Poison Ivy II: The Unbearable Itch Continues

This is what I looked like Sunday. I look worse now:

I feel about the same. Which is to say, miserable. 

The burning and itching of my poison ivy rash got so bad yesterday evening, I gave up and went to the doctor. She said not only do I have a rash from poison ivy, it looked like I was having an allergic reaction to the Tecnu wash I was using. She told me to stop putting anything on my face. Not even plain ole calamine lotion. She gave me two steroid injections--one supposedly for immediate relief and one long-lasting--told me to take 24-hour Zyrtec (which I'm already on for my mold allergy), Benedryl if I'm not at work or need to think clearly, and a prescription for Prednisone pills that I'm supposed to start Saturday if things don't clear up. 

The burning is much better than it was last night. My entire face, down my neck, and onto my chest was bright red with blistery bumps. Less red but just as itchy were my fingers, my forearms, my sides, and under my breasts. OH. MY. GOD. THE. ITCH. Almost an hour after I received the steroid injections, the burning and redness subsided. The itchy bumps have not gone away. In fact, they've spread behind my ears and onto my scalp now.

I called the doctor's office today to ask if I could start the Predinone pills early. They called back and said the earliest I could start taking them is tomorrow evening. She told me to take Benedryl and try to wait it out til then.

So here I sit, an itchy, bitchy mess. I feel like simultaneously screaming at the top of my lungs and curling into a ball, weeping in bed. Not under the covers, though. The soft cloth would just make me itch.

I feel both anxious and depressed, I suspect thanks to the steroid injections and Benedryl. I read that some of the side-effects of steroids is mood swings and high blood pressure. Great. I'm already moody, but at least my blood pressure is super low. It was 111/53 in the doctor's office last night. So I might go crazy, but it's likely I won't have a heart attack. There's that.

I can't wait until tomorrow night gets here. 

All this from my body's reaction to a plant. I'm telling you, some days it feels like I'm allergic to life.