In article ,
Nathalie Chiva wrote:

I ate some delicious mackerel yesterday evening (fresh, cooked in the
oven with a mustard and cream sauce).
One hour after I was starting to get hives. During the night I woke up
because it was itching so much. No puffing, no respiratory problems,
no tummy ache, just hives, all over the neck and decolletage, a bit on
the face and arms.
I've been taking some homeopathy (Urtica Urens) today, to no avail.
I'll be trying some Benadryl (Benocten by its Swiss name, they sell it
as a sleeping aid) tonight.
Any good advice?
I was going to have some pickled herring today for lunch but, herring
and mackerel being close friends, I didn't dare sigh

You might have reacted badly to an ingredient in the cream sauce. At any
rate, call your doctor if the hives don't subside in a few hours. When I
broke out in hives after taking an OTC cough medicine, the only thing
that got rid of them was a week of taking a prescription medicine.

On Sat, 19 Apr 2008 19:47:16 -0400, Stan Horwitz
wrote:

In article ,
Nathalie Chiva wrote:

I ate some delicious mackerel yesterday evening (fresh, cooked in the
oven with a mustard and cream sauce).
One hour after I was starting to get hives. During the night I woke up
because it was itching so much. No puffing, no respiratory problems,
no tummy ache, just hives, all over the neck and decolletage, a bit on
the face and arms.
I've been taking some homeopathy (Urtica Urens) today, to no avail.
I'll be trying some Benadryl (Benocten by its Swiss name, they sell it
as a sleeping aid) tonight.
Any good advice?
I was going to have some pickled herring today for lunch but, herring
and mackerel being close friends, I didn't dare sigh

You might have reacted badly to an ingredient in the cream sauce. At any
rate, call your doctor if the hives don't subside in a few hours. When I
broke out in hives after taking an OTC cough medicine, the only thing
that got rid of them was a week of taking a prescription medicine.

Thanks to all who replied. As it was my own cooking, there were no
mystery ingredients in the cream sauce (cream, mustard, white wine,
lemon, salt, pepper). I saw my doctor (the hives ahd progressed to my
face, ugh), and after discussing all the possibilities, he thought
(and I concur with him) it was probably not an allergy (after all, I
eat fish, mackerel included, on a regular basis). He gave me
prescription homeopathy (I know, not everybody believes in it, I do, I
happen to have had good experience with it) and the hives are slowly
subsiding. The skin is really very dry and sensitive now, it'll take
many days to become normal again I fear :-(

Nathalie in Switzerland