Hives

This is a really bad picture of them, but these are my hives. They're kind of like old friends.

In February 1999, I developed a mysterious new allergy. For three years, I saw various doctors, including my primary care doctor, a dermatologist, and multiple allergists. They tried me on every medication under the sun, put me on a strict diet free of common allergens, and had me change all my products - my shampoo, my laundry detergent, etc. Nobody could figure out what it was, and it was labeled chronic idiopathic urticaria. That's med-speak for "you have hives all over your body, all the time, and we don't know why."

In April 2002, after more than three years of constant suffering (missing out on family activities, missing work, etc.) I was referred to a specialist in South Carolina. We made the eight-hour drive, and he gave me my life back. He also performed a unique test he had devised, which determined that the thing I was allergic to was my own blood. For seven years now, I've been taking enough anti-histamines to kill a horse (so to speak) and I'm doing fine.

These hives popped up when I forgot to take my meds for a few days. They're in an unusual pattern, but they're still the same old hives.