I'm just a cock-eyed pessimist

Sometime the week before last I started having an allergic reactions to something that meant my body was covered with itchy red spots that would flare up over night and die down during the day. At least, I think it's allergies. I've been taking antihistamines to keep them down, but am hating how sluggish they make me feel. However, this morning I woke up and they've spread up my neck to my face and the skin around my eyes is so puffy my vision is affected (in my right eye). I'm off to the doctor to see if they can help. Go NHS! Die itchy spots.

I made it to see the new play by Lucy Prebble (who wrote Enron) on Thursday. It was amazing. The Effect, it was amazing, totally worth checking back day after day to see if I'd managed to get tickets.

Last weekend (and a few days ago), my body was suffering a mild allergic reaction to God knows what. Maybe it was that new face cream I picked up in Italy, maybe it was the detergent I'd used to wash my sheets. I changed the sheets, took some antihistamines, laid off of the face cream, it seemed to go down.

This weekend it flared up enormously. This morning I woke up with the skin around my eyes swollen up enough to block my vision, and the tiny pink hives had turned into big red welts.

This is what it looks like: ( Collapse )

I went to the doctor (got an appointment on the day just for two hours after I called) and have been prescribed steroids, antihistamines, and a blood test. However, I note the doctor said my body may just be overreacting to a mild allergy with a severe stressor on top to kick the immune system into not very helpful overdrive. So now, while I don't know what the original problem was, I think I know what's caused my body to balloon and break out in big welts - it was my big freakout/panic attack/PSTD episode from Wednesday. Thanks, immune system! Thanks, life! Thanks, vivid memory! Now I'll just kick back and wait for the people to tell me I'm "doing this to myself." I love it when bad things happen and it becomes MY fault for getting upset about it. I may even get to hear someone say that I was asking for it in the first place!

Whoa. So while my skin still feels like it's on fire, there's no more swollen skin under my eyes making it hard to see, the spots on my face are gone, and the bumps on my belly are pink instead of red (legs still swollen and not happy looking).

Side effects of steroids may include: paranoia, mood swings, hallucinations, memory loss, swelling, face going round, feelings of worthlessness, depression, and these are just the ones I remember. I don't need any of that shit but I'm taking my chances anyway, and I'm going in for the blood test on Wednesday to see if we can figure out what triggered the initial allergic reaction.

I'm convinced now that my subconscious and my immune system buddied up and said, "Hey! You know how you have this terrible fear of being bullied into a pulp again, as if someone would break into your house and abuse you while you cowered on the floor asking what you'd done to deserve it which is definitely logical? We'll save you by RAMPING UP SO HARD your body turns pink and you feel like you've been whipped with nettles! How's that for some great action!" I'm not sure what the logic is there but apparently immune systems do things there own way and it was just trying to help. Thanks, immune system! Next time try to focus on keeping me from getting viruses while riding public transportation, 'kay?

PS: Very much happy with the socialized medicine world today. Go NHS!