Mowed fields all day, ended up at emergency clinic

[Hay Dude]

So yesterday was a day like any other warm season day. Its either farming hay, mowing fields, stacking barns, trucking hay.
This time it was field mowing. I had 4 fields to mow from 3 to 15 acres each. Got started at 6:30 AM and all went well. As I was finishing up the 4th field, I noticed my arms were itchy. I was in my Kubota M-126X and pulling my Deere CX-15 mower and theres a lot of dust & chaff floating around. Even though I was in a cab, I opened the doors to get in and out several times. By about 5:30, I drove back to the shop and put everything away.
I was stunned to see my arms were covered with what looked like hives or some kind of allergic reaction, which I have NEVER had. I thought it was some kind of poison ivy or sumac, etc.
It was actually growing while I was looking at my arms and legs. Then my left eye began to swell shut! The red patches turned to felt lumps with an almost liquid filled appearance. YUK
Jumped in my truck and drove straight to the local clinic. They took me in quickly and ended up giving me a steroid shot and making me stay until about 7:30. Went home and showered and it began to subside. 90% of it was gone this morning. Now its all gone!!!
Called our dermatologist this morning and she is supposed to get back with me later.
I did not eat anything different, I did not use a different laundry detergent. Im very healthy overall and my wife calls me the town blacksmith :laughing:
But seriously, no medications or underlying conditions.
Any ideas what it might have been? Anyone else ever get a similar reaction?
I was thinking I mowed some kind of weed that reacted with my immune system.

 

[jeff9366]

Severe Poison Ivy reaction.

 

[duffer]

I would guess it was something you ate first. Weeds would be my 2nd choice.

 

[Hay Dude]

Severe Poison Ivy reaction.

Doc at clinic said not poison ivy. It appeared and left in less than 12 hours. Poison ivy would leave more of a rash for days.

 

[3Ts]

Severe Poison Ivy reaction.

This would be my guess as well, or stinging nettles, but the whole cycle from first exposure to all gone in less than 36 hours seems kinda quick. Let us know what your dermatologist says.

on edit: I appear to be a slow typist.

 

[Hay Dude]

This would be my guess as well, or stinging nettles, but the whole cycle from first exposure to all gone in less than 36 hours seems kinda quick. Let us know what your dermatologist says.

Gone in Less than 12 hours!
Had PO and stinging nettles plenty of times, this was much different.

 

[k0ua]

Severe Poison Ivy reaction.

It wouldn't be gone the next day... trust me on that one..

 

[k0ua]

A weed reaction would be my guess. Jimson weed is poison, as well as queen annes lace. Maybe giant hogweed? If the skin lesions re occur when exposed to UV light (sunlight) this could be it.

 

[Diggin It]

Fields sprayed with anything recently? Fertilized?

 

[oosik]

For sure - NOT poison Ivy, Oak or Sumac. I have scars on my arms from a bout with poison Oak that happened 70 years ago.

But, something sure set off your immune system.

I mowed my uber dry one acre pasture and got red welts on my forearms. Hot shower - Calamine lotion - gone in 24 hours.

 

[Hay Dude]

A weed reaction would be my guess. Jimson weed is poison, as well as queen annes lace. Maybe giant hogweed? If the skin lesions re occur when exposed to UV light (sunlight) this could be it.

There was a decent amount of Queen Annes Lace. Dont know about Jimson. No Giant Hogweed.
One field is a field Im rehabbing-it was chock full of weeds and they had a heavy smell to them.

 

[Hay Dude]

Fields sprayed with anything recently? Fertilized?

Would have been my first thought, but no, they are pretty much organic.

 

[Hay Dude]

glad to hear it was a brief but scary event. ever happen in similar dust conditions before? other incidents like yours occur in your area in this hay season? are your cab a/c filters in good shape? do you have other chronic allergies? lastly (sorry) new allergies can spring up in older age. best regards & good luck w/hay season

It was scary. Watching it grow in real time and my eye swelling shut was scary. No real allergies to speak of. I mean my nose gets stuffy at night after mowing hay, but nothing Benadryl wont knock on its butt in 15 minutes. I swear thats a miracle drug.

 

[Diggin It]

are your cab a/c filters in good shape?

I've been wondering about that too. We see all sorts of stories of nests and things in there. Maybe even molds or bacteria.

 

[LouNY]

I've smelt mold and must from the AC's in our Magnums,
we have gotten to pulling the roofs to clean them out.
Especially if the condensate line gets plugged, they get pretty nasty around the condenser.
Had one bothering my lungs one day couldn't stop coughing till I had been out of it for an hour.

 

[Big Barn]

No idea but pretty scary for you. Glad you made it to the clinic.

 

[ericm979]

Severe Poison Ivy reaction.

That takes days to come on, not hours.

 

[Motorboatin]

Doc at clinic said not poison ivy. It appeared and left in less than 12 hours. Poison ivy would leave more of a rash for days.

Do you have bad reactions to poison ivy? It has never bothered me but last year while removing poison ivy vines from a new property I bought my hatchet was covered with milky sap from the vine and I grabbed it then whipped a mosquito from my eye. My eye swelled up and my face turned red. I washed my face and it cleared up within an hour

I do not carry my hatchet by the head while chopping ivy vines anymore

 

[ericm979]

It was scary. Watching it grow in real time and my eye swelling shut was scary.

It's good that it didn't make your throat swell shut. That's no fun. It's one of the things that can happen when you're allergic to a food.

So I think it was probably something in the air.

Benadryl doesn't do much for my allergies, the hay fever type or the food type. Generic Claritin works well for me. The few times I accidentally ate something I am allergic to, it fixed the tingling and throat swelling right away.

Also, people's allergy profiles change as they age. I didn't have food allergies until my mid 40s.

 

[Hay Dude]

It was on my trunk, my inner thighs....places covered by clothing. It covered 40% of my body in an hour. It’s 95% gone now. I’ve worked outside for 40 years. This was not poison ivy.