Question of the Day

Are you allergic to anything?

As an adult, I've developed some sort of summertime allergies (hay fever? pollen? mold?) that are mild enough I've never felt compelled to see a doctor for them, and I've become lactose intolerant. (Yay, Silk!) Other than that, I've got three very weird allergies that I've had since I was a kid:

1. I'm allergic to some ingredient that's used in lots of shampoos (and if you've ever looked at a shampoo label, you know it's pretty much good luck isolating which of the bazillion chemical compounds it is). So when I find a shampoo that doesn't irritate my scalp, I stick with it like a madwoman.

2. I'm also allergic to a component in some types of concrete. You know that sparkly kind of concrete? Whatever is in that stuff causes any bit of my skin that touches it to go red and swell, but the worst part is the ITCHING! It makes me itch for hours and hours after I've touched it, especially the palms of my hands. I remember telling Mama Shakes about this when I was younger, and she thought I was completely crazy. For years, I think she was (understandably) convinced it was all in my head…until my first husband and his mother (a nurse) turned out to have the same allergy! They're the only other people I've known to have it.

3. And finally, what I think is the weirdest one…I'm allergic to the strep infection. When I get strep throat, I get a weird rash all over my body, and then my skin dries up and flakes off. Grodius maximus.

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