I have a love for my red wine. It has been there for me to enjoy and relax to at the end of my day for many years now, but last night my wine turned on me. Instead of it allowing me to relax, it kept me awake most of the night... who knew that you could have an allergic reaction from wine?

Yesterday evening I became itchy beginning with my hands. I fell asleep for a couple of hours and woke up to my entire body itching and covered with a rash and hives. I couldn't figure out what I had a reaction from since I didn't eat or drink anything that I hadn't had before. But, I had a different brand of  wine for dinner, so I wondered if red wine could cause an allergic reaction. So of course I grabbed the cell phone and googled allergic reaction to red wine. I found out that allergies to red wine are fairly common. Red wine contains naturally occurring histamines and sulfites, and both of these substances can cause reactions.

I drink a glass of red wine every night so this still seems very strange to me, but my reaction was so bad that I had to wake my husband up to help me rub ant-itch cream all over my body, which didn't work. So at midnight he was off to Walgreen's to talk to the pharmacist. I ended up taking Benedryl which ceased the itching and allowed me to sleep... woke up this morning back to normal.

Cheers to Walgreen's and Benedryl!