Hives

I thought I had the food allergy thing pretty well under control.  I've become a champion grocery shopper.  I read labels like it's going out of style.  I ask about allergens at restaurants.  I mean I am good.  And I do other stuff to stay healthy -- I drink tons of water, I exercise, I take vitamins.  So I'm trying to do everything right.

I headed off to the gym to run yesterday after work.  Apparently I'm going to become a runner.  Insane.  Well, I'm not sure my body is with me on running.  Last Monday I ran and the next day I was donkey kicked by the flu or something like it.  Hideous.  But yesterday I got right back up on that horse.  I ran.  Well I ran/walked.  Had a nice little warm up then ran for 45 seconds and walked for a minute and 15 seconds alternating for about 25 minutes.  Then I just walked the last 15 minutes.

When I got off the treadmill I noticed my lips felt kind of funny.  But I'd put on kind of tingly chapstick before heading into the gym and my mouth was dry from mouth breathing (hot, I know) so I didn't think much about it.  When I got in the car to head home I pulled down my visor mirror to check out my face a little.  I had hives on both sides of my lips.  And on my eyelids.  And the more I thought about it, the more I thought my throat felt a little iffy.  I'm always sure that I'm not really sick so I popped a Benadryl and headed to the gas station to fill up my car.  I felt progressively worse while I was pumping gas so I just filled it up about halfway and called my sister.  I was hoping she could convince me that it was okay to drive home and I just needed to relax for a bit.

Um, no.  She told me to quit driving around and go to urgent care or the ER.  I called a family friend who lives close and she came and met me at the ER.  And then my mother-in-law came.  And then the friend's husband came.  And then my husband got there...  I had quite the party in my little room.  But it was nice to feel so many people worried about me.

Anyway, it was definitely an allergic reaction to something.  What exactly, they weren't sure.  They pumped me full of steroids and it helped almost immediately.  I was fine within an hour of being admitted.  I got a prescription for prednisone to get me back to normal.  Cross your fingers it doesn't undo all the weight I've lost.  Because now I'm at an official 25 pounds.  Cue dancing and confetti.

All I can really think that might have caused it is touching the treadmill.  I'm allergic to soy, peanuts, and sesame seeds.  A little hives are kind of normal for me.  But nothing like this.  So my theory is that someone had peanuts right before they used the treadmill.  Didn't wash their hands.  Didn't wipe down the treadmill.  Then I touched it and of course rubbed my face because there was sweat from the running and then the hives happened.  That's just a theory of course.  So, now I'm going to become the crazy cleaning lady at the gym, wiping down my machine super thoroughly.  And I'm a little paranoid so I'm working out from home today.