monster face!
when i was younger, crabs used to make me break out in mild hives. just these itchy red splotches on my back and upper arms. it was never too terrible and the worst breakout i remember was back in middle school when i was 11? 12? 13? and they were just bumpy skin irritations all over my back but nothing too severe. i stopped eating crabs for about 5 years or so, until my senior year of high school when i started working at a crab shack.
i loved crabs so much (as well as other shellfish) that i would sneak a few claws here and there, just praying for no outbreak.. and i was lucky. nothing happened. so i tested my luck and ate crabs next time there was a large family gathering. alas! no hives! i was completely fine! i have successfully built an immunity to my allergy to crabs!
so since high school, i had consumed crabs with no problem, and it was a delicious, delicious victory.
fast forward to June 14, 2008. it was the weekend of my birthday. elisa had planned a crab feast party to celebrate my 24th bday. of course, it was delicious again. i enjoyed it thoroughly. this time however, i noticed a few itchy splotches on my chin and neck. could it be that the allergy had come back? i waited it out and nothing more happened. whew. i was safe. i then forgot about it until...
yesterday. June 29, 2008. a family friend was having a massive dinner/crab/steak party and had all of my family over. it was good times, with awesome food. of course i pigged out on the steak and crabs, sang some karaoke and i was the happiest a girl could be.
fast forward 3 hours later. i left the party so the adults could play without minding the children being around. at home, i was tired from having stayed up so late at the retreat i had just come back from, but couldn't sleep because i was sooooo full. in order to get everything digested, i went walking on the treadmill while watching a kdrama. i quit after a mile or two of slow, slow walking, and my stomach was feeling a lot lighter. i went to go stretch out my legs a little bit and to cool down because i was a lil sweaty. my face felt hot like it usually does when i go walking/running. i thought it was strange i felt so hot when i hadn't been walking very briskly, but shrugged it off. i went to go take a shower and wash up and glanced a look at the mirror on the way to the shower.
!!!!!!!!
i did a double take. and stopped dead in my tracks. i backed up to the mirror again.
my face was the COVERED IN HIVES and it was the most disgusting, splotchy, DEEP RED, SWOLLEN thing i had ever seen. i could barely recognize myself. i realized then that the tingling and itchiness and hotness of my face i had attributed to the walking was actually an allergic reaction. oh crab, i mean, crap.
i took my shower in cold water, hoping to cool down my face and my increasingly hot, red, itchy, and splotchy body. nope, it only became worse. my ears were burning and the rest of my body began tingling and itchy and hot as well. i ran out of the bathroom dripping wet and still in my robe and dashed to the cupboards praying that there would be some histamine blocker. and then i found some meds. i quickly popped 2 of them. thank GOD for benadryl. work your magic, oh beautiful white and pink pills.
the next few hours were filled with a mix of shock, amazement, embarrassment, and utter curious awe at what was happening to me. admittedly i was mildly nervous that these severe hives would travel to my insides and start blocking my throat and breathing passages, so i had my brother on standby (but from behind my closed door because i was too embarrassed to show myself).
at its worst, my face had swollen to twice its size in thick hives that were hard to the touch. i couldn't move my face or talk properly. i didn't recognize my reflection. all of my face, ears, neck, and body were a DEEP BRIGHT RED color that i can only compare to a severe case of asian flush. large bumps and hives were appearing all over my arms and particularly on my neck and back and stomach. even the palms of my hands were a bright red itchy mess. i thought about calling in sick to work, this just did not look good. i was busy for the next hour just writhing around in awkward positions trying to scratch myself in the unreachable regions of my back. it was probably an entertaining sight to see.
after about 3 hours, thanks to the benedryl, everything was starting to look normal again. well, that was fun while it lasted. all this time i had been in denial of having a food allergy. guess there's no room for denial now.
looks like i won't be eating any tasty, tasty crustaceans for a while.. (forever?) :*(
i loved crabs so much (as well as other shellfish) that i would sneak a few claws here and there, just praying for no outbreak.. and i was lucky. nothing happened. so i tested my luck and ate crabs next time there was a large family gathering. alas! no hives! i was completely fine! i have successfully built an immunity to my allergy to crabs!
so since high school, i had consumed crabs with no problem, and it was a delicious, delicious victory.
fast forward to June 14, 2008. it was the weekend of my birthday. elisa had planned a crab feast party to celebrate my 24th bday. of course, it was delicious again. i enjoyed it thoroughly. this time however, i noticed a few itchy splotches on my chin and neck. could it be that the allergy had come back? i waited it out and nothing more happened. whew. i was safe. i then forgot about it until...
yesterday. June 29, 2008. a family friend was having a massive dinner/crab/steak party and had all of my family over. it was good times, with awesome food. of course i pigged out on the steak and crabs, sang some karaoke and i was the happiest a girl could be.
fast forward 3 hours later. i left the party so the adults could play without minding the children being around. at home, i was tired from having stayed up so late at the retreat i had just come back from, but couldn't sleep because i was sooooo full. in order to get everything digested, i went walking on the treadmill while watching a kdrama. i quit after a mile or two of slow, slow walking, and my stomach was feeling a lot lighter. i went to go stretch out my legs a little bit and to cool down because i was a lil sweaty. my face felt hot like it usually does when i go walking/running. i thought it was strange i felt so hot when i hadn't been walking very briskly, but shrugged it off. i went to go take a shower and wash up and glanced a look at the mirror on the way to the shower.
!!!!!!!!
i did a double take. and stopped dead in my tracks. i backed up to the mirror again.
my face was the COVERED IN HIVES and it was the most disgusting, splotchy, DEEP RED, SWOLLEN thing i had ever seen. i could barely recognize myself. i realized then that the tingling and itchiness and hotness of my face i had attributed to the walking was actually an allergic reaction. oh crab, i mean, crap.
i took my shower in cold water, hoping to cool down my face and my increasingly hot, red, itchy, and splotchy body. nope, it only became worse. my ears were burning and the rest of my body began tingling and itchy and hot as well. i ran out of the bathroom dripping wet and still in my robe and dashed to the cupboards praying that there would be some histamine blocker. and then i found some meds. i quickly popped 2 of them. thank GOD for benadryl. work your magic, oh beautiful white and pink pills.
the next few hours were filled with a mix of shock, amazement, embarrassment, and utter curious awe at what was happening to me. admittedly i was mildly nervous that these severe hives would travel to my insides and start blocking my throat and breathing passages, so i had my brother on standby (but from behind my closed door because i was too embarrassed to show myself).
at its worst, my face had swollen to twice its size in thick hives that were hard to the touch. i couldn't move my face or talk properly. i didn't recognize my reflection. all of my face, ears, neck, and body were a DEEP BRIGHT RED color that i can only compare to a severe case of asian flush. large bumps and hives were appearing all over my arms and particularly on my neck and back and stomach. even the palms of my hands were a bright red itchy mess. i thought about calling in sick to work, this just did not look good. i was busy for the next hour just writhing around in awkward positions trying to scratch myself in the unreachable regions of my back. it was probably an entertaining sight to see.
after about 3 hours, thanks to the benedryl, everything was starting to look normal again. well, that was fun while it lasted. all this time i had been in denial of having a food allergy. guess there's no room for denial now.
looks like i won't be eating any tasty, tasty crustaceans for a while.. (forever?) :*(