Day 21 and hives? This is new...

[GLC1968]

This is my ___ Whole30.  Frankly, I don't know.  I've done a ton of them over the past 3 years and for the most part, live pretty close to Whole30 the rest of the time.  I had a pretty lax late summer early fall and my eating was super sloppy and I was feeling really gross/off, so I started a Whole30 on Oct 1.  So far, results have been very predictable and similar to my previous runs.

 

Except for this.  Yesterday morning I noticed I had red welts all over my abdomen.  Only on my abdomen.  I thought maybe I'd been unconsciously scratching myself so I ignored it.  It was still there last night and again this morning.  According to my husband, it's across my lower back too (though they are mild enough that I can't see them on my back without a better mirror than I have).  They don't itch and they are not swollen...just red.  They don't even bother me.  It's just creepy looking and obviously an indicator of *something* going on.  

Anyone have any ideas?

 

I have not changed anything in my life (clothing, products, home) and my food is as normal as it gets for me.

 

Example days (yesterday):

B: corner beef hash with veggies and fried eggs, coffee, banana.

L: cauliflower rice, cilantro chicken thighs, delicata squash, apple, almond butter.

D: spaghetti squash with meat sauce, spinach.  

S: small handful of nuts, HB egg

 

(day before)

B: bone broth, leftover veggie/sausage hash, sautéed spinach topped with fried eggs, strawberries, coffee.  

L: cobb salad w chicken from Bugatti's, oil and vinegar, iced tea.

D: huge plate of crack slaw made with grass-fed ground beef

S: mixed nuts, apple

 

I drink my coffee black and I down a minimum of 64 oz of water daily (not including workout water), usually more.

Workouts are running alternating days with weight training (no change there, either) with a day or two off per week.

 

Now that I type this up, I realize I need to cut out the nuts, but they are not new...same nuts I always have (dry roasted, light salt from TJ's).

 

Thoughts?

[Carlaccini]

Hmmm - it really could be anything.

 

It's not completely odd as I had something similar happen earlier this year.  But my breakout was psoriasis (I have a ton of skin issues but never had psoriasis before) turns out I don't do raw tomatoes or even oven roasted tomatoes.  I like you have been eating like this for 3 years.  I had never had this before.

 

Some initial thoughts:

Yes nuts - this is a good place to start

Eggs - eggs are responsible for a lot of skin issues.  And when you've had too many eggs, your body has had just too many.  

Strawberries - strawberries are known to cause hive like skin reactions - so this one is a maybe.too.  

[GLC1968]

I didn't think of that since I've never had any food allergies/sensitivities before (besides stomach upset from casein, corn and soy).

 

If this latest round of Whole30 is uncovering food sensitivities/allergies to eggs and/or strawberries, I'm gonna be pissed! 

 

Actually, I've been eating eggs all 21 days and only just now got the hives, so I'm thinking its more likely the strawberries (or something else).  I'll let this clear up and trying eating them again to see...

 

Another thought - our cleaning service did our house on Monday.  They use all 'green' products and we've been using them for a year now but maybe they recently changed something?  I'll have to check in with them, too (if it doesn't clear up soon).

 

Thanks for getting me thinking, Carlaccini!