Oatmeal - Not only for breakfast, but also for skin allergy

As I mentioned in my "diet" post, I sometimes eat oatmeal for breakfast. I like the fast effects of its fibers (won't elaborate further, hehe...).

My favorite is the Quaker Instant Oatmeal Maple & Brown Sugar flavor. I eat it plain or with slices of banana, or fresh berries (blue/black, strawberries), or even cantaloupe.

There is another oatmeal "preparation that I like so much especially during the summer season --- the Aveeno Colloidal Oatmeal bath.

I have had no prior history of allergies to medications nor to food. When I would have rashes, usually it would be to an unknown allergen.

Last year, I had my first ever attack of "urticaria," where rashes are welts, wheal, appearing like maps all over. It lasted three days, during which I just took Benadryl and Alavert. On the third day, which was Friday, I decided to see a doctor for a prescription in case I will need a drug that worked better than those I was already taking. He prescribed prednisone, and suggested Aveeno oatmeal bath.

That oatmeal bath was something new to me. I tried it, and as early as the first bath, my rashes resolved gradually over the day, and I woke up the next day without rashes. Whether it was that the attack was really at its conclusion or not, I was not sure whether oatmeal bath really had the desired effect.

This year, my attack was worse and different. It did not occur all day, appearing mostly at night and getting worst in the wee hours of the morning, usually waking me up with intense pruritus (itchiness) and burning sensation, despite having taken both Benadryl and 24-hr Claritin the night before, that I could not help but take another dose of Benadryl then continue my sleep. This pattern continued for more than two weeks, with the worst attack around the 10th day. The offending agent, I was sure, was not due to a food item. But there are foods that are to be avoided in such a condition, including strawberries, tomatoes, shrimps, eggplants, spinach, tuna, etc., as these have histamine-releasing actions (histamine causes the itch).

I was having daily oatmeal baths upon waking up, taking my Benadryl and Claritin at night, sometimes experimenting on skipping them to see what the effect would be. It appeared that no matter what I took or not took, the pattern was the same, only with varying severity, with the most severe attack at the middle of the whole duration, during which (2nd week), I was actually worried that it might turn out to be a chronic case (6 weeks minimum). I am glad that during the past several days, I woke up with less and less of them. Yesterday was the first day I woke up with NONE. Hooray!