I'm Fine This Is Fine

I've been eliminating various things in a half assed attempt to figure out what I'm allergic to prior to going to the doctor. I'm not sure why, possibly I was going to say "I was having all these hives but I eliminated dairy and now I'm cured. I think YOU owe ME some money."

I mostly eliminated dairy, I quit drinking almond milk. I was actually doing pretty well over two days and then.....ERUPTION.

It's been suggested to me that it's stress. I can attest that sometimes, just sometimes, when I'm stressing the eruptions do flare. I reject this diagnosis.

To accept it would mean in some way my body is telling me I can't do things and I'm frankly not having that. I'm in the "doing things" phase. My stress isn't more than it's been. My stress is equi-stress to any other stress the past few years. In fact it might be less.

I say this with arms and hands and back that are literally ON FIRE while I wait for this fargin benadryl to kick in.

No I reject that it's stress. I want a pill to take or a food to eliminate (please don't let it be dairy) and then, THEN I will be fine and this nonsense will stop. I'm holding tight to that idea.

Also, to this image because it looks pretty awesome.

I'm positive my life is that chill all the time. Stress? What stress...

I'm Fine This Is Fine

I've been eliminating various things in a half assed attempt to figure out what I'm allergic to prior to going to the doctor. I'm not sure why, possibly I was going to say "I was having all these hives but I eliminated dairy and now I'm cured. I think YOU owe ME some money."

I mostly eliminated dairy, I quit drinking almond milk. I was actually doing pretty well over two days and then.....ERUPTION.

It's been suggested to me that it's stress. I can attest that sometimes, just sometimes, when I'm stressing the eruptions do flare. I reject this diagnosis.

To accept it would mean in some way my body is telling me I can't do things and I'm frankly not having that. I'm in the "doing things" phase. My stress isn't more than it's been. My stress is equi-stress to any other stress the past few years. In fact it might be less.

I say this with arms and hands and back that are literally ON FIRE while I wait for this fargin benadryl to kick in.

No I reject that it's stress. I want a pill to take or a food to eliminate (please don't let it be dairy) and then, THEN I will be fine and this nonsense will stop. I'm holding tight to that idea.

Also, to this image because it looks pretty awesome.

I'm positive my life is that chill all the time. Stress? What stress...

The One With Allergies From Hell

I have had this thing going on for weeks where allergies break out all over my skin. Well, not allergies but rather the result from allergies - rash, hives, whatever you want to call it. I'm allergic to something. Something erupts on my skin several times a day in a most disconcerting fashion. It makes me feel like this.

Ok that's a Fiji Mermaid. But that's about how I feel despite the fact that I have to remain civil and attend meetings and act like a grown up all day. First my skin starts to burn. That's the herald that it's incoming. You can't see it when the burn starts, but I could outline where it's going to erupt based on that burn. Then up it comes, in red splotches, dots, stripes etc. It stretches up and down my arms, my neck, back, legs, abdomen. Hell once it crawled up my neck and onto my face - during a meeting.

I thought my boss was going to have a heart attack, he looked up and said "Oh my god are you okay?" I smiled and glanced back at my laptop, "Yeah it's just allergies." Move forward- nothing to see here.

But WHAT allergy? WTF is doing this to me? I went to my primary doctor and he ran the gauntlet of tests. My SED rates were all nice and low so it's not autoimmune in nature. He put me on three different antihistamines to keep it under control This had the effect of pushing me into a zombie like trance,and doing nothing for the hives.

Well that isn't completely true - I had some serious relief for about 3 days. About day 3 whatever the allergen is said AH HA HERE I AM! Then my arms blew up in deep red burning and itching rash.

It seems likely that's its a food allergy. According to the internets, where everything is true and nothing is ever wrong or blown out of proportion, DAIRY is the most common food allergy because of all the shit they do to fuck with cows and our milk. So...I've given up dairy. I'm on day five I think? I don't know. I'm not counting per se - it's just recent so not hard to keep track of.

Once again I had three days of relative improvement, much like when I started antihistamines. Then yesterday my arms blew up like there was some "Miss Rash of 2017" contest they were participating in. My shoulders and armpits had a go as well. It was delightful.

