What would you do to try to prevent this strange allergy?

[tjbaggott]

This past Oct/Nov, my family and I embarked on a fabulous WDW/DCL vacation. All was perfect except for cranky teenagers, and my crazy immune system.
Up to this trip I had only one known allergy and that is to a penicillan medication.
On day two of our trip (which involved a two day drive to Orlando, 3 nights in hotels prior to checking into our WDW hotel, then 4 nights on the Disney Wonder), I developed itchy little bumps on the backs of my ankles. I checked the hotel room, bed ect.... for bugs, found none. By the time we were in Disney World, the bumps had gotten worse, the itch worse, and had spread across my feet (tops). By the time we were on the ship, the rash had spread to the tops of my hands. Bumpy and ITCHY as heck. I was given a hydrocortizone cream on board which did help with the itchy part till it was time for the next application.
Well, once home, I immediately went to my doctor because this rash was now spreading up my arms.
Doctor went through everything, then determined I had an allergy to either the detergent or starch (but most likely the starch) used by hotels in their sheets. He gave me a cortizone cream which helped stop the spread of the rash (or maybe it was just the fact I was home and no longer sleeping in starch filled beds), and the rash was gone within the next week.

SO,,,, if this really is the case, an allergy to the starch in Hotel sheets, I assume that goes for DCL bed sheets too. What would you do to prevent this from happening again? My hands were SO red, from scratching, the bumps themseleve were red. I thought of sleeping with socks and mitts, but that seems uncomfortable. Or bringing my own bed sheets, although that would be a chore but perhaps my only alternative. Maybe taking benadryl daily? Or is it possible to request starch free sheets from DCL in our stateroom? I have 10 months to plan ahead, the best course of action.

 

[owensjro]

Honestly, I have long considered bringing my own sheets anyway because I hate the feel of the WDW and DCL sheets. DCL is a bit better than WDW but both are over starched and very low thread count feel. I'm a light sleeper so anyone in the family rolling makes so much noise on those sheets that it wakes me up.

I say bring your own.

Jim

 

[AbsyBabsy]

I was in Bed Bath and Beyond last week and saw a Travel Fresh Sleep Sack - it was about $30 but you can always get a 20% off and you can combine it with a $5 off coupon. You can check it out online - it is a sheet "sack" that you sleep in so you don't have to sleep on hotel sheets.

Good luck!

 

[szubieta]

Must have been so miserable. If your insurance covers it get a allergy scratch test done by an allergist then there won't be any question. I know I carry benadryl & cortizone cream just incase. Hope you find out the reason before you next trip.

 

[tjbaggott]

Must have been so miserable. If your insurance covers it get a allergy scratch test done by an allergist then there won't be any question. I know I carry benadryl & cortizone cream just incase. Hope you find out the reason before you next trip.

Actually I never thought of asking for an allergy test. It makes sense that it was something in the sheets, but it would be great to know for certain.
Our Ontario Health coverage covers that, so yes, I'll ask my doctor to schedule me in with the allergist. Thats a good start, thanks for mentioning it!

I'll check out the sleep sack mentioned too. Not sure if we have that store here, but if I can order on line, then that will work.

 

[sayhello]

I second the sleep sack. They work wonderfully, and you just sleep inside of it on top of their sheets. It should really help. They're usually very lightweight & compact & easily packable.

Sayhello

 

[dizzi]

HEY.........

I think the sleepsacksounds cool........But i get hot and cold (age) and need to throw covers around often.

I would callDCLand ask them about starchless sheets or bring my own.

I would think if they know in advance they might be abel to help you out...They seem to be good at everythign else.

 

[Bethshaya]

You said you were in the hotel, but didn't say what you were doing during that time (walking the parks, at the beach, etc)

Had you gone swimming in the ocean prior to getting the itchy bumps?

If so, they may be the sand mites that are kicked up in the sand in the water. They are parasites and burrow into your skin and are very tiny. They leave small itchy bumps.

You can check out the FAQs for more info on them.

 

[nu2dvc]

 

[tjbaggott]

You said you were in the hotel, but didn't say what you were doing during that time (walking the parks, at the beach, etc)

Had you gone swimming in the ocean prior to getting the itchy bumps?

If so, they may be the sand mites that are kicked up in the sand in the water. They are parasites and burrow into your skin and are very tiny. They leave small itchy bumps.

You can check out the FAQs for more info on them.

LOL, yah that was thought of too. I went to the medical centre on board the morning after our Castaway Cay Day. The nurse asked me about going in the water, and although I had, I assured her this had started long before I went into the ocean or a pool. I never did use the hotel pools or go into any water in WDW.
I'm going to see an allergist, just to confirm without a doubt the allergy is to starch (wonder if I can test that at home myself with some spray starch, LOL), and check out the sleep sack vs bringing my own sheets. I will ask my TA to broach that subject with DCL though too, and see if it is possible to get starchless sheets. I may not be able to get into see the allergist till around our cruise time at the latest, but this summer at the earliest.
I'm glad it's the rash is gone, but when I think of our upcoming trip, thats the first thing that comes to mind.... "will that rash come back?".

