Update on hives

I'm apparently not allergic to any food. I even eliminated all corn and soy to make sure. I read a terrific book about it, and I know a lot more about the topic than I did. The timing of my hives and anaphylaxis also makes me doubt I have a food allergy.

As I've had hives over six weeks now, they are either from sweat, water, mosquito bite allergy, or something else environmental. In length of outbreak, they qualify as "chronic idiopathic urticaria." that means "you've had hives for over six weeks and no one can tell why." But in Latin. 😉

I've done what a doc would do for me next (had I insurance to go see one), which is put myself on OTC antihistamines twice daily. All it's making me is chronically tired in addition to having chronic hives. So I switched them up today to a non-groggy one, crossing my fingers that it'll solve both problems. I'm hoping it's related to the season somehow, and after the first frost they'll disappear.

Hives can be from stress, but I'm not stressed. You have to be married, have kids, or have a job to be stressed! (lol, but true) I'm stressed a bit from the hives, I admit (it's wearying itching every damned minute of every damned day for weeks), but as I wasn't stressed until two or three weeks into them, that also can't be the cause.

On the yard and garden: Getting ready for my next-to last mowing right now, and Thursday I'll pull out most of the summer veg. Peppers are still bearing, and a few pumpkins need to ripen on the vine (though the vines look half-dead), so they'll likely stay in until mid-October. I have oodles of lettuce up and am nearly ready to start picking a leaf or two from every plant. Winter garden is planted as well (if it doesn't work, it doesn't, and I'll be okay with that).

I think I have enough vegetables stored, canned, and frozen to last me through March. Longer if I can get the winter garden to give me kale, lettuce, and carrots. I know what I need to do next year to grow enough so that I never have to buy a vegetable ever. It'll be fun to reach that level of self-sufficiency.

The date tells me we're a week and a day away from burning being legal again. I have piles of diseased leaves and plants to burn, fallen branches to chip, and the first of the leaves to compost.

Pix next time!