Not a silly question at all, it's along the lines of my current thinking. The medical term for itching is pruritus, which took three attempts at spelling to get right - hooray for typing things into Google and it saying "do you mean...?" and repeating until I get recognisable websites like Medscape and the Merck Manual :) Don't ask me to pronounce it, it'll be another of those words like brewery that I can't say without severe embarrassment. Urticaria is specifically itchy/allergic rash/hives.
My current and subject-to-change thoughts on the matter are that the rashes where skin-meets-skin are almost certainly intertrigo because a) they are in the right places for this to be the cause, b) they look like the pictures of intertrigo on the internet, and c) they have responded very well and quickly to the antifungal medicine. I'm not quite sure about the ?ezcema on the inside of my elbow because it was in the exact same shape as the plaster that I'd had over where my blood test was done - I think it's more likely to have been an allergy to the plaster glue, but... I'd used a hypoallergenic latex-free plaster of a make that I've never reacted to before! If I can't use that type of plaster then I'm completely screwed when I injure myself, because I react to everything else, even Micropore tape. I'm hoping this was a transient allergic reaction because my body was full of... er, sensitivity to whatever's causing the bulk of the allergic reaction. Immunoglobulins? Not sure, my biochemistry isn't great.
I'm still incredibly unsure as to the cause of the spotty rash on exposed skin like arms, legs and back - it looks like some sort of allergic rash, but to what?
Heh - I certainly empathise with "seeing my partners tucking into things I would have loved and enjoyed last year but which I now daren't eat". I've been dairy-free for, what, 4 years now? It was awful at the beginning, but believe me, the urge does go away eventually. I occasionally feel really frustrated, if I'm hungry and wandering round an unfamiliar shop trying to find *something* that I can eat, or in the summer when there are ice cream adverts everywhere, but most of the time it doesn't bother me.
You do realise that most food sold in supermarkets has an allergy box on the back? It'll say in big letters if something Contains Milk. That helps a lot. I also started buying vegan chocolate years before I became vegan - if something is safe for vegans then you know it's dairy-free. You don't have to *be* a vegan to eat vegan food! There are also an awful lot of cakes and biscuits (particularly in Waitrose) that contain egg but not dairy - none of them are suitable for me because I'm intolerant to egg as well, but you can eat them :)
Another real lifesaver is going to the same restaurants on a regular basis, so the staff get to know your particular needs. On the whole, places that make up meals from scratch won't mind leaving out butter or cream if you're a regular customer and it's possible for them to do so. (It depends on how many sauces are premade, etc.) If you're ever in an unfamiliar part of the UK, I recommend Pizza Express as an emergency - their bases and tomato sauce are dairy-free, and they seem to be familiar with the idea of dairy allergy. I generally have dough balls with garlic oil instead of butter, some sort of salad without the dressing (unless it's balsamic vinegar & olive oil, which is just fine), and a pizza with interesting toppings but no cheese.
My current and subject-to-change thoughts on the matter are that the rashes where skin-meets-skin are almost certainly intertrigo because a) they are in the right places for this to be the cause, b) they look like the pictures of intertrigo on the internet, and c) they have responded very well and quickly to the antifungal medicine. I'm not quite sure about the ?ezcema on the inside of my elbow because it was in the exact same shape as the plaster that I'd had over where my blood test was done - I think it's more likely to have been an allergy to the plaster glue, but... I'd used a hypoallergenic latex-free plaster of a make that I've never reacted to before! If I can't use that type of plaster then I'm completely screwed when I injure myself, because I react to everything else, even Micropore tape. I'm hoping this was a transient allergic reaction because my body was full of... er, sensitivity to whatever's causing the bulk of the allergic reaction. Immunoglobulins? Not sure, my biochemistry isn't great.
I'm still incredibly unsure as to the cause of the spotty rash on exposed skin like arms, legs and back - it looks like some sort of allergic rash, but to what?
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
You do realise that most food sold in supermarkets has an allergy box on the back? It'll say in big letters if something Contains Milk. That helps a lot. I also started buying vegan chocolate years before I became vegan - if something is safe for vegans then you know it's dairy-free. You don't have to *be* a vegan to eat vegan food! There are also an awful lot of cakes and biscuits (particularly in Waitrose) that contain egg but not dairy - none of them are suitable for me because I'm intolerant to egg as well, but you can eat them :)
Another real lifesaver is going to the same restaurants on a regular basis, so the staff get to know your particular needs. On the whole, places that make up meals from scratch won't mind leaving out butter or cream if you're a regular customer and it's possible for them to do so. (It depends on how many sauces are premade, etc.) If you're ever in an unfamiliar part of the UK, I recommend Pizza Express as an emergency - their bases and tomato sauce are dairy-free, and they seem to be familiar with the idea of dairy allergy. I generally have dough balls with garlic oil instead of butter, some sort of salad without the dressing (unless it's balsamic vinegar & olive oil, which is just fine), and a pizza with interesting toppings but no cheese.
Reply
Leave a comment