Cat allergies

[Emiliana]

Is it possible for clothes to pick up cat dander from shared laundry facilities?

[Giovanni Schwartz]

I believe it. My nose knows when a cat has even walked in the same room for a minute. And won't let me forget it for at least an hour.

[Genuine Article]

I think it's possible, especially as it's easy for pet hair to stick around in dryers. But I think there's anti-dander laundry detergent you can buy.

[Emiliana]

I might have to look into that, Genuine. I'm having a moderately unpleasant allergic reaction to ....... something ........ I honestly cannot figure out what. At first it seemed confined to areas of skin are usually clothed, which is why I suspected laundry. But now I've got itchy little red bumps on the palm of my hand and between my fingers, as well as on my back and legs and upper arms, and it's starting to weird me out.

[NerdGirl]

I think it's definitely possible for cat dander to get into your laundry that way. It's also possible that a bit of someone else's detergent or fabric softener got into your laundry and you're reacting to something in that. So many potential allergens in the laundry...

[Digit]

I've always thought smell is an interesting mechanism, in that you have microscopic molecules careening through the air, banging into countless oxygen and nitrogen molecules, with some actually making it right into your nostrils (picture the last scene of Episode IV, A New Hope) and then maybe finding and stimulating the olfactory nerves. It's a very long journey compared to the size of the particles.

[Whistler]

I used to get random hives sometimes on my hands and feet and I think I was a little allergic to a medication I was taking at the time.

[Portia]

I've gotten stress rashes before. Considering you're planning a wedding, I wouldn't rule that out.

[Laser Jock]

Another possibility: I have a family member who got a couple of totally inexplicable rashes over large portions of their body, including torso, arms, and neck, and after a bunch of research (and asking a doctor) they ended up deciding that they were most likely viral, not allergic. (In this person's case, the bumps were only mildly itchy, and were also mildly painful, though I'm not saying that's required for a viral rash.) (Of course, there are other vectors too, like fungi.)

[Emiliana]

I used to get random hives sometimes on my hands and feet and I think I was a little allergic to a medication I was taking at the time.

This is actually what I'm afraid of. I think I might have first started noticing the bumps on my arms around the same time I started taking a new antidepressant (Cymbalta). An antidepressant that ACTUALLY HELPS me. And doesn't have side effects like making me want to sleep 12 hours a day.

[Emiliana]

I've gotten stress rashes before. Considering you're planning a wedding, I wouldn't rule that out.

This is ... possible, I guess. But I have been much, much more stressed than this before -- like a few weeks this summer when I was having 5-10 panic attacks a day -- and I've never had this sort of reaction.

[Portia]

I've gotten stress rashes before. Considering you're planning a wedding, I wouldn't rule that out.

This is ... possible, I guess. But I have been much, much more stressed than this before -- like a few weeks this summer when I was having 5-10 panic attacks a day -- and I've never had this sort of reaction.

Wow. As a moderately anxious person, I just wanted to say "that majorly sucks." I hope Marx is supportive!

[Emiliana]

I've gotten stress rashes before. Considering you're planning a wedding, I wouldn't rule that out.

This is ... possible, I guess. But I have been much, much more stressed than this before -- like a few weeks this summer when I was having 5-10 panic attacks a day -- and I've never had this sort of reaction.

Wow. As a moderately anxious person, I just wanted to say "that majorly sucks." I hope Marx is supportive!

Heh, yeah, it definitely sucked a lot. I got what I thought was going to be my dream job and it ... well, wasn't my dream job after all, to say the least. But Marx is awesomely supportive and my anxiety is back under control now.

[Emiliana]

My rash went away! Yay! I still have no idea what caused it, but it clearly wasn't my medicine because I'm still taking it and the rash is gone! Hooray!