I usually stick to the normal fruit groups when buying produce: bananas, apples, oranges, etc. So when I went to the grocery store and saw that there was a sale on mango fruit I thought I'd give them a try. I had only tried them once before and thought they weren't the best, but maybe I had bought one that wasn't ripe and then I had no idea how to even the cut the thing open. So I bought three the first time. I let them ripen a little on the counter for a day or so and then I opened one up and it was delicious! I even cut some up and gave them to my 9 month old daughter and she loved them too! I was happy to let her try new things and see what she likes and dislikes...she likes more things than not! I was cutting the fruit up and sharing with my daughter and then I would cut the fruit up in the skin and eat it off the skin. That's where my mistake came into effect. After eating the first three mango I went back to the store and bought four more. I would cut some up for my daughter and then I'd eat the rest off the skin. After the 3rd day I noticed a sore starting in the corner of my mouth. I didn't really think much of it because I had eaten a Flavor-Ice Popsicle and thought that I had cut the side of my mouth with the plastic. But then the sore started spreading and spreading and swelling! My entire upper lip was gigantic! I have larger lips and my brothers always made fun of me for it, but this was a whole new kind of lip! I tried to medicate by myself for a day with cold sore medicine thinking that maybe I had one of those, but then I had never had a cold sore before this so I couldn't really tell myself that was it.
By Saturday it was bad when I woke up at 4:30 A.M., so I took a Benadryl to see if that would help and then I started scouring the internet to find an Urgent Care place that opened up early. I finally found one and the doctor there took one look and said it was cold sores. I told her I had never had a cold sore before and she gave me the whole story that a lot of people have them and it's not a big deal...well, it felt like a big deal to me and my lip was even bigger! I told her it looked like poison ivy rash, but she threw that idea out the door and I even told her I had eaten mango which was newly added into my diet. Well, she sent me on my way with a prescription for the anti-viral medication, Valtrex (very expensive medicine, too!), and said everything should start to look better quick. I spent my first Mother's Day cooped up in my house because I was too embarrassed to go to church looking like a Large Mouth Bass (the loving words from my husband mind you!) By Monday morning, the swelling had not gone down. I started googling everything I could think of then it came to mind that maybe it was an allergic reaction. I started looking up mango rashes since that was the only new thing I had eaten recently. Low and behold, the first thing that popped up on my phone was how a mango rash can look like poison ivy! I knew I didn't have cold sores. I looked up everything on this and found that it was more common than not.
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| My upper lip was effected the most, but then it also spread to my bottom lip! |
Apparently, the skin of a mango contains the same chemical as a poison ivy, Urushiol. It causes the same rash and irritation . People who easily get poison ivy will most likely get a rash from coming into contact with mango skin, but some can still eat the meat of the fruit if someone else prepares it for them. My big mistake was cutting the fruit up in the skin and eating it off the skin so my lips were coming into contact with it. I then proceeded to throw the last mango away using metal tongs....
Once I discovered this I quit taking the cold sore medicine and quickly started on lots of Benadryl. It started helping, but it seemed to be taking a long time. By Thursday, the rash was still there so I decided it was time to finally see my real doctor, who laughed at me and told me to stop being so adventurous with foods. He asked if I had an Epi-pen, which I did not even though I am pretty positive I have a shellfish allergy, he then made sure I got one of those and put me on a steroid to help with the rash and hives that had started on the side of my face and neck.
My lips are back to their normal size now. I just wish that the Urgent Care doctor would have taken more time to listen to me and not just assume that I had a terrible case of cold-sores. Now I hope that all who read this feel a little more educated on the fact that a fruit that seems harmless can cause this weird rash! And you're all welcome that I went through this so you might not have to now!
