Post-allergic reaction freak-out

posted by Jeff | Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 9:58 PM | comments: 0

I'll admit it, I was pretty freaked out last night as the rash continued to cover most of my body. Plus, you know, I'm a man, so naturally I have to be a baby about it. But as is the case with the Interweb self-diagnosis of cancer a dozen different times, the prognosis for the reaction scared the shit out of me.

When I went to bed last night, Diana suggested taking two Benadryl. I hate that stuff because it knocks me out. Most drugs seems to cause more side effects than treat the condition for me. The one time I've ever had to take Vicodin it fucked me up, totally stoned. But I took two, and because I was on high alert over fear of additional symptoms (the inability to breathe was the one I was most worried about), I fought the drowsiness as long as I could. At that point, the rash started to get serious on my forearms, though I had the itching mostly under control with anti-itch lotion. When I fell asleep, it was more like passed out. I didn't wake up all night.

When my alarm went off in the morning, the rash was mostly gone from my sides and my back, and had diminished on my arms a bit. It was still somewhat serious on my legs, and since the night before, new on my lower legs. I was mostly relieved to be breathing, even if that was an irrational fear to begin with. My legs were seriously itchy. I decided to skip work because I was uncomfortable, and another Benadryl would likely knock me on my ass. That's what sick days are for.

Simon is all out of whack too because of the teething, but it actually worked a little to our advantage in the morning. He got up way too early, but was tired enough to take a good morning nap, something he typically sucks at. By 9, I couldn't even sit up, and I fell asleep on the couch.

Three hours passed. Ugh. That's why I hate taking that stuff. It wasn't like light sleeping either, it was out cold, can't-wake-up-from-messed-up-dreams sleeping. I don't know what else I was expecting, since that's why I didn't go to work, but it still felt like I was wasting the day.

By dinner time, the rash had mostly subsided, except for some traces on my legs. My hands are a little itchy too. I suppose getting a couple of meals and lots of liquid through me helped expedite things.

The whole thing still freaked me out, mostly because by this time in your life, you know what you're allergic to. Or at least, you think you do. I had all kinds of what-ifs had the reaction been worse. So staying away from almonds, that's a good plan. You know, it's weird how things come back to you, but I recall once that Stephanie and I stayed in some hotel that had some kind of fancy exfoliating natural soap that had almonds in it, and I used it and broke out in a rash all over. It's the reason I always travel with my own soap, to this day.


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