Okay, I will ask my doctor about this, as soon as I get one, which will be soon… but in the meantime I’m curious if any Dopers have a clue about what this might have been.
At work yesterday, something really bizarre happened to me.
It began as an itchy forehead. I said, “Aagh! What’s going on with my face?” and a co-worker walked over, said “Something bit you, don’t scratch it.” I tried to ignore it, but it was really itchy.
Within a moment, UPS arrived with a COD package for me. Although I was increasingly uncomfortable, I pretended like nothing was up and dealt with that, although I observed the UPS guy looking at me with an odd look.
I got back to work, and now my face, ears, and scalp were positively on fire. I headed to the bathroom, and by the time I got there, the itch had spread to my armpits, legs, and genital area. When I looked in the mirror, my skin was very red and covered in raised white welts that looked like mosquito bites (except without the “bite” in the center.) Over my forehead, mostly, but also on my cheeks, nose, over the eyes, etc. My belly was bright pink, and when I lifted my shirt I found similar welts on my back, under the armpits, on my chest, and lots on my arms. The itch was unbearable. I applied cold water and then ran and took an antihistamine.
The itching got worse and worse for a few minutes, and then my lips and tongue began to feel slightly strange – a little swollen and sensitive. (My breathing got a bit ragged, too – but I think that might just have been a stress reaction.) Maybe ten minutes had passed, during which time I had attempted to ignore things and get back to work. (Several people were off for various reasons that day.)
It was clear that I couldn’t work, though. I was just dancing around going “Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!” When I noticed my lips and tongue feeling weird, I ran straight for my manager to beg off, thinking that he was going to be pissed. (He’d already grumbled quite a bit about the absence of two others who had serious family emergencies to attend to.) His face registered shock and alarm when I was still about twenty feet from him, though – and he immediately arranged for someone to take me to the nearest clinic. After I was dropped off, though, I walked up to the door and found a notice explaining that it was closed for the day – so I jumped on the bus and started making for the one that was close to my house, clutching my phone, thinking I might have to call 911 or something crazy.
I spent a half-hour in transit, though – and by the time I arrived at the train station nearest my house, the welts had gone down, leaving little red dots in their place. My face was still red and had a prickly heat to it, and there was a bit of a rash on my arms, but I was already feeling much better, and a bit sheepish about bailing from work. (This was about forty-five minutes after my face began to itch.)
I was very tired, though – and soon after I got home, I crawled into bed and dozed until my friend came home. By then, the redness was pretty much gone.
All that remains today is very subtle little red spots, most visible in areas that never get exposed to the sun.
What the hell was that?
I’ve never had any allergies that manifested that way – just the usual dust/pollen/dander allergies. I didn’t eat anything unreasonably exotic or suspect. I had eaten a single Krispy Kreme donut an hour or two before (the first time for that, but I doubt there’s anything in there I haven’t eaten in other foods millions of times) and a banana fifteen or twenty minutes before the whole thing started. As for environmental factors – the area I was working in was a bit dusty, but not too bad – and I was handling packaged garments received from China. I didn’t notice any exotic insects swarming over my body at any point.
Does this sound familiar to anyone?
