Urticaria - my new friend

Urticaria is a new friend in my life. In the last five weeks, I have met Urticaria and had to embrace Urticaria since trying to fight Urticaria is not going to work.


I have played in gutters, had my hand in all kinds of earth and mud, waded through flood waters - and nothing really happened. I have never had hay fever - just the periodic coughs, childhood ring worm,  chicken pox and the other things.

The body though really changes. Friends tell me about growing lactose intolerance. Another friend discovers new allergies.. malta being the most recent. People are allergic to painkillers, food colourings, some foods- some raw food.. all kinds of things.

Here I am, 42 year old Guyanese coolie man, who used to eat everything and touch anything without problems Marabunta stings would go down, ants bite would heal. A couple of things would linger.

But this new allergy reaction - this intense itching which resulted in blotches and swelling in the hands, and then swelling in the feet.. nothing like this ever. The doctor said uticaria, hives and prescribed some blood tests.

I learn about subcutaneous itching.. and then this new thing where the hands would swell , and become tingly and painful. And the feet too itching, even if other parts of the body are not itching.

Part of the problem is not knowing what is the allergen. I go through the list, some things I eat and am around and nothing happens. So now, it is annoying because you "deh good good" and then the itching starts.

I have Piriton, Claritin, Benadryl and prednisalone (or generics)- but these do not give immediate relief. Limacol works sometimes. One the one hand you think of meditating and not itching, on the other hand you just say to hell with it and itch away until the welts raise and then the itching stops. The scalp is sometimes affected, sometimes it is not affected.

The morning after a night of Benadryl and Piriton leaves you feeling bassidy.. (and this morning even though the itching stopped, there is still some swelling around the feet.. circulation problems? )

A woman said I look run down.. so I am trying to drink up supplements which are supposed to boost the immune system. But I used to measure my immune system by my ability to avoid colds and flu.. so I think I okay since it has been awhile since I have had colds and flu. But those standards don't work if it is some stupid pollen on a grass in the area.

The most difficult thing is the unpredictability of all of this. A good nights sleep is now a precious thing.. forget the love stuff.. being itch free is far more precious. Mental health has to be managed as well, because they stay stress exacerbates all of this.

And so it goes.. getting older.. mature..  new friends.