I have become allergic to some component of the dust in my environment, and when it directly contacts my skin, I get an almost instantaneous rash that gets worse the longer I ignore the itch and wait to remove the hoodie/shirt/socks/whatever (or stop petting the dog) that collected dust that then touched my skin.

like, actual huge visible welts, and they Itch like fire omfg, but they go away in 15-20

I thought it was something from the chickens or guineas, but then I reshuffled some ancient stored stuff in the basement that hasn't been touched since long before they arrived, and it broke me out so fucking bad! It looked like someone had been whipping my forearms, it was nuts.

I have never seen anything visible on my skin or on my clothes to show what is causing it. If I am obsessive about cleaning my dog and my floors and not letting anything sit out before it goes on me and not letting anything I'm going to wear to bed touch any other furniture, then it's fine, but that's exhausting

idk what the point of this is. Have you suddenly become allergic to anything? What was it and how is that going for you?

  • LaGG_3 [he/him, comrade/them]
    ·
    8 months ago

    Have you suddenly become allergic to anything? What was it and how is that going for you?

    Yeah, a few years ago (in my early 30s) I ended up with a contact allergy to a dozen things with long chemical names. For me it started as itchy skin around the eyes and then spread to other parts of my body. Shit sucks, like the experience of just existing was miserable and itchy.

    Long story short, I spent a lot of money going to different doctors until I finally got a dermatologist referral and got an allergen test. Spent a week with a bunch of things intentionally making my back itch. Then they gave me an app that listed my allergens and told me to only use products that the app lists (it's all expensive shit lmao). Also, they didn't account that some of my allergens were things commonly found in textiles, so I had to throw away a lot of underwear, socks and t-shirts (mostly stuff with elastic in it) and guess-and-check until I found brands that don't make me erupt in rashes. I have to wear drawstring underwear like you-are-a-serf or something lol.

    After some arguing with the doctor (who would make assumptions that I wasn't adequately removing allergens from my life), I finally got prescribed an injection medicine that helps quite a bit.

    In short - try to get an allergen test from a dermatologist, and if you're anything like me I hope you have good insurance because the medicine I'm on is super expensive. Luckily, my partner has great insurance.

    • the_itsb [she/her, comrade/them]
      ·
      8 months ago

      cries in uninsured amerikkkan

      I was pretty sure that was going to be the only way to actually deal with it, so I guess I will wait until it's severe enough to be worth the money!

      Thank you for all of this, though - at least I know what to expect if it comes to that, which is highly helpful for me.

      • LaGG_3 [he/him, comrade/them]
        ·
        8 months ago

        Yeah, the only relatively inexpensive thing I can recommend trying is to try replacing any products that touch your skin and laundry soap with the most basic ass stuff (scentless, hypoallergenic etc) and see if that improves things at all. Naturally, that still costs money and takes time to figure out if anything is even working - it's definitely a frustrating experience.

        It sucks that "not wanting to rip your skin off" is a luxury joker-amerikkklap

        I hope that you can at least figure something out to make it manageable!