People Are Sharing Photos Of Their Worst Allergic Reactions Ever, And I Truly Have No Words
We asked the BuzzFeed Community to share pictures and stories of their worst allergic reactions ever. Here are the truly wild results.
Luckily these people can all look back and laugh at their situation, but please let this serve as a reminder of why allergies should always be taken seriously. Enjoy!
1."Apparently I'm allergic to dust mites. My breathing was never affected, and I only itched a little, but I did get the day off work."
2."This was my back after my scratch test at my allergist. I wound up in the ER a few times, and I thought it was about time to figure out exactly what I was allergic to. Turns out, I am allergic to life."
3."Ever heard of the drink Kombucha? Well, neither did I...until my friend offered me just one small swig. Thirty minutes later, this was what I looked like."
4."I'm deathly allergic to latex. This was the aftermath of someone holding a balloon and then grabbing my arm. It was so swollen and painful that I couldn't go to class for four days."
5."I am allergic to the sun and mistakingly went out without a hat on. Ended up in the emergency room."
6."This is how we found out I have Mast Cell Activation Disorder (MCAD). The culprit? Flax seed, which I only touched ONE time."
7."My lip started swelling up because of some new medicine that I turned out to be allergic to. My whole face was numb, and I had to stay in the hospital over night because they couldn't get the swelling down. Luckily it didn't hurt at all."
8."While on vacation in Italy, I was rolling around on the beach and ended up with these painful and itchy bumps all over my body. Eek!"
9."I had this rash on my face for over a year when my doctor prescribed me a topical steroid for some mild eczema around my nose. It took me about eight months and several different dermatologist visits to discover that the steroid was the issue. The real reaction came from stopping the steroid. I stayed home for three months and felt like my face was on the verge of splitting in half."
10."I went to the doctor, and apparently I am extremely allergic to dust. This is what happens when I'm in a dusty area: my eyes grow to the size of golf balls."
11."I was doing yard work and apparently came across some poison ivy (or oak or sumac – I still don't know). I got the juice from it all over my hands, which led to the worst allergic reaction of my life. I was out of work for a week!"
12."I only took a picture of my legs, but my entire body (including my face) was covered in these hives after an allergic reaction to antibiotics."
13."I woke up like this one morning, and I have no idea why. The doctors couldn't figure out what triggered the allergic reaction, since I'm allergic to basically anything. Lol."
14."I had my gallbladder removed, and I got these horrible blisters around my incisions. They were so painful and felt like a million tiny needles were stabbing me at once. Turned out I was allergic to the adhesive they used to glue my incisions back together. The surgeon said I was the second person he had ever heard of to have that reaction. They even took pictures so the medical community could study my case. To this day, I can't handle any type of glue or adhesive, except for school glue."
15."My friend called me to pick him up along a trail that he was walking in rural Indiana. He said his allergies were acting up. I took him home, and an hour later I got this pic from the emergency room. The moral of the story? Exercising is not worth it."
16."I'm highly allergic to tree nuts. This was about three minutes before my eyes, nose, and ears swelled shut."
17."Pro tip: Take note of all the plants around you before sitting next to a bush and picking at its leaves. The top two pics were from the second day of the reaction, the bottom-left was the third day, and the bottom-right was the fourth day (after taking medicine)."
18."The aftermath from my friend petting a cat and rubbing her eye."
19."My sister always makes fun of me for having fingers like sausages, but when I got stung by a bee my thumb REALLY started to look like one."
20."We were on vacation at a cottage. My boyfriend went to sleep with slightly puffy eyes. The next morning, he rolled over and asked if his eyes were any more swollen. They were. Turned out he had poison ivy in his eyes."
21."I was eating some cashews (I didn't know I was allergic to them) at work when my tongue started to feel a little funny. Not really knowing why, I kept eating them. Then my eyes started itching really badly. I looked in the mirror, and they were growing in size. They were like that for three days."
22."I laid on my dog's stomach after he roamed through poison oak. I went to urgent care, and the nurse had the audacity to ask why I was there."
23."The first time I got stung by a bee was when I was 20. I was away at college and without my mom. It wasn't fun."
24."This was what I looked like at 10 p.m. the night before my wedding. Suspected culprit: cat dander."
25."Found out I was allergic to tea tree oil after covering my face with it. The next morning, my entire face was covered in tiny blisters, and I ended up being sent to a wound care clinic. Never again."
26."This was my reaction to eyelash tinting gone horribly wrong. My family called me Quasimodo. The infection spread to the rest of my face, and I couldn't see. I was put on oral and topical steroids, which made my face even more swollen. Apparently I'm severely allergic to metal and the dye in the tinting, which contained zinc and other metals (which are also found in tattoo ink). At least my parents know I'll never get a tattoo, because it'd probably kill me!"
27."This was 30 minutes after my allergic reaction. It was rather annoying, but my mom and I had a good laugh looking at me in the mirror. I had to call off work the next day. One of my managers thought I was trying to call off so I didn't have to work with her, but my friend showed her this picture. She felt awful for not believing me."
28."On a college class trip to Cuba, I woke up at 5 a.m. and looked like this. I took a picture and went back to bed, and then I went to the hospital in the morning. My first time ever going to a hospital was in Cuba, and it was just because of allergies. What was I allergic to? I still don't know."
29.And finally: "I was getting ready for bed and noticed that my lip felt numb and tingly. I looked in the mirror, and this was what I saw. I looked like the offspring of Donald Duck and Homer Simpson for about two days until it deflated. The doctors and I still don't know what caused it."
Does your own allergic reaction top any of these? Feel free to drop a pic in the comments below and tell us what happened!
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and clarity.
