The Week My Body Went Whackadoo, Part 1

It was last Friday; an uneventful day.  Went to work. We got pizza in for lunch.  Met David at the local 7-Eleven to do the "Isabel-Swap." While waiting for him, I bought a pack of Starburst to share with Is.  She & I went home, I watched her play outside for a bit, had more pizza for dinner (leftovers from the previous night; I'm so very "pizza'd" out.) and settled in for the night.

Around 7:30 p.m. or so, I started getting itchy in my thighs.  I'm scratching through my jeans.  I finally say "I need to take a shower. I feel itchy."  The thighs continue to itch all night.

I wake up Saturday morning.

Now, here's what I look like on a really good day. I was having a good hair day, my makeup was on and I felt  pretty good.

Saturday morning?

I was having a SEVERE allergic reaction to who-knows-what.  Isabel cried when she saw me.

Really, no clue. I've been over it a dozen times.  Nothing out of the ordinary. No bug bites, no change in chemicals at work or at home, no weird food..except the Starburst candy.  

EVERYTHING ITCHED.  My hands, my feet, my sides, my thighs, the worst was the back of my neck. I took Benadryl, I covered myself in calamine, I took oatmeal baths. What the heck?

Sunday, and I was still bad, but now my wrists hurt, my ankles and knees.  The weirdest?  The soles of my feet were so swollen that I could not walk without being in severe pain.

By 3 p.m. Sunday, I could not wait anymore. I went to a local walk-in clinic. 

Now....I am not a fan of these places.  I have a prejudice against them. I feel like they don't care for their patients at all. I feel like their doctors are not the best ones.  Why? I worked at one in my 20's.  I saw behind-the-scenes and was not impressed.  Also, most, not all, but most of my previous experiences in these places have affirmed this bias I have.  I was trying very hard to wait until Monday, when I could see my regular doctor.  I just couldn't.

I was seen & prescribed both an antibiotic for a sore throat and a steroid treatment for the rash and was told they would call me during the week to schedule an appointment for allergy testing.

Monday I worked from home, keeping my feet in socks, so I would not scratch the skin off them.  Benadryl was only working for like an hour and a half at a time, and I could not take it but every 4-6 hours, which left me miserable the rest of the time. 

Tuesday, I drove to work.

Pretty, huh?  Still taking the steroid treatment, still itching all over the place.

To be continued.