Wednesday, May 16, 2007

The Horror of Hives

For the past couple days I have been thinking that I've been getting an awful lot of bug bites.

"Geez, maybe the cats have fleas." I treat the cats, I treat the fabrics, I treat the couches, I wash the sheets. I have changed the sheets at least three or four times this week.

That doesn't help. I'm seriously hating sleeping in my bed. Last night I was awake from 3 to 6 trying to sleep on the bathroom floor and then eventually go down to the couch to watch a movie. My scalp is a mass of bumps and itchiness. My knees are practically one big red blob. My arms and hands are covered in welts, my neck, my thighs, my ears. One of my eyes is half swollen shut.

We go to the doctor today and I'm afraid at first I have chicken pox. It's 'just' hives. I want to rip my skin off of my body, but all I get is a couple little white allergy pills. I've taken an oatmeal bath and coated myself with cortaid.

There's no obvious cause. Maybe it was a flat of flowers I just planted? That's my best guess. All I really know is that it is agony. Good thing I haven't cut my nails lately.

I'm going to be camping on the couch with movies, books and ice cream. Whatever I can find to make me feel a little bit better. You'd think they'd use this as torture in prisons. I'd crack for sure.

20 comments:

sarah cool said...

I HATE to even suggest this. But my coworker Hope was dealing with the same thing, and it turns out it was CAFFEINE!!! Now she can have no chocolate, no coffee... AHHH!

Unknown said...

Andy suggested the new coffeemaker, but I've seriously had less than two cups out of it yet. And we drink half-caf. I don't think it would be this severe? But I would like to be able to narrow it down to something!

Jean said...

Not fun. At. All.

Did the oatmeal bath help?

Unknown said...

Only while I was in it.

Hillary said...

Well! You'll just have to soak in oatmeal till they go away. Kinda like that lady in Patch Adams who wanted to swim in spaghetti.

Or, you know... not.

In all seriousness, Anne, I'm so sorry! That sounds incredibly aggrivating, painful, annoying, and just plain awful! I see allergy tests in your near future...

Get better soon!

Talena said...

Anytime something shows up on your skin, it means your liver is under stress or not functioning properly. I know this, because I have been dealing with psoriasis for several years now. Only recently have I actually found someone who could really tell me what to do about it. (Not a conventional doctor, surprise, surprise. All they do is prescribe drugs, in this case, cortisone cream, instead of treating the actual cause of the problem. Unfortunately, drugs only put your liver under more stress.)

Caffeine (or rather, the tannins--and often, the sugar--in caffeinated beverages) does put a lot of stress on your liver, so that could be why Sarah's friend can no longer drink it. It is also on my proscribed list (although I sneak a little here and there. I'd probably be getting better faster if I didn't, though.)

I recommend to everyone now to try Photo-comparative blood analysis, if you can find a practitioner near you, because it was the first thing that ever showed both my husband and I how we could get to the root of our separate problems--for me, it pointed out a digestion problem I didn't know I had (with gallstones I didn't know I had as the root), as well as why I'm so tired all the time; for my husband, it helped him nail the source of his IBS; for both of us, it showed that we have an active form of a Herpes virus, a variety that is common but could lead to various forms of cancer if left unchecked.

Here's an article that talks a bit about Photo-comparative blood analysis: Click.

If you have hives or any other skin condition (including allergic reactions), it's your liver calling for help. If your liver isn't working properly, all kinds of problems can develop.

I hope you find some relief soon!

Anonymous said...

my mom has hives right now...its stress. find the source and eliminate it. OR smother it with ice cream.

~cjoy said...

If I comment twice, I'm sorry--I tried to publish it the first time and never saw it appear, so started over...

I've gotten hives (far fewer than you) from stress twice in my life (of course, during the most stressful time I just cut to the chase and got shingles!).
My daughter gets them from food allergies, and my husband has chronic hives....they started around the time we got engaged (I told him he's allergic to me); he has to treat them every other day or they flare up, but not like what you describe.
You sound miserable and I'm so sorry! I hope you feel better soon!! (I do find what Scrapnqueen said about the liver very interesting...)

Stacey said...

I am so, so, so sorry you've got hives!! They're nasty things that really do make you feel like you want to leap out of your own skin. I hope and pray that your medicine takes care of them quickly!!

Cheeky said...

Missed you at din din tonight. Andy said you look a little funny...still cute, but a little alienish and like you're wearing a red glove on one hand. Hope they disappear soon.

We took Elli to Urgent care for a breakout--never knew what triggered them. They told us Benadryl and lots to drink-she was in misery. At least you aren't wearing a chaffing diaper, right?

heather said...

ScrapnQueen's thoughts about the liver make sense to me in terms of my training. There probably is some sort of stress going on, and it makes sense that it would be connected to the liver - a lot of things are.

I"m so sorry you're having to deal with that, though. Try to eat some other cooling foods that are easier on your digestion than ice cream and go from there. :)

Call if you want some other remedies...

Unknown said...

C'mon, Heather, you're no fun at all. Of course ice cream is easy on my digestion!! Besides, it's the one thing all week that has really made me feel better while eating it. Honest.

Thanks for all your well wishes, guys.

And no, no chafing diaper. That would just be silly. :)

Carbon said...

I had hives out of the blue one time too. Of course, I was extremely exhausted and overworked all week, so my body made me slow down.

Hope you feel better soon, it sucks, I know.

Anonymous said...

Oh Anne, honey pie... I get hives ALL THE TIME. I have them now. I get them when I'm stressed, and I remember a few months ago - during a particularly hard time - I had them as bad as you described. It's horror; it's torture; I absolutely know what you're going through and I'm so sorry, little thing. I tried everything to get rid of them, but pretty much just had to soldier through.

I camped out in my bed with a little TV and about a thousand DVDs; it was the only thing I could manage to do. (I hope I'm not depressing you! I'm just commiserating.) kisses.

Unknown said...

Kells, how could you stand it!? It doesn't seem like I've been stressed out lately...but sometimes I know you don't even realize when you are. This has just never happened to me before so it seems like it would be a more specific thing causing it, ya know?

I'm running low on movies and tv. Could you bring Buffy over for me? Please oh please?!

Anonymous said...

The doctor gave me major allergy pills, I kept myself drugged on extra-strength Tylenol during the day and Tylenol PM at night, and watched two seasons of Medium. I can't even remember what else I watched, but it was a LOT. I would love to bring Buffy over for you. That would be a fantastic distraction for you!

How are you feeling today?

Unknown said...

Kellsermiester, I am actually doing a bit better today....I wish I had had some Tylenol...but was sleeping at night so that was ok. My brother provided The 4400 first season for me to watch last night, so I made it through ok! :)

Glad this is almost over.

Anonymous said...

Yay, the 4400! You know, however, the third season didn't do anything for me so I stopped watching it. But the first two seasons are fantastic.

I'm glad you're doing a little better. The BEST (or only good) thing about having bad hives is that you can indulge in relaxation without guilt of any kind. It's amazing.

Get well SOON. That's an order.

Jen said...

Scrapnqueen's comment hit home for me- I have undiagnosed high liver enzymes and I recently (in the past year) started getting a different kind of hives than I have ever gotten before. I have highly reactive mast cells in my skin so i have had lots of itchiness and hive like things throughout my life, but never true outbreaks of hives like I get now. Very, very interesting.

Hillary said...

Hey Anne! Just thought I'd let ya know I'm thinkin' of you! How are you feeling?