A Discovery

Today I think I made a disturbing discovery.

Here's some background. I have always had very dry skin. For as long as I can remember I have had to use hand cream and moisturizer. Lately it's gotten much worse. I just thought that since I'm getting older, this was normal.

Sometimes the itch on my legs gets so bad I've actually drawn blood. This was the case when I mentioned it to my doctor. He gave me a cream and it helped. Lately though, in addition to my legs, my arms have been starting to itch. There is no outward sign of irritation.

I had been fine most of today, then this afternoon I had two chocolate peppermint patties. Then the itch started with a vengeance. Could it be? Is it possible that I'm allergic to ....chocolate? I've never had allergies, except one year when I had poison ivy. I know that allergies can develop at any time, but now?

I'm going to give myself a test. I won't eat any chocolate for a week just to make sure this is the problem. And, if I am allergic to chocolate, there may be an upside. That would eliminate a very large part of my snacking and then maybe I can stick to a diet.