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dragonlady7So it turns out I'm allergic to sulfa antibiotics. The fever gave me what I thought was a heat rash. I took one more antibiotic pill and the heat rash turned into raised itchy welts-- definitely hives. All over. My face, my neck, my chest, my stomach, my back, my butt, my legs, everywhere but the soles of my feet. I mean everywhere.
So I took a couple Benadryl and toughed it out until morning, when I called the doctor's office. "How soon can you get here?" they asked.
"Soon," I said, and got there.
I'm on a powerful antihistamine to suppress my reaction, a course of steroids to suppress my immune system, a topical antibacterial creme to "decolonize" me from the bacteria, and over-the-counter antihistamines besides. I've improved, in that I'm no longer violently itchy everywhere. Yesterday I was a few hours late with a medicine dose and went back to being violently itchy, a reminder that I'm not actually better-- silly me, I sort of thought as the antibiotic got out of my system the reaction would ease up. No.
The medicine makes me really drowsy and kind of dumb. I managed to get out of the house twice yesterday, and drove a car once in very light traffic. I can drink coffee at any hour with impunity; the Benadryl ensures that I'll sleep like a rock for 4-6 hours regardless of whether I'm itchy or twitchy or whatever. But it also ensures that I'll never really be particularly alert.
I'm still getting a lot done-- I've painted several canvas banners I've wanted to do for years, and have cleaned the kitchen, started a lot of cordials I'd wanted to try, and done a lot of laundry-- but I'm weak, dizzy, ditzy, and drowsy.
Oh well-- better than being itchy! (I'm tingly, but that's not as bad.)
Roller derby officially started back up yesterday, and I watched practice, but I was so itchy I couldn't participate. It looked like fun. :( Travel team tryouts are tonight; I wasn't going to, but I was sort of clinging to a fantasy that I was, but this has ensured that I won't. I'm too dizzy, and putting a sports bra on this itchy skin would probably kill me.
It's OK. I have time. This is a good way to ensure that I won't jump back in too abruptly. I have time to ease in. It's OK.
It's astonishing how challenging it is to me to see my skin so mottled and ugly. I didn't realize I was so vain, but my self-image really does rely somewhat heavily on my close-enough-to-socially-acceptable body-- yes I'm "fat", "obese" even, but I have an hourglassy shape, symmetrical features, decent skin, big boobs, and a lot of muscle mass. Now that I'm at least cosmetically disfigured I'm pretty deeply affected by that. It's sort of funny. I'm deliberately finding myself avoiding clothes I normally wear that I obviously feel like show off my attractive features, because they'll show too much skin and will showcase my deformity. Even if it's only Z who would see that part of me, and he's obviously not too affected by the hives. (He admitted they're hard to look at, but that he's coping by telling himself they don't itch-- he had non-itchy, very mild hives once, and he's telling himself that mine are like that, so he doesn't claw his own skin off in sympathy.)
He has been a doll through this, btw. He's not great at dealing with an invalid, but he's been pretty game to do whatever I ask him to. So that's nice.
So I took a couple Benadryl and toughed it out until morning, when I called the doctor's office. "How soon can you get here?" they asked.
"Soon," I said, and got there.
I'm on a powerful antihistamine to suppress my reaction, a course of steroids to suppress my immune system, a topical antibacterial creme to "decolonize" me from the bacteria, and over-the-counter antihistamines besides. I've improved, in that I'm no longer violently itchy everywhere. Yesterday I was a few hours late with a medicine dose and went back to being violently itchy, a reminder that I'm not actually better-- silly me, I sort of thought as the antibiotic got out of my system the reaction would ease up. No.
The medicine makes me really drowsy and kind of dumb. I managed to get out of the house twice yesterday, and drove a car once in very light traffic. I can drink coffee at any hour with impunity; the Benadryl ensures that I'll sleep like a rock for 4-6 hours regardless of whether I'm itchy or twitchy or whatever. But it also ensures that I'll never really be particularly alert.
I'm still getting a lot done-- I've painted several canvas banners I've wanted to do for years, and have cleaned the kitchen, started a lot of cordials I'd wanted to try, and done a lot of laundry-- but I'm weak, dizzy, ditzy, and drowsy.
Oh well-- better than being itchy! (I'm tingly, but that's not as bad.)
Roller derby officially started back up yesterday, and I watched practice, but I was so itchy I couldn't participate. It looked like fun. :( Travel team tryouts are tonight; I wasn't going to, but I was sort of clinging to a fantasy that I was, but this has ensured that I won't. I'm too dizzy, and putting a sports bra on this itchy skin would probably kill me.
It's OK. I have time. This is a good way to ensure that I won't jump back in too abruptly. I have time to ease in. It's OK.
It's astonishing how challenging it is to me to see my skin so mottled and ugly. I didn't realize I was so vain, but my self-image really does rely somewhat heavily on my close-enough-to-socially-acceptable body-- yes I'm "fat", "obese" even, but I have an hourglassy shape, symmetrical features, decent skin, big boobs, and a lot of muscle mass. Now that I'm at least cosmetically disfigured I'm pretty deeply affected by that. It's sort of funny. I'm deliberately finding myself avoiding clothes I normally wear that I obviously feel like show off my attractive features, because they'll show too much skin and will showcase my deformity. Even if it's only Z who would see that part of me, and he's obviously not too affected by the hives. (He admitted they're hard to look at, but that he's coping by telling himself they don't itch-- he had non-itchy, very mild hives once, and he's telling himself that mine are like that, so he doesn't claw his own skin off in sympathy.)
He has been a doll through this, btw. He's not great at dealing with an invalid, but he's been pretty game to do whatever I ask him to. So that's nice.
