2005 8:49am | | Thanks so much for your reply and PM. Since I have never had anything like this happen, I wanted to double check on the info from the doctor and try to make some sense of this. They started out pretty uniform but then spread into odd larger shapes, they also started smooth but raised into welts with irritation from clothes or my scratching. The medicine seems to be doing the trick, but I am worried that it will come back. At this point I still feel itchy all over and am hoping that is mental, since I am hoping it is the detergent and I have rewashed everything. The thought that it could be something I have never reacted to and all of a sudden am reacting to is a nightmare to think of. I am assuming this will probably be fine until the medicine runs out and then I will get the news as to whether I have solved the problem. Not really something I am looking forward to. I guess we just wait and see. Thank you so much for the info. I think I will be coming here often to see what things I should watch out for. I suppose with all the new products and new chemicals in the world today, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Thanks again, Von |
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Sponsor | | buckyreed | Apr 24, 2005 9:25am | Since you mentioned the blotches raising into welts, I have to mention an additional danger from that:
raised welts (which I'll call hives) not only indicate a fairly strong allergic response, but they can actually pose a risk themselves. The swelling part of any hive--whether mosquito bite or whatever--is the result of blood vessels dilating. When that happens, fluid leaks out of your blood and into the tissue around the vessels. It appears clear (white) because only fluid leaks out--not the actual red blood cells. The problem is that if enough fluid is lost from your blood you can actually lose blood pressure in a dangerous way.
This is exactly what happened to me at 13 from taking penicillin. The hives just got worse and worse over several days until one morning I crawled into the bathroom, itching and delirious*, and got into the shower only to stand up, pass out, and hit my head really hard. To make matters worse, I came-to on the floor in the shower, said "WTF?", and stood back up, only to pass out and hit my head again. There may have even been a third time before my parents rushed in. Fortunately for the shower fixtures, my head is all squishy in the morning--hey, I can joke about it since it was me, right? But things could obviously have turned out much worse than just losing a few IQ points...
So...don't think that having a bunch of hives is just a terrible nuisance. Technically, having hives appear in many places on your body is considered a medical emergency!
*I think "itching and delirious" would be a great band name. Sorry, Von, I know it's probably not so funny to you right now... |
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Sponsor | | vontwiss | Apr 26, 2005 11:21pm | | Actually, it is very funny to me at this point, i pulled some clothes out of the drawer, last night and thought they should be fine, however, I must have washed them in the same toxic waste, since I woke up this morning with serious blotches! I am so happy now, knowing, it is an allergic reation, although, that is not fun and can be very serious, it is not quite the same as finding out you have bugs or some flesh eating disease. Believe me all that went through my mind, along with what if I am allergic to somehing I have been doing for years! So, needless to say, I am very happy to have gotten to the bottom of this so quickly. By the way, the toxic offender is All Laundry detergent. Unfortunately, I did not buy the free and clear scent! Thank you all for your help! It just reaffirms my belief that you can't trust much of anything on the market today and there will always be wonderful people like you in the world! Thank you so much, Happy Stumbling, Von Update here, I still have not discovered what is causng this, but, I do think I must be building some kind of immunity to it, the blotches are less intense and usually leave at night and start again in the morning. So we are making progress here! Thanks again for all your help! You are all the best! |
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Sponsor | | buckyreed | Jun 7, 2005 12:57am | Hi Von!
So, do you still suspect the detergent? If you've stopped your exposure to it, the hives should go away...
