What your hands touched before they touched your face. In the garden? The kitchen? Cleaning fluid?

I was just preparing the food. And the hives/itchiness were all over, just most visible on my face.

Didn’t Lars have the same thing some time after his vaccine?

Did you by any chance, during the day or the day before, eat pineapple or something with pineapple and go out in the sun?

If it happens again, I’d see an allergist.

Your reaction could be to almost anything. Something your fresh vegetables were sprayed with? New shampoo for your dog?

There are some weird delayed reactions to the vaccine. My husband and I both had a few hours of dizziness 8 days after our 2nd shot. Turns out others have also experienced the same.

My allergist has told me that new allergies are often part of aging. I had never had a reaction to any penicillin drug until a few years ago. After 2 doses of ampicillin my eyes swelled up like I had been beaten up.

Good luck.

All over hives sounds like something you ingested is the problem. Sometimes your body crosses an invisible threshold and becomes sensitive to things that never bothered it before. Look up adult-onset allergies.

I would get hives every once in awhile starting about 15 years ago. I could go for months and months without having them. After a couple of years I was diagnosed by an allegist as having chronic hives (there is a medical term but it escapes me.) He suggested I take a Zyrtec and Zantac when I first noticed the hives and within 30 minutes they were gone. Fortunately, I haven't had them since Zantac was taken off the market, My current doctor has suggested Claratin if I get them again..

Did you have the Moderna vaccination? I started to get some weird rashes 9 days after my first Moderna (actually diagnosed with Shingles but having had them before and having had both Shingrix shots, I am not sure this was a correct diagnosis.) My doctor told me she was seeing all kinds of skin issues after the covid vaccinations and they weren't sure if they were related or not.

I’ve broken out in hives twice, once in my twenties and once when I was pregnant with my first child. Both times, doctors (different in each case) determined it was nerves. Did I outwardly feel nervous or anxious about anything? No. They said it was subconscious, internal. Go figure.

Just as an FYI, I visited my ENT right after my second shot. He told me his wife had a reaction a couple of weeks after her Moderna vaccine. She broke out in a hive-like rash across her abdomen. Her allergist told her it was likely a reaction to the preservatives in the vaccine. I believe that is one of those ingredients they ask everyone about when you get your shots. The name escapes me as it has around 16 letters but I have seen it written.

Was it something on your husbands hands when he cradled your face and looked adoringly into your eyes?

Association does not prove causation. My friend got a case of hives while she was caring for her husband dying of cancer in the middle of the pandemic. It could have been an allergic reaction or it could have been nerves. Also, red dyes give me hives, and they do put them in some weird foods. But you say it was a white wine . . . one can suddenly develop allergies. I have a friend allergic to apples. I didn't believe her at first. Her mom has the same allergy. It's the acid in the apples, she can eat certain low acid ones like Pink Lady. So maybe the wine was acidic, combined with the vinegar, put you over the threshold . . .however, my friend with the acid allergy gets it on her lips to start when she eats the stuff, she knows right away that it's the culprit. I am sensitive to acids in foods too, I have learned it's not the pH, it's certain acids. Wine is funny, some wines bother me, others do not. Some wines have a lot of sulphites. The sweeter wines are less acidic. I don't do well with sulphites either. They can cause allergic reactions . . .

I'd contact your doctor and report it to see if it could be a delayed reaction to Pfizer vaccine.

I would keep a detailed list of everything you ate today. Then, if you develop the hives again, you can cross reference and see what the common denominator is. My DS once broke out in hives all over. The only unusual thing was celery root. Who ever heard of a celery allergy? We thought it was a fluke. The next time he had celery, he had the hives and it now progresses to vomiting as well. No more celery for him. It turns out celery is not an uncommon allergy, I just had not heard of it before.

For some bizarre reason, 3 of my friends have been diagnosed as allergic to black pepper. They broke out in hives. Maybe the pepper is being sprayed with something. Good luck figuring it out!!

I’m allergic (technically it’s a sensitivity) to the preservative that keeps baked goods soft, I turn green and pass out. Vomiting typically ensues. Hence I eat no grocery store baked goods. Who knew some sun dried tomatoes use same preservative. What fun allergies are. Mine isn’t anaphylactic fortunately.

What was in the pilaf? What was in the vinaigrette?

DH and DD1 sometimes break out in hives, start to itch and/or swell (lips, hands, feet) after ingesting a milk product. Mayo seems to be DH's biggest trigger. The first time he met my parents, he had sour cream on his baked potato. By the time dinner was over, his bottom lip was HUGE. Good luck figuring it out.

So strange, because I seemed to have a random allergic reaction last week. After dinner, which contained no new or exotic ingredients, I suddenly had a swollen lower lip and the back of my throat felt itchy and a little swollen. It was very weird. I took a Benadryl (um, I had to get it myself) and it gradually went away. I’ve never had that happen before.

