Well, after nearly 3 full days without a breakout of hives, Wednesday I started developing the tell-tale rash. Two Benadryl and a night's sleep later... hives were gone, but my issues apparently weren't!
I went in to see the doc again this morning and really didn't get any more useful information. We determined due to the upcoming race in NY that it wasn't worth it for me to take the steroids, so I'm sticking to Benadryl OTC and Tagamet (two different histamine blockers). Her only other suggestion was to try eliminating the following:
- fish
- nuts
- berries/melons and fruit I eat every day
She said that chicken, beef, veggies, and apples and bananas (she also mentioned grapes, but I eat grapes and I got a hive last night directly after eating a cup of them) was all fine.
So, I did some research on your typical elimination diets... all of things I'm supposed to be eliminating are OK TO EAT, and the foods I'm ok to keep eating are TO BE AVOIDED.
Weird, huh?
So, with the exclusion of my anti-inflammatory dinner, no nuts (I'm guessing this includes nut butters), and hardly any fruit...what the hell do I, as a healthy-eating athlete, actually EAT?
I'm totally open to suggestions.
I specifically asked about wheat and dairy, and she said those typically lead to symptoms of "intolerance" vs. allergic reactions.
But, seriously? All of our gel has "natural flavors"? and citric stuff. Every bar, fruit leather, and drink mix has some kind of fruit additive or flavor in it... so, what's a girl to eat on the bike?
Afterall, you can't live on bread and water alone!!