I'm going to the allergist on the 18th so 11 more days until I hopefully learn something. If she says "contact dermatitis" I'll pretty much throw myself off a building as that's clearly not it. But allergist and dermatologists love to say that. Here, have some cortisone cream. You'll feel better.

It burns and it itches and it looks like shit.  As I lay in bed at night succumbing to the two benadryl required at bed time, I can't help but wonder if this is my new normal because folks if so we may have found the thing I'm not stronger than. I can't sustain with this level of sedating drug inside me. It's exhausting me. I'm struggling.

The Fiji Mermaid knows. That's why she's making that face.

The One With Allergies From Hell

I have had this thing going on for weeks where allergies break out all over my skin. Well, not allergies but rather the result from allergies - rash, hives, whatever you want to call it. I'm allergic to something. Something erupts on my skin several times a day in a most disconcerting fashion. It makes me feel like this.

Ok that's a Fiji Mermaid. But that's about how I feel despite the fact that I have to remain civil and attend meetings and act like a grown up all day. First my skin starts to burn. That's the herald that it's incoming. You can't see it when the burn starts, but I could outline where it's going to erupt based on that burn. Then up it comes, in red splotches, dots, stripes etc. It stretches up and down my arms, my neck, back, legs, abdomen. Hell once it crawled up my neck and onto my face - during a meeting.

I thought my boss was going to have a heart attack, he looked up and said "Oh my god are you okay?" I smiled and glanced back at my laptop, "Yeah it's just allergies." Move forward- nothing to see here.

But WHAT allergy? WTF is doing this to me? I went to my primary doctor and he ran the gauntlet of tests. My SED rates were all nice and low so it's not autoimmune in nature. He put me on three different antihistamines to keep it under control This had the effect of pushing me into a zombie like trance,and doing nothing for the hives.

Well that isn't completely true - I had some serious relief for about 3 days. About day 3 whatever the allergen is said AH HA HERE I AM! Then my arms blew up in deep red burning and itching rash.

It seems likely that's its a food allergy. According to the internets, where everything is true and nothing is ever wrong or blown out of proportion, DAIRY is the most common food allergy because of all the shit they do to fuck with cows and our milk. So...I've given up dairy. I'm on day five I think? I don't know. I'm not counting per se - it's just recent so not hard to keep track of.

Once again I had three days of relative improvement, much like when I started antihistamines. Then yesterday my arms blew up like there was some "Miss Rash of 2017" contest they were participating in. My shoulders and armpits had a go as well. It was delightful.

I'm going to the allergist on the 18th so 11 more days until I hopefully learn something. If she says "contact dermatitis" I'll pretty much throw myself off a building as that's clearly not it. But allergist and dermatologists love to say that. Here, have some cortisone cream. You'll feel better.

It burns and it itches and it looks like shit.  As I lay in bed at night succumbing to the two benadryl required at bed time, I can't help but wonder if this is my new normal because folks if so we may have found the thing I'm not stronger than. I can't sustain with this level of sedating drug inside me. It's exhausting me. I'm struggling.

The Fiji Mermaid knows. That's why she's making that face.

Sleep of the Not So Dead

If I lay down in bed I can be assured of a visitor or two. Or three. It usually starts with this boy. Yesterday I was in the grips of sinus hell and the medicine combating it which sent me to nap repeatedly throughout the day, leaving my oldest child in charge as the husband was even sicker than I.

This boy came into bed, draping his legs over mine and whispering "SHHHHH" as he prodded me into the snuggle position he wanted. He thought it was hilarious to take a picture snuggling in bed. Shortly after he found his spot, the girl showed up, shoving into the other side and saying she needed mommy.

My head was spinning, and aching, and I closed my eyes and tried to drift off despite four legs draped across me and an elbow in my side. I might have gotten fully asleep except that then the door opened again and Charlie came in, and demanded a spot beside Miles but he actually wanted to be beside me so he grabbed my arm, draping it across Miles, and resting my hand in his.

By that time I weighed about 500 pounds, cold medicine pressing me into the good mattress we'd bought using my mom's brand biases. I slipped in and out of sleep, based on which child was poking me, prodding me or fighting for the spot closest to me. 

