red wine and dermatologists

Some of you may recall my speculating that I might be allergic to red wine. This was a prime example of self-diagnosis. The thing is, I was suffering terribly from itchiness. I was reduced on many occasions to wrapping a cold, damp towel around my feet and ankles at bedtime in order to get some relief. Of course Craig suggested a visit to the doctor, but where I come from, we just suffer... Actually I did mention the itching to my doctor at my annual female visit late last spring and got the usual advice of changing soaps, laundry and otherwise, and so on. And so I continued to itch. What drove me to visit Craig's dermatologist? Well, I realized that people sitting next to me in meetings might be secretly repelled by my scabby wrists and hands. Yup, it was that gross. I had even tried forgoeing the red wine -- no discernible improvement (thank god). So I finally scheduled an appointment last week. As I recounted the visit to Craig, he said "Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you he is quite parsimonious." No kidding. I was called in and sat down. He asked what was wrong and I launched into my tail of itching and soap changes and lotions and.... he swiveled in his swively chair, grabbed a wooden stick with a pointy end and scratched my forearm three times. Then he jumped up and promised to be back in a few minutes. I sat there thinking I hadn't told him about the damp towel and I studied my arm. Eventually he came back and I held out the arm. "Hives" he pronounced. "Neuro-systemic". He then scribbled out a prescription for something better than benadryl and dashed out. I filled the prescription, took two at bedtime and the itching is history.