#5 Allergies, Anyone?

Oh, boy. Well, since the day after the surgery, I noticed some pimply looking bumps here and there on my stomach, arms and legs. I understood this was normal in some sense, as such a major shock to the body would manifest in many ways. I didn't worry about it too much. Then, last night I started itching all over madly and noticed many more bumps, plus raised welts all over my stomach, top of my legs, underarms, back and especially painful welts all over/under my breasts. I took a cool shower and applied hydrocortisone wherever I could see redness, but still woke up in the middle of the night, scratching. By this morning I woke up in considerable pain and horrible itchiness. Even my scalp was affected by then.

So, I called my surgeon's office to find out what I should do. Apparently, I have developed an allergy to something as yet unknown. Since I had recently started taking the Centrum chewable vitamins, the nurse told me to stop taking them immediately. I may have an allergy to one of the dyes or other ingredients. As soon as we figure it out, I will update this post.

They did not want to put me on prednisone so soon after my surgery, so it's children's liquid Benadryl every four hours, a daily 10mg of Zyrtec, Aveeno oatmeal baths, aloe vera and calamine lotion for the duration. Sidebar: children's liquid anything (besides grape Dimetapp) is a form of cruelty! Yuck! After an oatmeal bath and slathering of calamine lotion and the two meds, I am feeling much less itchy and was able to take a much needed nap.

So, the adventure continues... And I'm off for another bath.

Have a great afternoon/evening, everyone and thanks for listening