Obnoxious Bitch
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Arrrrgh, I’m On Fire!
It’s 6:00 in the morning, and I’m waiting for the doctor on call to call me back. I finally gave in and called Dr. C’s office because my whole body seems to be covered in hives. I had a few itchy spots when I went to bed around midnight, and my lips felt a little tingly. I woke up around 2:00 AM and was itchy in a few more spots, with a red bump here & there. I thought maybe I’d gotten bitten by a bug or something, so I scratched a little bit and did my best to go back to sleep. 3 hours later I was up again, and my upper lip is now swollen, the bottom one’s not far behind, and I’ve got hives all over my arms, legs, neck, ears, scalp, ass - everywhere! I also feel like I’ve got something stuck at the bottom of my esophagus (or like I’m having reflux), and my hands seem to be swollen too.
Yesterday morning when I woke up I had what I thought was a sinus headache, with itchy ears & throat. I took a Sudafed™ Sinus Headache pill, which made the headache go away, but not the itchy ears & throat. I also took an Advil Allergy pill around 4:00 PM, which didn’t seem to do much of anything.
These hives and shit might be a side-effect of the Remicade, but I’ve had something similar happen when I’d had no medicine at all. Twice when I was in my 20s I just woke up one day with either my upper or bottom lip swollen to about 5 times its normal size; and when I was 11, I broke out in hives that disappeared by the time I got into the doctor’s office, but that he thought might have been a reaction to the bronchitis/pneumonia he said I had. That bout of hives came up the day after a night that my guardians at the time decided they were not going to give me any cough medicine before bed; I guess they thought I was faking the 2 week-old phlegmatic deep chest cough just to get high on NyQuil or something. Asshats.
I’m having a wild fantasy right now… of grabbing the fucking cheese grater and scratching myself until I bleed. There’s not a place on my body right now that doesn’t itch whenever I touch it. Even typing makes my fingers and hands itch, because they feel swollen (well, they ARE swollen - I had to work pretty hard to get my rings off a while ago) and tingly.
Ugh, the answering service just called back and they’re still trying to reach the doctor on call. I just told them I need someone, ANYONE to call me in a prescription of Benadryl… the pharmacy opens in 35 minutes, and if I can keep from scratching my skin off between now and when I can pop a pill, maybe I can get some relief. GAWD THIS SUCKS!!!!
Update: Dr. C’s not sure whether the reaction is from the Remicade or not, but in the meantime he’s advised I take 50 mg of Benedryl, and he’s calling me in a short course of Prednisone (Jesus, I really DIDN’T want to ever hear that name again!). I just took the Benadryl and Rob will pick up the Prednisone on his way home for lunch. Hopefully the Bennies will kick in soon and either stop the itching or knock my ass out so I don’t feel it. Meanwhile I’m taking my so-itchy-I-want-to-scream, UNhappy ass and my Angelina Jolie lips directly to the couch and hoping for quick and blissful unconsciousness…
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