Last week Tuesday, I spent the day in bed with a bad dose of the flu. It just smothered me with a sore throat, aching body, throbbing head and running nose. A day in bed and a full dose of Vitamin C is exactly what I needed…
In the late afternoon, MC returned from work to do the evening run with SJ (as I was a little nervous to be all over her and make her sick!) and I started to itch. I sat on the couch scratching my arms and chest and thinking my jersey was irritating my skin. Half an hour later, I removed the sleeves of my jersey, only to find huge red welts forming on my skin.
I hopped into the shower, had a good scrub and was getting out to put some lotion on when MC walked in and got quite a fright at the sight of my upper body now absolutely covered – from arms, to chest, to neck, to cheeks, to tummy, to back… ALL OVER!!!
We called in our housekeeper to watch SJ and off we drove to the chemist. He didn’t seem very clued up and said he could give me Allergex to help the reaction or it could be shingles. Shingles?? Seriously? You don’t throw that word around lightly. Especially when you have a 7 month old baby at home who hasn’t yet had the shingles inoculation! He then recommended seeing a doctor. At 7pm, where was I going to find one of those? The local hospital emergency room, how dramatic!!
We arrived in casualty and a nurse confirmed it wasn’t shingles as it was symmetrical and shingles normally only reacts in one area of the body but that it was a VERY BAD allergic reaction. This confuses me – I don’t have any allergies and never have in my 27 years of being… I also didn’t eat or touch anything differently that day. The only change in my routine for the last 24 hours is I took an American brand of Vitamin C called Aloe C Defense – but I am still skeptical as the ingredients are very similar to our local Vitamin C meds.
Anyway, I though a pill or some lotion would help but the resident doc had other ideas. One and a half hours of a cortisone drip, a VERY sore antihistamine injection and three blood tests later, I was allowed to head home… welt-and-itch-free!! What an ordeal!
Do you have any allergies? Or have had any reactions?
Any of you American readers got any wisdom about Aloe C Defense?
x
Ahh! I'm so sorry Caley – that must have been terrifying. I hate having a reaction and not knowing what caused it. Maybe it's just one of those weird cases and it will never happen again. Glad you're sorted and healthy again 🙂
xxx
Jenna
Wow so sorry to hear this!!! I once had a very bad reaction after a full day of drinking orange juice (sick with the flu too). They said it could have been all the acid in orange juice. Who knows? Never figured it out. I am now suffering with what I believe are allergies that are affecting my sinuses. Sore face, sinus headache, light-headed, etc. They come and go. I'm 23 and have NEVER had allergies either. I've heard it's been a bad season in general. My husband developed a shell fish allergy (the night of our wedding…!) and he's 27 and never had that allergy either. I hear they develop more as you get older. Hope you feel better soon love!!!!
Xo-L