Things seem to be finally improving. Which is awesome because I don't how much more I could have taken. By the end of the work day on Monday, I was nearly insane from the itching. My arms were the worst and instead of simply itching as they had been, the sensation had become a prickling, burning. Nothing could touch them, so I had to ditch my jacket. Even the light rain was miserable.
Once I finally arrived home with my new prescriptions, the first thing I tried was the new cream. Amazingly, it actually helped. I was practically dancing with joy! The rest of the evening went much better and I was able to skip the nightly oatmeal bath and sleep with Tom in the master bedroom. I had been camping out in the TV room for so long, I forgot how amazingly comfortable our bed is. I did wake up a few times scratching my arms, but overall I slept better than I had been. The stronger dose of night time antihistamine probably had something to do with that.
Yesterday morning I noticed a marked improvement in the appearance of my arms. While the red was still pretty bright, the swelling of the rash had gone down a lot, making my arms a little less topographical. This morning, even more improvement. Hurray!
I still look like a walking contagious disease, but I'm feeling much more human. Or I would be, if I didn't have a stomachache today.
After discussions with the dermatologists and some friends, I am tentatively blaming this whole mess on the calcium chews with vitamin D I purchased a few weeks ago from Sam's Club. I bought and started taking them on Saturday, January 16. Gradually the following week, the itches started, in a fairly mild way. And then kept ramping up, as I've explained ad nauseam.
I had been thinking back, trying to consider any new soaps, perfumes or foods that I had recently purchased and remembered the calcium chews. I last chewed them on Friday. I imagine it would take a few days to get out of my system. Which seems to match the fact that I am now starting to see improvement. I think the next step might be to see my allergist and asked to be patch tested with this particular item in mind. I would really like to know what caused this horrible reaction.
I'd like to know, too! Sounds awful, but I am so glad you are finally getting some relief.
Posted by: Denise Baum | February 03, 2010 at 10:39 PM