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Anybody know if you can suddenly develop allergies to guinea pigs?

Caramelchip18

Caramelchip18

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So for the past two weeks or so I’ve had a runny nose snd watery eyes that comes and goes. I originally thought this could be a cold or something like that, but today I held my guinea pigs and within 5 minutes my nose was red, irritated and running like water and my eyes were red and watery.

I did have large red marks one me when they were on my skin before but I think that was just their nails and where they had rubbed themselves on me. I’m not sure what it is but if I’m allergic is there anything I can do to lessen it? Will antihistamines help?
 
Caramelchip18 said:
So for the past two weeks or so I’ve had a runny nose snd watery eyes that comes and goes. I originally thought this could be a cold or something like that, but today I held my guinea pigs and within 5 minutes my nose was red, irritated and running like water and my eyes were red and watery.

I did have large red marks one me when they were on my skin before but I think that was just their nails and where they had rubbed themselves on me. I’m not sure what it is but if I’m allergic is there anything I can do to lessen it? Will antihistamines help?
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Hi!

Please try over the counter antihistamines and see a doctor if things get worse or the mild antihistamines don't work. You can only ever develop an allergy after initial exposure as it is essentially an overreaction of the immune system.

I have both hay fever from grass pollen as well as getting hives from being around guinea pigs without my year round anithistamines. Thankfully, the problem is on a fairly low level.
 
Siikibam said:
I would consider it a possibility. Do try antihistamines and see if they will help you. 🤞🏾
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I picked them up again this afternoon and put them on my chest and it did nothing, no runny nose, no redness. Nothing, so I wonder if I’m reacting to something in the air at that time since there was hay on them and stuff or if I have some form of allergy to what they run through.

it could be anything so I’m looking Into getting an allergy test.
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

Please try over the counter antihistamines and see a doctor if things get worse or the mild antihistamines don't work. You can only ever develop an allergy after initial exposure as it is essentially an overreaction of the immune system.

I have both hay fever from grass pollen as well as getting hives from being around guinea pigs without my year round anithistamines. Thankfully, the problem is on a fairly low level.
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It’s odd because I’ve picked them up again this afternoon and there was no reaction, I’m wondering if it was something in the air at the time, hay, something the product I had them in whilst lay on me that caused it or if the room was just dusty. At this point it could be anything since it seems to come and go so I’m looking into getting a full allergy test
 
Getting an allergy test may give you some idea. It is possible to develop an allergy over time and with exposure. One of my kids' friends is not allergic to our guinea pigs per se, but is allergic to the hay, so that is another option if you had a dusty batch of hay. Before paper bedding was a readily available option I kept our hedgehogs on aspen bedding, which I became progressively more and more allergic to over time, to the point of having to pre-dose with antihistamine and then wear a mask to clean the cage. Fortunately I've been fine with paper bedding for 12 years or so. There's another factor to look into. So I would try mixing up the hay and bedding if you continue noticing a correlation, as it may not be the pigs themselves. It can be really hard to figure out what the allergens are if they're airborne... I'm allergic to dust and leaf mold and have to take antihistamines (I don't really get stuffy, I basically get hives and skin reactions to things... blisters on my hands that are supposed to be some sort of allergy-induced eczema and swelling of my eyeballs- not the lids, the actual white part of my eye will puff up in a blister.) But sometimes I have reactions in the absence of these things so there must be other triggers out there... those are just the ones I've been able to pinpoint consistency. I think environmental pollen is probably the cause of the rest of them.
 
Caramelchip18 said:
It’s odd because I’ve picked them up again this afternoon and there was no reaction, I’m wondering if it was something in the air at the time, hay, something the product I had them in whilst lay on me that caused it or if the room was just dusty. At this point it could be anything since it seems to come and go so I’m looking into getting a full allergy test
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I can have been some hay dust or pollen that has set you off but it would not be a bad idea if you had a test done. I had hay fever before I started with piggies again so instead of needing antihistamines up to 11 months in a mild year, I am taking them year round...
 
I find if I hold a particular pig it can irritate my skin like when I touch a dog - which I am very allergic too.... I find the hay affects me quite badly so antihistamines every day for me...
 
Wiebke said:
I can have been some hay dust or pollen that has set you off but it would not be a bad idea if you had a test done. I had hay fever before I started with piggies again so instead of needing antihistamines up to 11 months in a mild year, I am taking them year
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They were eating dandelion stuff before holding them but idk
 
All it needs some pollen or dust containing the allergen getting in your nose somehow.
 
I've never been allergic to anything but when I hit my late 40s I suddenly started to get very itchy skin all over and occasionally broke out in embarrassing hives on certain big fat parts of me. Pigs? Shower gel? Wash powder? Something I ate? No, it was age related hormonal 'changes' and on Docs advice I took over the counter Loratidine one a day until things calmed down and now it's once every week or so. But it's easy to see a symptom, put 2 and 2 together and get 5!
 
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