MY WEIRD ALLERGY

After reading Nixxy's blog and finding out that she is allergic to formaldehyde, it got me thinking about my own strange allergic reactions. And in sharing this I hope to maybe find someone else out there that has the same thing as me, and can maybe shed some light on it for me.

My hands are allergic to the sun. They haven't always been this way, it only started when I was about 21. During the summer I can not have my hands exposed to the sunlight or I will be in severe pain in a few short hours.

My hands will literally swell up. They were so swollen one time after a trip to the lake I couldn't bend my fingers. I couldn't button my pants, I couldn't drive because I couldn't wrap my fingers around the steering wheel. However, not only do they swell, the itch like I have poison ivy. My hand will get tons of these little bumps that are filled with liquid and they itch like crazy. If I itch, it will break open those little liquid filled bumps and more will form.

I have tried rubbing sun block in - doesn't help at all! I have tried to lay on top of my hands if I am laying out, but that doesn't help me when I am in the water trying to play with my son or just cool off.

This basically effects me only in the summer if I spend more than an hour with my hands exposed, otherwise it doesn't effect me at all.

The only thing I have thought of to help me in the summer have a normal water and sun filled time is to wear gloves. I went to walmart about 2 years ago and purchased a pair of women's softball batting gloves. I unveiled these on a float trip on a very busy holiday weekend at a local river here in Oklahoma. I can't tell you the amount of attention those gloves got me, but my hands didn't swell up at all.

This is a picture of the exact gloves that I wear:

Ok, so everyone that knows me, knows I wear gloves in the swimming pool or laying out or at the lake. And sure it's funny, we all get lots of good laughs out of it. I would however, like to be a normal person and not have to live this way.

SO long story short, I would love to know if anyone knows of someone like this, or if you yourself share this strange allergy with me. Please, if anyone knows anything I would really really appreciate it. IF not, I will be found this summer in the pool with my batting gloves on :)

p.s. YES I have been to SEVERAL dermatologists about this. Their consensus is: stay out of the sun. I'm sorry, but I have an active 6 yr old son, that isn't an option.