I‘ve never had hives. The only time I’ve seen them in my house is when poor DD was prescribed penicillin when she was a year old. Needless to say, penicillin allergy.

mtn- I would not dismiss the vaccine as the root cause. Your body's immune system is being activated and may be very sensitive at the moment. Then you ingest or touch something that you normally have no reaction to but unbeknownst to you, your body is sensitive to the irritant. Now you have a reaction. Food allergies are a reaction to the protein complexes, and many foods have similar proteins to other things. For example, maple, and birch pollen can cause someone to react to apples, peaches, etc. I have many allergies and am used to having occasional reactions, and never identifying the culprit. I hope you feel better soon.

A quick tip to all, always carry Benadryl with you. It can be a lifesaver.

I’ve had hives only once in my life when I was in high school. I’d eaten a lot of fresh tomatoes - only thing out of the ordinary. I’ll never really know if that’s what caused it. DH got a bad case of hives when I naively put a new set of sheets on the bed without washing them first. I do know a few people who’ve developed allergies later in life. I guess if it happens again you’ll have another clue as to the cause.

No help with causation, but can I suggest that we all buy a small bottle of liquid Benadryl or the generic, diphenhydramine, to keep on hand. It works much faster than the tablets.

I have had similar experiences after dinner -- always dinner as far as I can remember, adn usually after drinking wine or possibly some other form of alcohol. It doesn't always go to hives -- sometimes just a little itching, and it isn't all alcohol or every wine. It has happened with reds and whites, but more often with reds, and I'm not sure if it would happen with every bottle of a particular wine.

I have been tested allergic to molds and mildew, so I have thought it might be bottles with a certain culture present -- or that it is the alcohol that makes my system flush and makes anything else bothering my system at the time (pollens, etc.) more prominent. It hasn't happened often enough to make me stop drinking wine, but I have learned that if my ears start itching and it moves to around my ears and neck, I'd better get a benadryl before it starts at the bra band, waist band or anywhere something is fitted against me, never mind the places you can't scratch an itch.

I need to stop thinking about this now -- but I've had a doctor tell me hives are strange and you often don't know what brought them on and may never figure out exactly what it is. Good luck!

Hives are indeed strange. I've had a couple periods in my life when I was getting hives. I'm 99% sure the trigger the first time was ibuprofen. Not an allergy (not an IgE allergy, anyway), but they went away after I cut out ibuprofen. After a long dry spell, I was able to take ibu again without incident, until years later. I started getting hives again last fall and they stopped after I went off ibuprofen. I took some last week when I really needed an anti-inflammatory without any problem. So I'm, what? Episodically sensitive to ibuprofen?

My guess was the clementines. The citrus oil is often an allergin....or perhaps it was sprayed with something. Did you peel it yourself?

I agree, keep track of what you ate today in case it happens again. I would think maybe the citrus?

DH can no longer eat scallops. He seems to have developed an allergy to them, or maybe more likely whatever is used to preserve them. No hives, but bad GI symptoms.

Might be caused by contact and not just food. I was once covered in hives and told it was an allergic reaction to a dry cleaning chemical that had been used on my clothing.

I get itchy from cheap white wine. I went to an allergist for a different problem and asked him about it - at the time I drank so much wine I was afraid I’d blow up and be unable to breathe or something. Anyway, he told me just to drink the expensive stuff. Very unconcerned. So maybe it’s an additive?

I have a friend who is allergic to the sulfites in wine.

From Bon Appetit:

There are two types of sulfites, also known as sulfur dioxide: natural and added. Natural sulfites are just that, totally natural compounds produced during fermentation. ... Added sulfites preserve freshness and protect wine from oxidation, and unwanted bacteria and yeasts. Apr 4, 2016

Could you have been touched something outdoors? My son had a terrible reaction to the white cocoon that housed some sort of a caterpillar. I had hung sheets to dry on the line and in that short amount of time on the clothesline a caterpillar started to weave a cocoon. As soon as it brushed against my sons abdomen his whole side of the body broke out in hives.

I thought for sure this was going to be about bee stings.

I only had hives once, a reaction to a medication. My doctor said take benedryl, in fact take two. I took the Benadryl at work and just about fell asleep at my desk. I barely made it home.

Hope you have figured out the culprit. No fun to be covered with itchy polka dots.

As PartyMusic mentioned, sulfates in some wines and in some bottled foods, as well, can cause allergic reactions, including hives. My DD has an allergy to sulfites so I need to be careful of what I serve for meals when they visit. Some wines can definitely trigger her hives.

Maybe you are starting menopause. Hormone imbalances could be the culprit.

just_terrilynn....interesting point. The only time I experienced hives was when I was peri-menopausal. I would break out, started eliminating different foods and couldn't figure it out. It was about a year of sudden break-outs until it finally stopped.

