Rash Acts

Have I mentioned AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! ?

It's taken over. Everywhere EXCEPT my face, my hands, my head, and my girlybits are covered in hives. Little bitty grainy-looking hives, but hives. And holy FUCK, the itch.

Tuesday morning I just couldn't take it anymore and walked over to the Emergency Room. They fed me a couple of Benadryl, took my history, fed me a prednisone pill, and then spied on me from the other side of the curtain. After I had scratched myself silly for about ten minutes, an intern came in with a big whompin' needle and gave me a shot of Benadryl.

Let me tell you, intramuscular Benadryl? Has way more of a kick then heroin, my friends. I started feeling a little tingly, and within about two minutes I actually had to lay down on the gurney because the head-rush was so outrageous. I seriously thought I was going to pass out. But the itching had come to a FULL STOP.

Unfortunately, the de-itchification only lasted a couple of hours; the woozy groggy stoned feeling, on the other hand, lasted long enough for me to get to work and get told by my co-worker that I should go home. Normally that's not a suggestion I would take, and if it wouldn't have been for her watching me for the next three hours, I might have tried to stick it out, but: nah. I called the boss and left, and went home and slept like a rock.

Oh, yeah. The "diagnosis"? The ER doc seemed to think it was a drug reaction. I asked him which of my two meds was the culprit--methadone or Lexapro? He said "Methadone is basically non-allergenic, so I highly doubt that's it." Then he suggested I taper off on the Lexapro, told me to keep taking the Benadryl, and prescribed a week's worth of prednisone. Since my doc has already broached the subject of trying a different medication, I'm not heartbroken about the Lexapro--but I am confused. First off, I've been taking it for four months, and only NOW do I break out? And then, this rash seems to be in all the places my clothing comes in contact with skin, and none of the ones where it doesn't. I'm going to double-wash my clothes tomorrow, with no soap in the second go-around, and see if that helps. And Friday I'll go talk to my regular doc. (I also, while I was in the ER, ran past the doctor and nurses all the Really Bad Possibilities--diabetes, hypertension, liver failure, etc--and all of them said "HIGHLY unlikely." So there's that--we've at least narrowed down the problem somewhat.

But I still wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. I REALLY hope it goes away soon.

More soon--right now there's some Benadryl with my name on it. (I should buy stock in the company--I'm certainly making them rich enough.)