 

[gduvall]

We were on a Carnival cruise once and my daughter had something similar happen. The room steward gave her specially washed towels and sheets and the rash went away. I'm sure DCL would do the same thing.

 

[ti2xgrr]

I have two silk blankets that I purchased from magellans travel catalog that I use. One under me and if needed one over me. The silk is light enough that it is not too hot, no more than a normal sheet and also is insulating in case you need something warmer. As I am allergic to almost everything, including laundry soap and new sheets, I had to come up with something. If you sewed you could sew one side together and make a sleep sack but the silk is perfect for me. Also they roll up into a small pouch.

 

[diane648]

I had something similar to this before and it ended up being a photosensitive reaction to yellow dye in the vitamin I was taking. I've also had a similar reaction from being in the strong sun too much (when at the beach) -- I assumed that was sun poisoning.

So, here's a vote for seeing the allergist -- I'd hate for you to have trouble again. Also, I think I've seen the travel sack in other catalogs -- maybe the SkyMall catalog (although it was a higher price). They say that it takes up no more room that a pr. of socks in your luggage, so the fabric must be really light.

Good luck -- I hope you're able to get an answer! (And, pack some benadryl & cortisone just in case).

Diane

 

[disfan07]

I travel with my own sheets, blankets, towels, etc. all the timw because of my chemical allergies. Im allergic to almost all laundry detergents. The biggest pain i have found is just that i now always have soooo much luggage. ( i cant even pack only a carry on for an overnight trip) Overall, i would rather sleep on my own sheets but if i didnt have to i wouldnt.

 

[TnRobin]

Wow - thanks for the tip on the sleep sack. I think I will be looking into this. In addition to traveling, it would be great for guest stay over and some have to sleep on the couch.

 

[diane648]

I searched eBay for "travel sleep sack" & found several listed.

 

[tabithakp]

i have a lot of allergy's so when you see your family doctor for your referral to a allergist ask to see one that specializes in difficult to determine allergies. im sure they have them in ottawa im from a smaller town and had to go closer to toronto but it was well worth the trip. good luck!

 

[NHMom4]

Disney housekeeping will go through a room in a special manner for allergies. I am sure they could do the same on a cruise.

 

[disney1990]

This past Oct/Nov, my family and I embarked on a fabulous WDW/DCL vacation. All was perfect except for cranky teenagers, and my crazy immune system.
Up to this trip I had only one known allergy and that is to a penicillan medication.
On day two of our trip (which involved a two day drive to Orlando, 3 nights in hotels prior to checking into our WDW hotel, then 4 nights on the Disney Wonder), I developed itchy little bumps on the backs of my ankles. I checked the hotel room, bed ect.... for bugs, found none. By the time we were in Disney World, the bumps had gotten worse, the itch worse, and had spread across my feet (tops). By the time we were on the ship, the rash had spread to the tops of my hands. Bumpy and ITCHY as heck. I was given a hydrocortizone cream on board which did help with the itchy part till it was time for the next application.
Well, once home, I immediately went to my doctor because this rash was now spreading up my arms.
Doctor went through everything, then determined I had an allergy to either the detergent or starch (but most likely the starch) used by hotels in their sheets. He gave me a cortizone cream which helped stop the spread of the rash (or maybe it was just the fact I was home and no longer sleeping in starch filled beds), and the rash was gone within the next week.

SO,,,, if this really is the case, an allergy to the starch in Hotel sheets, I assume that goes for DCL bed sheets too. What would you do to prevent this from happening again? My hands were SO red, from scratching, the bumps themseleve were red. I thought of sleeping with socks and mitts, but that seems uncomfortable. Or bringing my own bed sheets, although that would be a chore but perhaps my only alternative. Maybe taking benadryl daily? Or is it possible to request starch free sheets from DCL in our stateroom? I have 10 months to plan ahead, the best course of action.

Is is possible that you did not have an allergy, but had this instead --

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1369601&referrerid=93883

I know when we last traveled with friends, 2 of the people we traveled with got it.

 

[tjbaggott]

Is is possible that you did not have an allergy, but had this instead --

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1369601&referrerid=93883

I know when we last traveled with friends, 2 of the people we traveled with got it.

Thats interesting, however the article mentions it's usually on the legs and is not itchy just a red rash. Mine was extremely itchy, wasn't on the legs, just the ankles, feet tops and hands. (some spots started up my arm by the time I was home).
Good to know about that other article though! Glad to know from that and pp's that I'm not the only one to have experienced something like this.