Yesterday I had my follow up check up with my dermatologist regarding the skin rashes that appeared all over my body beginning Monday. On Wednesday I had my initial check up wherein I was prescribed to take Iterax and apply the Petroleum Jelly and Diprolene (Betamethasone) mixture on the red blotches on my skin. True to form, what I was having is Urticaria, which is commonly known as Hives.

Urticaria or Hives

According to the ACAAI (American College & Allergy, Asthma & Immunology), urticaria is a skin condition that affects an estimated 20 percent of the population at one time or another in their lives. It is characterized by itchy, swollen red welts that may last from a few minutes to several hours to several days to several weeks. The inset image is one of the urticaria cases I found on the web which resembles exactly what I experienced beginning Monday.

To be honest, I never had this kind of skin allergy ever since. Although I had eczema which appears whenever I’m stressed or when I eat chocolates urticaria is fairly new to me. The red blotches appeared on my thigh on Monday and in only a matter of hours have quickly spread all over my body.

There are two types of urticaria, such as acute (short-lived) and chronic (long-term). Urticaria is often triggered by allergens, such as insect bites, pollen, pet dander, as well as foods including crab, nuts, eggs, and milk. It may also occur as an allergic reaction to soap, detergent, and makeup. Additionally, emotional stress can maneuver urticaria or hives in other people.

If I am to backtrack the events before I started having the rashes, here’s what I can remember:

• Friday: I ate baby ribs, pasta, and some seafood at T.G.I.Fridays as part of my sister’s birthday celebration.
• Saturday: I had pasta w/asparagus and tacos from The Pancake House.
• Sunday: I had crabs for lunch and grilled fish for dinner

I could say it must be the crab fest I had on a Sunday, but my dermatologist dismissed crabs as the culprit. First, I’ve eaten crabs, shrimps, and other seafood before but I never had any allergic reactions. Second, the allergies occurred the day after, wherein I’ve already eaten other stuff which I don’t have allergies either. My dermatologist concluded that it must be the soap I was using. I was told to switch back to my old Dove soap (extra sensitive). As of today, the hives have somehow disappeared with the help of the medications I was prescribed to take and apply, as well as with the Dove soap I am using. Maybe I should stick to this soap for years or else I’d have those depressing hives once again.

Acute urticaria can last just one day or as long as six weeks, whereas, chronic hives can last for longer than six weeks. I came across a blog wherein the blogger is suffering from urticaria for 10 years already. Not a good lifelong disease, is it? In my case, my personal conclusion is that my urticaria was triggered by stress, over consumption of coffee, sudden and drastic change in diet, and the use of a wrong soap…hahaha. I’d have to say emotional stress accounts for nearly 90% of the circumstances. So I’m promising to myself that I’ll stick to using Dove soap, reduce my coffee intake to one cup per day, and do my best not to worry and over analyze everything

Symptoms of Urticaria

Urticaria starts itching, followed by swollen red welts. The symptoms can appear on any area of the body and often change shape, move around, disappear, and reappear over short periods of time. The bumps—red or skin-colored “wheels” with clear edges—tend to come on suddenly and go away just as fast. To know more about the signs and symptoms of hives, you can visit ACAAI or MedicineNet.com.

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Skin Allergy and Rashes

Signs of Aging

Physically, my skin has always been one of my biggest challenges since I was a kid. I would develop certain types of skin allergy that would require me to take or apply specific medication. Sometimes I’d wish I’d have darker skin so that when I have skin allergy it wouldn’t be very visible or that the scar wouldn’t be so devastatingly obvious. At least that’s what I have always thought.

Very recently, several rashes sprung out of nowhere from all over my body – thighs, arms, legs, and neck. I tried taking some pictures of them but my camera doesn’t seem to cooperate. Skin rashes started to come out on my thighs by Monday. I ignored them thinking they might have been caused by the Johnson’s Bedtime Baby Soap I was using. My daughter experienced itchiness when she tried to use the soap earlier; thereby prompting me to switch her back to the white one which she normally use. Came Tuesday, the rashes sort of spread on my thighs and arms. They were not itchy at all. They were just a bunch of red blotches. However, by late afternoon I noticed they have gone on my legs, back, and neck. I started to panic so I decided to have an appointment with my dermatologist the following day.

