Weed in hay that causes hives (human not horse)....?

[ArabDiva]

I bought, hauled, and stacked a load of hay from my regular hay guy on Tuesday (5 days ago).

Ever since, I have had wicked hive-like sores pretty much all over my body. They look like a cross between hives and mosquito bites. SUUUUper itchy. I’ve been slathering on the hydrocortizone cream and taking Benadryl. They’re getting better but it’s taking a long time.

Is there some kind of weed that could cause this??? Could it harm my horses? It’s not poison ivy – I’ve had that before and it doesn’t act like this. I was wearing gloves and a turtleneck, but because I was stacking alone, I ended up having a lot of ‘full body’ contact with the bales and it was probably poking through my shirt in places.

I’ve been using this hay guy for years and never had a problem with his product. I’m betting whatever it was is limited to a few bales, because the ones I’ve opened and used so far look normal and the horses are happy with it.

[SuzieQNutter]

If it started with one here and there and got worse every day, then it might be scabies. This is also called mange in animals. You usually get it from body contact, but it can also live in a dark place like a rain forest so could have been in the hay as well.

If it is the animals are then actually under your skin. You react when they die. It is what was in the bible as the 7 year itch.

The good news is that as it is under your skin you don’t need to wash any of your clothes or bedding. You get a cream from the doctor that you put from the neck down. On everything, in your navel, under your finger and toe nails and easier if applied by another person.

This of course kills them so you itch worse the next couple of days. Take the green telfast tablets (Australia you might call them something else) to lessen the itching.

If it is not scabies and is because you are allergic to something in the hay then again I recommend the green telfast tablets which stop itching and hives from allergies and insect bites and also a calamine lotion cream that you can get from a chemist.

I would say that if the horses haven’t been affected yet that they shouldn’t be. The scabies/mange don’t survive for long outside your body.

My husband and I did get scabies, which is how I know. We were helping clean up the garden in Papa’s house that was near a rain forest. We never gave it to our horses.

[Kat_the_Horse]

Here in Kansas there are all sorts of common pasture weeds that can cause what you are suffering. Snow on the Mountain is especially prominent in our area, as well as hog weed, stinging nettle, and a plethora of others. Also, don’t assume it isn’t one of the poison ivy variants. I got poison ivy from my hay last year, and TWO doctors told me it wasn’t poison ivy because I never manifested blisters. One of the local farmers told me what it was–poison ivy–and suggested I try taking quercetin to help with the itching. I sincerely believe that man saved my life, because nothing else was stopping the agony, and spending my life in the bathtub wasn’t working.

[S1969]

Could be just about anything. Did you look through your hay for anything unusual?

Stinging nettle would be my first guess but I’ve never encountered it dry. I suppose it could be pretty miserable dried too.

I agree it could also be poison ivy.

Can you ask the hay supplier what they think? They might actually know from experience.

[csaper58]

Do you have chiggers where you live? They can hide in the hay.

Another thought, did your hay man spray any thing on the hay?

[Simkie]

It’s my understanding that nettle is totally benign dry…

Could it be that you’ve just developed a whopping allergy to “normal” grasses in your hay?

[ArabDiva]

[QUOTE=csaper58;8334559]
Do you have chiggers where you live? They can hide in the hay.

Another thought, did your hay man spray any thing on the hay?[/QUOTE]

Interesting thought re: chiggers and spray. I’ll ask him if he did anything. He doesn’t usually.

[QUOTE=Simkie;8334567]It’s my understanding that nettle is totally benign dry…

Could it be that you’ve just developed a whopping allergy to “normal” grasses in your hay?[/QUOTE]

This is what I fear. I have had skin reactions from hay in the past, but nothing this bad. This is really bad.

Fortunately, I have an annual physical tomorrow (scheduled long ago) so I’ll have a chance to have the dr. look at it.

[Frog_Pond]

I hate to vote with the whopping allergy to hay possibility, but, that’s my story. Too much hay contact and I get hives on my arms & trunk.

I’ve had a run-in with hogweed – you don’t have that – it’s a sap that reacts to sunlight to give you horrible burns, so they emerge in scattered patterns where it touched you, not as hives under clothing-covered areas. I doubt chiggers, too – they don’t improve with Benadryl or cortisone cream . . . but, they are very itchy and look like what you’ve described. Good luck, it sounds awful!

[Scribbler]

When we were kids, my sister had a strong, instant skin reaction to all timothy hay (and her horse got protein bumps immediately from alfalfa), and then turned out to have hay fever as a late teen/young adult. Literally hay fever, in that she had all the weepy/sneezy stuff specifically in May and June, grass pollen season, in the countryside (we grew up in foresty suburbs with no hay fields). So IME, this could totally be just your allergic reaction, and nothing particularly noxious in the hay.

[StormyDay]

Well, If I handle timothy hay, anywhere it touched me will be super itchy. Any other type, i am fine. So maybe this particular variety is it is causing you have have a reaction.
Even if you have been using the same hay guy for years, I bet he reseeds every year or two. You can’t always guarantee it is the exact same type of grass you are planting, since seed manufacturers change.
Also, on another note, are you pregnant/taking new medication? Sometimes that will cause you to be very sensitive to new allergies.

[BuddyRoo]

I’m going to guess that you’ve developed an allergy.

I have to wear long sleeves, gloves, etc when I put up hay because I get hives from it. I always have. It doesn’t seem to bother me when I handle it on a daily basis, but when I get scratched at all (as I do when putting it up), I get a reaction.

[xcatheart]

Same here~ we just finished stacking this past Saturday and when I woke up Sunday, I had the same hive/mosquito bits looking rash on my torso and upper left thigh. And we’re in MI too. This was our own hay that we “just let grow” in the fields so I know nothing is sprayed. And I’ve handled it before without any reaction…

[fordtraktor]

OP, if your doctor has any ideas let me know. Periodically my two year old comes in from the barn covered in hives and I’m still at a loss as to exactly what is causing it. His allergist hasn’t been able to pinpoint it yet. We are in northern Indiana so maybe it is the same thing. A double dose of Benadryl seems to fix him but he goes from fine to full body hives in just a few minutes. Scary.

[rugbygirl]

Even a light dusting of spores from any number of fungi could cause hives. Hay may not be “mouldy” but can still contain some mould, especially dried spores. Many people are sensitive to contact with moulds.

[Foxtrot_s]

Would you recognize timothy? I can’t go near the stuff.

[Color_of_Light]

This sounds like those hay itch mites I got bitten by in my post about it last fall. I know this is an older post. I was just searching on quercetin when this post came up.