Blame it on Ike

I ate a mango last week and it bit me back. I love mangoes and I've eaten plenty in my life, but quite suddenly my skin finds them disagreeable. My lips usually blister up but this last reaction looks like I rubbed a handful of poison ivy all over my face. My cheek is swollen and bumpy, my neck and chin are crimson, and it's all been itching like crazy. As you can see, fortunately (or unfortunately?) it doesn't look nearly as bad as it feels:. 

The internet tells me that mango sap contains the same chemical as poison ivy, hence the similar reaction. I believe I must've been sensitized to it after my run-in with poison ivy while doing Hurricane Ike cleanup a few years ago. (Clearly, I had no idea what poison ivy looks like.) In this instance, the malady looked as bad as it felt and lasted for almost 2 weeks:

For now I'm avoiding mangoes. sigh. delicious tantalizing mangoes.  I will miss them, but appreciate not wanting to take a palm sander to my face even more.