By Wednesday morning, the rashes have spread, sparing only my face and chest. Thank goodness, they didn’t reach those parts yet. It was more than 3 years since I had my last visit with my dermatologist – Dra. Ma. Victoria Dizon in UST Hospital. She was quite surprised to see me again and asked if I was having the same old problem in my skin. I said it’s different this time and showed her the skin rashes. She asked me what soap I was using. I told her I started using Safeguard soap for the last 3 weeks and also tried Johnson’s Bedtime Baby Soap for a day. Before that I would only use Ivory and Dove. Three years ago she recommended I use Dove extra sensitive after I had eczema appearing on my skin. Anyway, the mere mention of Safeguard took her by surprise. According to her, I made the mistake of using the soap and that I should only be using Dove extra sensitive. I mentioned my eating of crabs on a Sunday and let her know that the rashes started appearing Monday. However, she dismissed that the skin rashes have something to do with the crabs I ate.

I was already about to topple crabs on my favorite food list. But I was relieved when Dra. Dizon told me that they have nothing to do with the skin allergy I was having. It must be the Safeguard soap I was using, saying it’s not a good soap at all. I was prescribed to switch back to Dove extra sensitive. Likewise, I needed to take Iterax tablet 3 times a day for 4 days. Apparently, one of the side effects of Iterax is that it’ll make you feel really sleepy. It somehow worried me because even though I work from home, I work 10 hours a day. Yesterday, I took the tablet and in just 30 minutes I felt the side effect already. In fact, after taking one tablet in the evening I was already in deep slumber just an hour after. I also noticed I was more temperamental – perhaps, another bad side effect for me. On top of that, I need to apply a mixture of Petroleum Jelly and Diprolene (Betamethasone) on the affected areas.

I’m scheduled to have another check up this coming Saturday. I hope that the red rashes will somehow diminish by then. As of today, so far they are under control. And I made sure I bought more than a handful of Dove extra sensitive soap since it’s pretty hard to look for them. I’m hoping against hope that I will be completely free of any skin allergy, because to be honest, I’m fed up of having to constantly apply ointment or cream on parts of my body. But I guess it’s impossible to dream about that since it’s in my genes. I read somewhere that there’s no cure for skin allergies that are already part of your genes. So I guess the only thing I can do is control it.

This weekend is perhaps the best weekend I’ve ever had for quite sometime. In fact, it started as early as Friday when my sister celebrated her birthday at T.G.I. Friday’s in MOA. Since it was a payday, it didn’t surprise us that there so many people milling around.

On a Saturday, I made it a point not to work so I can play with my kid before my husband and I did our grocery. The best part is Sunday because we had a very special lunch menu composed of ensaladang manga and crabs.

my all-time favorite ensaladang manga

Buttered crabs

Alright, the picture may not be appetizing at all, but what I’m saying is that the food really made my day. I mean it’s like we were dining at Dampa seafood restaurant. It was such a treat for me because for the last 13 days I’ve only been eating rice for lunch. But today, I ate rice for lunch and dinner. For dinner we had inihaw na tilapia. I didn’t take a picture of the dish anymore because I was already too tempted to even bother with a camera.

It also helps that I didn’t work for the weekend because for the last couple of weeks I’ve always been extending my work hours even on the morning and evening of Saturdays and Sundays. It feels damn good to just enjoy the weekend – as in laze around, play with my daughter and make myself bored. Although I always try not to work for the weekend, most of the time my own efforts would fail me. No wonder, I’ve been experiencing some pains throughout my body…lolz.

Maybe next time I must try to turn off my cellphone and never to come near the computer – no checking of emails and FB, and no blogging