DD is allergic to any and all NSAIDS which includes ibuprofen (Advil, etc), naproxen sodium (Alleve, etc), and common aspirin. She can take acetaminophen only. We had a friend who taught medicinal chemistry. He told me that NSAID allergies are more common than you would think.

When she was younger DD also broke out in hives if she ate foods containing FD&C Yellow #5. She seems to have outgrown that. Her DMIL breaks out in hives with FD&C Yellow #5 and one of the blues, Blue #1 maybe. Once when we had a big gathering for a football game, I planned to make Pioneer Woman’s Italian Beef Sandwiches. Reading the labels, I discovered that the pepperocini peppers contain either one or both of the problematic dyes. Who knew that pickled peppers are dyed!!!

Unless you prepared the chicken broth yourself, see if it has food dyes in it. Was the balsamic vinaigrette something you prepared or was it a purchased vinaigrette? If the latter, check the ingredients.

It might be a one oft thing. I broke out in hives on half of my body. Very weird.

I went to the dermatologist. The only think I had that was different was an after dinner drink.

It never happened again.

I know you can develop allergies at anytime in life.

I developed a rash after the Moderna vaccine, and it showed up about five days after getting the vaccine. I'm not sure it is related, but the person who gave me the second shot said that rashes are a common side effect of the vaccine and often take several days to show up. She told me to take Benadryl, which does help alleviate some of the itching.

BBstx, Good point in re liquid Benadryl. I forgot, years ago I had an allergic reaction to Advil. I simply avoid it, but I do take Alleve. Maybe I should not. In any event, I can't recall the last time I took anything. I made the vinaigrette... just balsamic, evoo, garlic paste and salt and pepper.

As for the broth, no I didn't make it but here are the ingredients:

Water

Free-range Chicken (22%)

Onion

Carrot

Leek

Cabbage

Celery

Sea Salt

I've raved over this brand before. If you haven't tried it you should! https://www.caldoaneto.com/en/caldos/caldos-basicos-en/natural-chicken-broth/

Robo, Party, and Lynn, I'm pretty sure it was the white wine. Surely qualifies as "cheap" because it was one of those mini screw top bottles that you buy in a 4 pack, just for cooking? Just a bit surprising considering I had so little. Half the mini bottle, which i think is half a cup, over a dish that served four. But it was the only thing I had that was unusual for me.

Jterri, Could be. I'm about to enter the Guinness World Book of Records on that front.

CMM, I'd not even been outside that day iirc.

Gscience, LindaC, I eat a clementine, or 2, almost every day. In fact we put them at everyone's place setting at dinner. BTW, they are particularly good right now. Definitely buy a bag, Halos. Part of my shellfish allergies is scallops. I had to go to the ER when I made Coquille St Jacques once in college and taste-tested the sauce.

Allison, other than that, i'm guessing the dinner went ok?

Bpath, We have pineapple a lot. Which reminds me, has everyone had the rose pineapple? They used to only have it at our specialty market but now I see it everywhere. It's so yummy.

Marlene, Pfizer. 2 weeks ago, no issues.

Dee, yes, adult-onset allergies have become pretty common.

We develop new allergies as we get older. For me, it was penicillin when I turned 50.

I used to have severe food allergies that got better by the time I was 40.

About ten years ago I noticed my stomach would feel queezy for hours after eating scrambled or fried eggs, but I can tolerate Deviled Eggs. Thank God. :)

If I were you and suspect the wine, if you still have some left, eat a normal dinner and the same amount of wine, with a Benadryl nearby, and see what happens. If you had an allergic reaction to the wine, you'd get it again.

Then do each food product by itself.

Mtn, sure hope you find out what it is, so frustrating.

As shared here, as I get in middle age, I’m getting new allergies ... after having zero all my life. I had a terrible allergic reaction to the dental cement for my crown ... dentist said he’s never seen that in 28 yrs. Swollen tongue and throat, sores in tongue and throat, numbness in entire mouth, yet burning mouth, swollen lips — it’s been a nightmare. I’m still having trouble with it.

Anyway, keep us updated, please.

(I’m very upset to see wine can be an allergen, dang it!)

The sulfites in wine really bother me, so maybe that. Once in college I had hives all over my body but especially my face. I just woke up with them in the morning. It took a while to figure out, but I believe it was the preservative used on some mistletoe we put up to decorate our room. I hung it up and then went to bed without washing my hands or face. My roommate and I went to the health service about a mile or so away and I had to get a cab back because the shot of antihistamine knocked me out!

Mtn, 8 haven't tried rose pineapple, I'll look for it. Apparently, the combination of pineapple and sunshine can give some people hives. Happened to one of our sons when we were in vacation. Very strange.

Mtn, do you have vsafe on your phone/ If not, do install and note your hive reaction. It may not be related to the vaccine, but the CDC does pay attention to reactions to the shots. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/vsafe.html