I did something I rarely do. I replied to all the comments I got on my last post. Thanks for all the support and suggestions. I already have acquired two pair of wrap around sunglasses (do I still need to wear them on overcast days?) and the AREDS-2 eye vitamins. I had to get the chewable, and thank the gods they have a chewable version, because even the “new smaller size” gel cap picture on the box looked borderline on my ability to swallow it. I can swallow food just fine. Pills beyond a certain size just don't want to go down.
The days have been trending warm but heavy fog and overcast skies and drizzle and drippy and wet everything have not inspired me to do any work outside. So Saturday I did a little weeding but it was too wet and got one errand accomplished and spent the rest of the day reading. Didn't do much else Sunday, still overcast but not drippy. Did my yoga, filled the bird feeder which is already half empty, did the dishes and the once a week baking soda/vinegar drain cleaning, swept the in house studio room which also functions as a big mud room since both back doors open into it, not mud so much as leaves and dirt that gets blown and tracked in. Took a shower, walked the dog, settled on the couch and read some more.
But bodily ailments, it seems, are still not done with me and I have just about had enough. Saturday morning I woke up with a sore spot on the pad of my right foot just below the pinkie toe, felt like it does when you pick up a little thorn without noticing and the next day it hurts. Another similar sore spot on my heel right at the callous line which I attributed then to needing to scrape down the callous. By midday, the tips of two fingers on my left hand were red and sore, by the end of the day it had spread to the tips of two fingers on my right hand and the spots on my foot became more painful. Saturday night my foot itched something terrible and yes, I rubbed the hell out of it. Sunday morning it had spread further on my foot including a couple of toes. By Sunday evening it appeared on the base of my left palm and under the middle finger of my right hand and the spots on my foot were increasing and more painful. And when I say appeared, that was the first time I could actually see something, a small red bump, besides redness and maybe a little swelling. During the night, hands and feet itched like crazy and today the spots have crept down my four fingers and now my left foot has a sore spot on the callous line at my heel. What! The! Fuck!
Fortunately, I had a follow up appointment with the dermatologist this morning. Unfortunately, she didn't know what was going on with my hands and feet but she did prescribe an ointment. Unfortunately the pharmacy where she sent it didn't have it, but fortunately another pharmacy in town did. Also fortunately, the original sore spot I noticed Saturday morning seems to be already getting better Monday late afternoon even without the ointment. 'Seems' being the operative word.
I admit, my optimism and good humor deserted me today. This crazy 'rash' would be easier to deal with if I could point to a cause but I haven't been working out in the yard or doing anything I haven't been doing the past year. The only thing I can think of is getting my eyes dilated on Friday but I haven't been able to find where an allergic reaction to that would cause a crazy affliction on my hands and feet.
I'd ask, at this point, what the fuck el... but I know better than to invoke the gods.
Monday, January 25, 2021
now really, this is getting ridiculous
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Hope this health issue resolves quickly, Ellen. Throughout my life I have experienced frequent attacks of itching due to various identifiable allergic causes and some that have no explanation except that they seem to be stress related. I see my dermatologist in a few weeks and will be asking about some new itchy spots on my shoulders. Somewhere I read that itching is related to pain and inflammation, and I have found that Tylenol helps me sleep when I itch at night and find it difficult to sleep. Coincidentally, I've been taking Tylenol for the last few nights before I go to bed because of itching. I've also been using olive oil on my skin because some of the recent itching seems to be due to dryness. At times, I've also used cortisone ointments which I am guessing that your dermatologist prescribed. Be well soon.
ReplyDeleteyeah, me too. it's just so bizarre. the ointment is betamethasone dipropionate.
DeleteDamn, Girl!! Body trying to tell you to take more naps, probably. Sleeping is healing. Anyway, you likely will not slow down until you have no other tricks up your sleeve.
ReplyDeleteVinegar and soda, good idea!! I will do that.
re the baking soda/vinegar...warm up the pipes with hot or boiling water, pour ½ cup baking soda down the drain, give it a minute or two then pour 1 cup vinegar and then after I quit seeing/hearing the fizz I follow with 1 cup very hot water. plug the drain, wait 10 minutes and follow with a pot of boiling water. it took several days in a row of several application until I got it draining well. now I just do it once a week.
