A strange affliction. 01-12-15

First; I have to say that the stew I made on Saturday turned out great.

Around 11:30 Sunday we decided to go to Blythe, CA to have lunch and do some shopping.

We wanted some Mexican food so we stopped at La Casa Dos and had a couple of taco’s; Patti had the fish taco’s and I had the Carne Asada.
They were okay but not as good as in the past.
You never know about restaurants, they often change from year to year. Maybe they have changed cooks.

After lunch we went to The Dollar Tree so we could buy some more of the Gnocchi’s and a couple other things.

From there we went to Smart and Final to get some other stuff.
When we got to the checkout I noticed that my eyes were itching a little. In the parking lot I started sneezing. We got in the jeep and drove across the street to Rite Aid to get some cough syrup for Jo Ann and Dave as they have been down with the flu and were out of cough syrup.
As soon as we went into Rite Aid I started sneezing and sneezing and sneezing. Finally I had to leave the store and wait for Patti in the jeep. By the time she came out the sneezing had subsided but my arm pits were itching and my eyes were red and puffed up to where they were just slits but I could still see. We headed for home and I only had to have Patti take the wheel twice so I could blow my nose.

When we got home I removed my shirt and noticed that there was a rash on my chest. Patti said that the rash was also on my back.

My eyes were so swollen that Patti took a picture of my face.

 

Pretty ugly, eh?

I took a couple Benadryl’s and after a while I could breath through my nose and the rash was gone. At this writing my eyes are still swollen.

A couple of years ago I had a similar experience at the Albertsons in Blythe. As soon as I walked in the store I started sneezing so I had to leave. Once I was outside the sneezing subsided and there were no other symptoms. I also noticed the scent that time.

Each time this happened I noticed a scent like what is in laundry detergent or dryer sheets.
This time, the scent in Smart and Final was mild but in Rite Aid the scent was very strong.
Of course I can’t be sure that the scent is the cause of my allergic reaction but It sure seems like it.

We never use scented soaps or dryer sheets of any kind. Mainly because I just don’t like the smell.

I guess it could have been the taco’s but I eat taco’s all the time with no ill affect.