Food Allergy!

Within the last hour I breakfasted on a Voodoo Donut, which Beth had brought back from her office for me yesterday as a treat. Within ten minutes I was having an allergic reaction!  Eek!

Before anyone gets worried, I'll tell you it's a very mild reaction and already the symptoms are easing. I got hives (white lumps) on my skin, in this case on my face, and reddening of the skin around the hives. Itchyness and hot skin in various places, not only my face and neck but also my chest, arms, upper back and legs. The skin on my forehead "cramped" up, I can think of no better description, resulting in mild Klingon-style ridges.

The reaction was severe enough to cause me to ring Walmart and cancel my shift for today. I don't want to scare the customers by looking like a leper. Hopefully they can contact my colleague who has the shift following mine, and he can come in early.

I previously had only one known allergy with similar skin reactions, to Paracetamol which is called Acetaminophen in the US, a painkiller used in Tylenol and many cold and flu remedies. Fortunately that one is easy to avoid, though it does limit my self-treatment options.

Beth was still at home, so she was able to examine my hives and confirm that I wasn't imagining it, and then she emailed the company that produce these donuts to see if we can identify the ingredient that caused the reaction.