A Severe Reaction!

I had a very, severe reaction yesterday which resulted in me taking one Xyzal and Zrytec together to stop the pain. It was escalating to the point which I felt was turning into an anaphylaxis attack. This has not happen in a VERY long time now. The thing is, it was not caused by food. I did not eat anything prior to this attack.

Yesterday was Joel's school's swimming gala in which he took part. I got up at 5am to get ready. Got my food and had some oats for breakfast at 6am. We left the house at 7am.

Arrived at the school before 7.30am. Joel was nervous but he swam with all his might. Bagged two bronze medals. He did really good. He gave his best. Which makes him a winner. Hubby and I are so very proud of him.

We then went to a mall for the guys to grab some meal before heading home. The little swimmer was so very hungry!

The guys went to eat and I went to my usual organic shop to get some groceries. Every corner of the shop was saturated in lemongrass + citronella incense smell. It was so overpowering. This isn't the first time I had smelt this. I left the shop after 2 or 3 minutes after paying for my stuff.

I went to buy some stuff while the guys ate their meals.

An hour later, I felt a mild tingling in my head. A migraine was coming. I thought it must be the tiredness from being awake at 5am. Plus the stress and being tense when Joel was swimming. Plus the insomnia of waking up at 2.30am and 3am for the past one week as period was around the corner. Plus me having my period too. So I thought all these added together which was the reason to the tingling in my head.

And then it became worse. To the point I felt nauseated. Only at 2pm, I had my lunch which was now horrible as I felt so ill. By the time we went home, it was so bad that I crawled into bed after showering.  The pain was so excruciating and my mouth started tingling. It was an attack from being exposed to something I was sensitive/allergic to. But I did not eat anything before the attack.

I kept thinking to what I did wrong.

My mind was blank. I couldn't think of anything that I ate wrong.

I got out of bed at 6+ and my whole system was on the verge of collapsing. Every single smell in the house was so profound and pronounced. My chest started to hurt. I wanted to die from the pain. I could feel the insides of my right ear swelling up.

I knew I was heading to a full-blown attack if I did not do something about it.

I took one Xyzal and one Zrytec tablet and waited.

And then it struck me! The incense smell in the organic shop!!! That was the trigger.

But I haven't reacted to smells in years now. Maybe 2 years. I have been on a controlled diet where salicylates are concerned. Why was I so susceptible? Maybe it was the insomnia, the hormones and the stress that caused my immune system to be so weak?

I did ask them to why they needed to saturate the shop with such strong incense. Apparently, the shopping mall requires the shops at the lower ground to clear their pipes quite frequently as most of the food shops are located at the lower ground. They needed to clear their pipes so that the cooking oil would not seep back into the ducts and cause the lower ground to stink. But when the pipes are cleared, there will be a horrifying smell for a short while. Thus the burning of the incense to mask the smell. The smell of death indeed. It almost caused me an attack.

Within an hour, I could feel such relief. The pain was lessened by half. My chest did not feel so tight. I felt relief coursing through my veins.

I have been groggy and in a foggy state of mind the whole of today. For about 2 years now, I have not been taking any meds when an attack comes. I could not fight it this round.

Hopefully my system will be strong once again.