60mg of prednisone daily is making for a quick recovery. Hell of a dose. I have had other allergic reactions like this. Looking back at it, this isn't a food allergy. A food allergy would have stimulated a histamine response (Type I) and I would have broken into hives immediately from the first time eating it. Anti-histamines like Benadryl or hydrocortisone cream would have shown a better response but they did nothing for me. It would also have died down within a couple days. I might have had some internal breathing troubles or fever too but that's not the case.
This is clearly a cell-mediated (Type IV) hypersensitivity immune response. I came in contact with something that set off my immune system. I have a few of these: cat dander, hay, urushiol (poison ivy oil), and some fabric softener I can't remember. The first time a person encounters the agent they have no reaction. Instead, the body recognizes the antigen as a foreign substance and then builds an army of T-lymphocytes for any subsequent exposure. It's completely independent of immunoglobulins, it's not a B-cell reaction like other immune classifications. This is a delayed response where cytotoxic T-cells (T8-lymphocytes) have a receptor specific for an antigen (like urushiol) that catches onto epidermal cells and thinks them as foreign therefore releasing chemicals to induce apoptosis (cell death). And now you're in pain.
Immunology is interesting.