At some point my husband sent in the oldest boy to remove the ruffians from my clutches and I slipped into the dark silence of medicated sleep. It's a really good sleep, isn't it? I love it when I don't feel good. Such a heavy, healing sleep happened for the next hour that I woke up feeling human, which was a nice surprise.

I think I'm chalking yesterday up to allergies - which is good because I'm not up for being sick AGAIN. I'm also not up for allergies but I'll take what I can get. It beats the living hell out of being sick yet again.

Sleep of the Not So Dead

If I lay down in bed I can be assured of a visitor or two. Or three. It usually starts with this boy. Yesterday I was in the grips of sinus hell and the medicine combating it which sent me to nap repeatedly throughout the day, leaving my oldest child in charge as the husband was even sicker than I.

This boy came into bed, draping his legs over mine and whispering "SHHHHH" as he prodded me into the snuggle position he wanted. He thought it was hilarious to take a picture snuggling in bed. Shortly after he found his spot, the girl showed up, shoving into the other side and saying she needed mommy.

My head was spinning, and aching, and I closed my eyes and tried to drift off despite four legs draped across me and an elbow in my side. I might have gotten fully asleep except that then the door opened again and Charlie came in, and demanded a spot beside Miles but he actually wanted to be beside me so he grabbed my arm, draping it across Miles, and resting my hand in his.

By that time I weighed about 500 pounds, cold medicine pressing me into the good mattress we'd bought using my mom's brand biases. I slipped in and out of sleep, based on which child was poking me, prodding me or fighting for the spot closest to me. 

At some point my husband sent in the oldest boy to remove the ruffians from my clutches and I slipped into the dark silence of medicated sleep. It's a really good sleep, isn't it? I love it when I don't feel good. Such a heavy, healing sleep happened for the next hour that I woke up feeling human, which was a nice surprise.

I think I'm chalking yesterday up to allergies - which is good because I'm not up for being sick AGAIN. I'm also not up for allergies but I'll take what I can get. It beats the living hell out of being sick yet again.

Wither Pollen

I grew up in the midwest. And yeah we had pollen. I mean, in THEORY we had pollen. I heard about pollen, I learned about pollen. So I knew it was there.

I moved to Florida where my twins were born and apparently there is no pollen there as I never once heard it discussed. I'll just assume bees use pixie dust or something in lieu of pollenation down there.

When we moved to Atlanta in 2007 it was in the month of April. The first morning we woke up in our new place here, I went to get the kids up and Charlie's eyes were crusted shut and his face was covered in snot.
This was allergies like I'd never seen in my life.

Since then it's been a battle every April, to keep my poor Charlie going, because of this...

Every morning you wake up to such thick pollen covering everything, cars, houses, EVERYTHING, that it literally looks like someone did a crappy spray paint on your car. When I pull out of work to head home every day, the piled up pollen drifts away like snow drifting on a plain.

Last year my Charlie was on 11 different things from medicine to relief/treatment items to help combat this. So far this year we're up to four.

Come on Summer. Charlie needs you to get here.

Tweet

Wither Pollen

I grew up in the midwest. And yeah we had pollen. I mean, in THEORY we had pollen. I heard about pollen, I learned about pollen. So I knew it was there.

I moved to Florida where my twins were born and apparently there is no pollen there as I never once heard it discussed. I'll just assume bees use pixie dust or something in lieu of pollenation down there.

When we moved to Atlanta in 2007 it was in the month of April. The first morning we woke up in our new place here, I went to get the kids up and Charlie's eyes were crusted shut and his face was covered in snot.
This was allergies like I'd never seen in my life.

Since then it's been a battle every April, to keep my poor Charlie going, because of this...

Every morning you wake up to such thick pollen covering everything, cars, houses, EVERYTHING, that it literally looks like someone did a crappy spray paint on your car. When I pull out of work to head home every day, the piled up pollen drifts away like snow drifting on a plain.

Last year my Charlie was on 11 different things from medicine to relief/treatment items to help combat this. So far this year we're up to four.

Come on Summer. Charlie needs you to get here.

Tweet