« A Family Anniversary | HomePage | To Hive or to Hive Not? »

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

To Hive or to Hive Not?

Last night proved to be quite interesting...or shall we say "intriguing"? I have on several occasions as a child developed hives from certain foods. Most allergens I have outgrown. My last bad case was in 5th grade. My mother bought some yogurt, and one was boysenberry. Boysenberry? I had never heard of it. I decided to take a small portion and try it, instead of wasting a whole container. That must have been my guardian angel warning me, because no sooner did I have a bite my lips swelled and I had systemic hives that didn't dissipate until a few days. In retrospect, it was a serious reaction, and now knowing about anaphylactic and allergic reactions, it's a good thing that it wasn't worse!

The joke in my family is to never touch boysenberry. I think I should go on a Rabbit Trail, because I don't even know how they look, where they grow, etc. I've never tried them again, but it hasn't been too hard to avoid, as they aren't very common. I had even forgotten to tell my husband about this allergy....

Until last week. Dh bought some new fruit leather from Trader Joe's, and I noticed one package was Boysenberry. Since it's been SOOOO long since I had any kind of allergic reaction or hives, I toyed with the idea of testing to see if I was still allergic, but I thought it might be prudent to wait until after my birthday.

Last night we celebrated the anniversary of our first date. We walked down memory lane (and MB, Dave had the same feelings when he saw me), had a little glass of white wine (Kendall Jackson Sauvignon Blanc), some dessert, and watched "Life is Beautiful" again.

Everything was wonderful, until I started feeling itchy. I scratched and scratched and then realized I had developed a mild case of hives all over. I think it might have been something in the wine, as the reaction happened before we had any dessert, and the wine was a new type for us. Or, it could have been some supplement or vitamin, but the only thing that was new was the wine. Benadryl cleared the reaction, so I was better this morning.

So, I'll have to do a little sleuthing to figure out the reaction. But it did help me decided to DEFINITELY NOT try any boysenberry any time soon, now that I've had another type of allergic reaction!

15:50 Posted in Musings | Permalink | Comments (6) | Email this

Comments

Oh, yikes! I am glad you are feeling better, Jenn! Stick with the familiar stuff OK? :)

Posted by: Rebecca | Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Not to alarm you, but it may be prudent to have some allergy tests.
Many people are allergic to red wine. I personally cannot have any wine, nor beer and most definitely any fish. I do not take vitamins because too often something is in it to bring on itching most notably ---calicum in vitamins may be derived from shells. As I have aged my reaction to food items has increased not decreased, as iI thought it should. For me, I have "tasted" a reaction, the food item produces a metallic taste in my mouth; however the doctor once told me that is not necessarily a foolproof way to know.
Thank goodness for benedry for mild reactions!!!
Glad you are ok and may you remain so.

Posted by: Ann Youngblood | Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Thank you, Ann. I have been tested several times, and have had 3 rounds of shots through my life, mostly for environmental allergies. I have mentioned boysenberry and they said nothing about it. My son has serious food allergies, so I know not to mess around. I updated my post to include the fact that it was WHITE wine, not red, which really surprised me. And we do have wine on a regular basis, so that's why I'm puzzled. Was there something in this specific wine not found in others?

Posted by: JennGM | Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Did you come in contact with the boysenberry at all? The package even? My sister is allergic to bananas and she will break out into hives if she even sits where a banana peel was 15 min. before. Something to think about....

Posted by: suzanne Temple | Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Jenn,

Thanks for the Dave comment. I had a feeling he felt the same way....the man is beaming in every photo I have ever seen...I would say being married to you gives him much to smile about each day!

As my nephew always says....keep feeling the love!! :)

Mb

Posted by: Marybeth | Thursday, March 22, 2007

Since you have an allergic guy I'm sure you know that the first contact will result in hives and the second (or subsequent) can cause anaphylaxis. Be careful about those boysenberries! Do you have an epi-pen?

Posted by: Barbara | Thursday, March 22, 2007

Post a comment