Trip To Urgent Care

So Greg badgered me until I went in today for this rash, which did not go away and was really pretty unbearable. And new spots were cropping up on my hip and back. So I went.

He (the dr.) said pretty much what I thought he would say:

"We have no way of knowing what's causing it, unless you specifically know what's causing it. It's systemic because you have it all over you, not just in one spot. So ointments aren't going to do much"... (He was right about that shit) "... Are you taking an antihistamine? Ok, so take Claritin during the day and take a Benedryl at night, and here's a shot in the ass of steroids that will hurt like hell." Ok, so that is paraphrased, but I can't quote him verbatim because I understood approximately 40% of what Dr. Vijay said to me, bless his heart.

Anyway, he said the shot might hurt ("sting" I think he said). And it did. He is DAMNED good with a needle, I felt very little at injection time. But by the time I got in my van to come home, it felt like a contraction in my hip, for those who've had that experience. Yeah, it felt THAT good. I was actually breathing through it and visualizing a pain-free hip and hive-free legs and feet. Good to know those childbirth classes have been worth their price!

So seven hours later...I'm still itching in spots, took my Claritin which I think gave me a headache (never taken one before, and never had a headache like this one..suffice it to say I am NOT "Claritin Clear"), and I can't take the Benadryl until I'm ready for bed because it does the same to me as about 5 shots of schnapps. Seriously. Greg thinks it's hilarious. Me, not so much.

I made myself an oatmeal bath last night, and used regular oatmeal since I'm out of Aveeno oatmeal baths, which I ground to a powder in my Magic Bullet, which I LOVE (that's another BLOG)...and it just didn't do the trick. Something tells me colloidal oatmeal and Quaker are not exactly the same. What else? I've tried hydrocortizone, Lanacane, Aveeno Soothing Mentol Lotion, warm baths, cool showers, ignoring, crying...what seems to work the best, but is ripping up my skin, is SCRATCHING. I'm not spreading it because it's not dermal, it's systemic, meaning it'll pop up where ever it wants to whether I scratch or not. So much to Greg's upset, I scratch. And scratch, and scratch. I fight the urge for hours, use creams and drugs and water and sleep, and then, finally, I give in, and scratch, with sweet abandon and great fervor. In fact, shortly I think I'll give in again and go scratch, my ankles are itching like mad.

I have NO idea what's causing this, but it sure sucks. Let's hope it stops soon.