question on a reaction - long story of my stupidity

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Hi all!

I have a question on a reaction I had (well am still having) my dr. thinks it's

an allergic reaction but he isn't sure, it has been almost 2 weeks now (friday

before memorial day it started) around my eyes started itching really bad I kept

itching them & itching them, not thinking about what had been around them i put

the first thing i had handy on ...some lotion....it got worse. so then i started

thinking why would my eyes be itching? I had some cream i received that I had

put on my face around my eyes .....i had used the cream before with no problems

however my daughter had hidden it from me for a while & I hadn't used it for a

while .....it had roman chamomile, lavender & orange eo's in it.....the lotion i

had grabbed & put on had lavender & tea tree in it both the cream & the lotion

contained emu oil too. So I stopped using both & was just putting some jojoba on

to try to soothe my skin because I didn't know what else to use & the dr. was

closed for the holiday. Finally got in to see him...my eyes were red all around

& puffy he said maybe the cream was too old & changed into something that I was

allergic to & gave me a steroid (or corticortisone or whatever it is) ointment

to put on....it got worse....if i smelled any fragrance oils or went into the

cleaning aisle at the grocery store my whole face got hot & BRIGHT red my eyes

down my cheeks to my chin & puffy. Went back in to see the dr. asked me what

else I had been doing around the house anything else in contact with.....we had

been painting & varnishing & I cleaned the tub with a new cleaner, he said maybe

too much for my system & now my immune system is out of whack & everything is

affecting me right now so said to pack all my fragrance oils, soaps & incense

away for now & put me on prednisone & benedryl. So now I am looking up reactions

to essential oils because I am thinking since it started around my eyes maybe

has something to do with the essential oils in the cream, I have never had any

problems with chamomile (tea or in daughters shampoo....never used the eo

before) I never had problems with lavender eo before, I never used anything with

orange in it before this cream but like I said I used the cream a few times

before & no reaction.......how do I know if it's an allergic reaction (never had

one before) maybe to the chamomile? or if it's sensitization or just a skin

irritation that is really really stubborn & not going away? I have been on the

prednisone for 3 days now & though the redness in my cheeks is going down my

eyes are still red around them & burn & tingle, I need to find out what is

causing it so I can avoid it, but I don't even know what exactly I'm having &

neither does the dr. ....has anyone ever had any of these symptoms with

anything. The only other thing I'm thinking is I might have somehow

inadvertantly contaminated the cream (was an all oil/butter base so didn't

require a preservative & I don't think it has one) so I am thinking about

getting a home test to see if it has any bacteria/yeast or fungus in it...if not

I know that's ok & it has to be a reaction to one of the eo's but I don't know

which one would be the culprit ....I use lavender more than the others but

always in something never straight but was thinking since I do use that more

than the others maybe got sensitized to it....orange I know can be

photosensitizing but I don't think or can't remember right now being out in the

sun because it's rained just about everyday here..... & then chamomile I know is

related to ragweed so it could be an allergic reaction but I have no clue how to

find out......can anyone help? I feel like such a dork because I thought twice

about using the cream since I couldn't remember when I got it I thought maybe I

shouldn't use it & then I thought well it still smells good & I didn't want to

waste it....should have just listened to myself, now I'm kicking myself.

thank you

Patty