DeleteA trick I learned about swallowing a pill - tilt your head forward and down so the pill is floating in a mouthful of water and swallow. It sounds counter-intuitive, yes, but it works!
ReplyDeleteyes, I do that. have had throat and swallowing issues. it's like I have a sticky spot in my throat and even little pills will get hung up now and then.
DeleteCould it be a late reaction to the vaccine? You did get it, right? Or was that just your sister? I can't remember anything these days.
ReplyDeleteWhen I get mysterious body freakouts I just say, "Stress" and try to believe that.
yes I got the first shot. I don't think it's that as it had been 10 days since though I did check for side effects and never saw anything like this and also that they usually appear within minutes or hours. I did google 'weird rash on hands and feet' and found dyshidrosis but these spots on me aren't small blisters in clusters and my spots appear to be deeper, not on the surface. it may very well be stress. it's still spreading I think and will itch like mad a couple times a day. I am so over this!
DeleteOh my GOSH - what the actual heck is going on in Texas? The first thing I thought was tick bite, but all of those places seem so random. Sheesh.
ReplyDeleteyeah, this is really weird, fingers and toes, palms and soles.
DeleteI hope the rash has subsided by now. That sounds like such a bummer. I once woke up to an itchy rash like that that started on my arms and within hours had covered my entire torso. It was Pityriasis rosea. I found that the only thing that gave me some relief was over the counter Aveeno lotion. I don't know why it worked, but it did. Take care there.
ReplyDeleteunfortunately, no. still spreading I think but the initial outbreaks are getting better or less painful at any rate.
DeleteWhat's in the chewable eye stuff? Any kind of dye or carrier component you may have reacted to initially?
ReplyDeleteBut it sounds more like a contact allergy reaction spreading from scratching your toe onto hands. Snakes? Insects?
Hope you are better. If it persists in any shape or form maybe have a blood check up.
I did have blood work done beginning of December and the dermatologist requested those results from my doctor. she'll let me know if she wants some other test done. as for the AREDS 2, I didn't take the first one until Saturday night after it had already started. I've been wearing my sandals or shoes because the weather has been chilly and wet and for that same reason I had not been out in the yard the previous few days. it's still spreading I think but still only on my hands and feet. the first few spots seem to be getting better already.
DeleteI know we are on different continents etc. but I had something very much like it after weeding and working with compost, it spread from toes, fingers along my wrists. I eventually had a cortisone ointment that settled it quickly and a skin sample was taken because my WBC were raised. Was told it was probably from mouse urine - mice live in our compost.
DeleteThat's very bizarre. It almost sounds like you got into some poison ivy or something, but you KNOW what that looks like. So who knows? Hopefully it will prove to be transient.
ReplyDeleteHope it all clears up soon, Ellen. Wish I had some advice but... sounds like you are already doing all of the right things. Hope you get relief NOW!
ReplyDeleteIt seems your lucky star shifted! I do hope it clears up soon.
ReplyDeleteWell that's just weird. Sounds like a local reaction to something. Things that hurt, sting, or itch just wear on a person.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read bumps and itching and red spots, I looked at my left hand, where one finger was (is) afflicted with bumps, redness, and itching. It was just a mess -- so weird and weepy that I finally got myself to a UTMB clinic. The nurse practitioner took about two seconds to look at it and say, "You have a staph infection." I've never in my life had such a thing. I had thought initially that I'd gotten a cactus thorn or a splinter in there, but it never worked its way out; she said that the bacteria could have been on something like that. Anyway, I'm not cured, but a week's worth of oral antibiotics and an antibiotic salve has it somewhat under control. I still have the redness and some little blisters, though, and it still can itch like crazy. There are weird things out there!
ReplyDeleteOh, I am so sorry. I have no suggestions. About the eyes. Artists have to have eyes. What does your ophthalmologist say about the new macular degeneration meds? G's dad had that.
ReplyDeletehaven't been to the opthamologist yet but I'll ask. meantime, sunglasses, dark greens, and AREDS 2 eye vitamins.
Delete