Any new word from the medical community? |
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Sponsor | | vontwiss | Jun 26, 2005 9:56pm | | Actually, I have not tried the laundry detergent again, just went back to my normal stuff, but that made no difference, I have stayed the night elsewhere, that makes no difference. Although, as I said, I think I might be building an immunity to whatever it is. I am voting for dust, as in unusual, hurricane, massive rebuilding, and clearing out debris dust. Also, I can not rule out stress, although, that is so funny to me, since I can't remember a time when I have not been stressed, so if that is suddenly a problem, I might as well just suck it up and go around with blotches. Although, I have started using that to my advantage, since it seems to work well if I start itching and blotching and say, "Oh my, I appear to be getting blotches, I am getting stressed out here!" The wonderful doctor I saw in the beginning has called several times to see how I am doing, our last conversation was, It will either go away or will pop up every once in a while, but no one seems to think I will find the culprit. Everyone thinks it is very mysterious and unusual, But, no solutions yet. As I said, it mostly goes away at night, then starts again in the morning. It has not gotten as bad as the beginning for some time now, so I can live with this and maybe that is the reason it isn't as bad. When I was so freaked out in the beginning, it could not have helped anything. Of course, at the time, I did not want to hear, calm down, stop itching things, but, as time has moved on, I may have to agree, that part of this could be stress, which to me translates to mental state and maybe I am crazy! But, part is definitely related to dust, our own special version, since the hurricanes. I also clean houses and now that everyone is getting back to their house, with all the new carpet, paint, drywall and counter dust, I am blotching. Since, I have not really changed anything I do, it has to be related to differences in the normal places I go. I will be experimenting with this tomorrow, since it is cleaning day at my house and then, I will be moving some stuff out of storage for a friend of mine and taking it to her newly re-done house. All of this, has just reminded me that doctors are useless in everyday, problems. I spent a great deal of money, only to have them say, Gee, I have no idea! I did pay for blood tests, which came back, with a message on my phone, "...within normal levels", what that means, I have no idea, but am going with, there is nothing major wrong. All of this has been very interesting, I even bought a bunch of vitamins, which ran out two days ago, so I know it has been two months, surprisingly, nothing out of the ordinary, since they ran out! Just makes me happy, since, now I know, I probably did nothing to stop this, our bodies, will cure the problem, or maybe our minds will. At least for this problem, certainly not for lethal reactions to specific things. Thanks again for all your help, I don't know what I would have done without you! |
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Sponsor | | buckyreed | Jun 27, 2005 4:29am | A couple of things I can offer:
1. In cleaning houses, check and see if you are using cleansers with 2-butoxyethanol. If so, try switching to cleansers without it. It is apparently a common chemical cause of chronic hives.
2. Since the reaction is worse in the morning, try sleeping for a few nights with a tennis ball sewn-in to your bedclothes (or some other method) in order to keep you OFF of your side/back/front while you sleep. See if the hives then tend to appear on the sides without the tennis ball. If so, you may have a pressure-based reaction.
3. Another kind of test that is not often suggested--but can be illuminating--is called a patch test. It seems to involve picking an area of skin that almost always reacts and doing some sort of careful chemical analysis of it. This would be good for finding any sort of topical culprits.
4. Also, just as a possibility, I found this post on a health board that offers a solution that *sounds* promising, albeit rather difficult to implement!
I had hives for 1 1/2 year. It took me an insane amount of research, and I finally solved it. Afterwards I used the same technique, so far on my count 9 people have completely gotten rid of Chronic urticaria/hives.
Do the following.... no medicine needed. The cause is "Detergent residue" and most people in their life time are not commited enough to solve it. Follow these techniques, it has not failed once.
1.) Get rid of all your clothes. Throw them away or put them in a plastic bag air tight. You'll likely never wear them again.
2.) Buy all new clothes. Preferably loose instead of tight. If you are budget strapped, buy just enough full sets of clothes for a 2 week rotation only.
3.) Buy a new bath towel. Only use this one.
4.) Get rid of your bed sheets and blankets. Buy new ones.
5.) Before you do laundry, pre rinse 1 cycle with just water.
6.) When you do laundry, don't use ANY detergent. Use BAKING SODA only. The hard part is making sure the people who share machine with you don't use detergent either!!!!
7.) Now wash everything you bought a couple times with BAKING SODA only. Towel, bed sheets, clothes.
8.) Only wear your newly purchased clothes, all cotton. No polyester.
9.) Only sleep on the bed with the new bed sheets.
10.) Exercise daily enough to sweat the existing residue off. If you can't workout and sweat, take a detox bath. Make sure the bath tub is detergent free. No trace of any chemicals etc.
11.) Wipe any furniture/couch/chair you might have very clean. Detergent residues are practically invisible.
12.) I have not met one person who was not cleared of this problem after 4-6 weeks. 4 weeks if you are committed!!!!
I'm also curious about if/how temperature extremes affect the reaction: Do hot showers make it worse/better? Cold showers? What about exercise?
Glad to hear that the reactions aren't as bad anymore, Von--keep us updated... |
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