SOME STRANGE REACTIONS (Allergies, Urticaria, etc) 1.

Gestational Pemphigoid or Pemphigoid Gestationis (PG) is a dermatosis of pregnancy, being an autoimmune blistering skin disease that occurs during pregnancy, typically in the second or third trimester, and/or immediately following pregnancy. It was originally called herpes gestationis because of the blistering appearance, although it is not associated with the herpes virus. Joanne Mackie, 28, developed agonizing blisters and an excruciating rash shortly after giving birth to son James. The painful welts across her back, legs, arms and chest caused her so much pain that she could not hold the newborn, and was forced to cover her arms in muslin cloth. After a few months the rash was gone but the mother-of-one's skin had been left scarred with dark patches where the blisters once were 2. Aquagenic urticaria, also known as water urticaria and aquagenous urticaria, is a rarely diagnosed form of physical urticaria. It is sometimes described as an allergy, although it is not a true histamine-releasing allergic reaction like other forms of urticaria. The defining symptom is a painful skin reaction resulting from contact with water. This may also be the effect of different temperatures of water, such as cold or hot and can flare with chemicals such as chlorine. Teenager Ashleigh Morris can't go swimming, soak in a hot bath or enjoy a shower after a stressful day's work - she's allergic to water. Even sweating brings the 19-year-old out in a painful rash. When Ashleigh gets wet her body explodes in sore, itchy red lumps that take about two hours to ease. She has to wash. But showering is a painful experience and she can only do it for a minute at a time. These brief showers are the only contact Ashleigh has with water 3. Allergic to sex- Medical researchers have found that some women are allergic to their male partner's seminal fluid, the thick liquid that carries sperm. Doctors know the disorder as human seminal plasma hypersensitivity. In rare cases, the allergic response can cause death. But there is good news. The malady is usually treated by allergists, although it takes some effort by concerned, caring male partners. To desensitize a woman's immune system against semen, doctors can either apply diluted samples of semen to a woman's vagina every 20 minutes, gradually increasing the concentration over the course of several hours, or the women can receive allergy shots containing small amounts of semen over the course of several weeks. Both techniques require sex two or three times a week to train their immune system. 4. Allergic to woods- Wood allergies can definitely be troublesome. While people are allergic to certain types of wood or sawdust, there are cases when people are allergic to any type of wood in many types of forms, whether it is dust or solid. Along with wood allergies comes the fact that you can't touch paper, use a pencil, or be a lumberjack! The allergy can be so strong that it can

cause the skin to look as if it was burned. In most cases wood allergies cause skin irritation, coughing, sneezing, and hives. Dan Hill, a 32 year-old banker, quit his 80,000 a year job to live his dream of being a carpenter, only to discover he had developed an allergy to wood. Luckily for him, he found a wood he was not allergic to Welsh oak and moved from the workshop in Devon to Swansea to start a furniture business with his brother. 5. Allergic to exercise- Don't go laughing if a friend tells you he or she is allergic to exercise. He may be one of the 1,000 people who actually have this allergy. Exercise-induced anaphylaxis (EIA) is a severe allergic reaction caused by exercise, and may be related to eating certain foods before exercising. This life-threatening allergic reaction is usually seen when the victim is allergic to certain foods or medications and works out after partaking of the offending item. Shellfish, wheat, hazelnuts, grapes, and drugs such as ibuprofen, antibiotics, cold medications and herbal supplements can be the culprits. Attack symptoms are fatigue, warmth, itching, redness of the skin, then large hives, collapse and unconsciousness. They may have swelling of the throat, difficulty breathing, choking, nausea and vomiting. 6. Solar urticaria- (SU) is a rare condition in which exposure to ultraviolet or UV radiation, or sometimes even visible light, induces a case of urticaria or hives that can appear in both covered and uncovered areas of the skin. It is classified as a type of physical urticaria. The classification of disease types is somewhat controversial. One classification system distinguished various types of SU based on the wavelength of the radiation that causes the breakout; another classification system is based on the type of allergen that initiates a breakout