So after a month it is more than time to go back to my primary care physician and talk about an allergist. He'd run some prelim tests in which not much came back and didn't really tell us anything and let's see we are going on 6 weeks and I STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME! To say it's frustrating just doesn't cover the magnitude of the issue.
Everyday I wake up and hope and pray there aren't new hives on my body. Everyday I hope and pray that when I get home from the gym there aren't new hives on my body. Everyday I hope and pray that I will just make it through the day without wanting to rip off my skin or itch or rub or cry from the pure and very unsatisfying feelings of failure to help myself and self loathing. You see, when you take a woman who already has severe body issues, who already thinks she is failing at life in most areas (another blog, another day) and keep her from going to the gym or being able to drink a glass of wine because of all the meds, or garden or take a walk because of the ridiculous heat, you keep her from being able to soak in a hot tub or take a hot shower because, again, of the heat... well, then you've taken every single on of her stress relievers. When you take away every single one of my stress relievers and I'm left with nothing but my words and my feelings, you've left me in a very lonely place where I can very easily self destruct. And I turn to food. I turn to food to comfort me. I turn to food.
So at week 6 I'm in to see an allergy specialist. His name is Dr. Herscher and I've got to be honest here, he just doesn't inspire a whole lot of confidence. I explain everything: the hives, when they started, the swelling, when that started, the uncontrollable nature of everything. No I can't pin point a specific detail tying it all together. Yes it happens all the time. No I'm not using anything new. Yes, I've tried multiple topical products. Yes, I'm taking anti-histamines. Here's what I'm on: Benedryl, Zyrtec, Zantac, Doxepin. Zyrtec and Zantac twice a day, Benedryl as needed. Doxepin at night. I'm the walking dead. Do you know how I feel on a daily basis ingesting all of that?
He looks at me, throws out a couple of possibilites but he's pretty sure it's food related. Asks me what I eat a lot of and starts ticking off boxes. In the end, I'm leaving with a lab request for Lab Corp. A VERY LONG lab request for Lab Corp. With almost every food I eat regularly and things like gluten and bulgar and wheat, and all of the outside stimulants: grasses and pollen and trees.
Now, see, I've only been on the Doxepin for about a week and it is helping. I think I had about 4 or 5 days without any hives! And those days felt like heaven, literal heaven. I almost felt normal. Except for the waiting for the other shoe to drop part. And we go on vacation. My oldest niece, Chelsey, was graduating from high school and we decided to take the boys to Sea World. My appointment was on a Friday and I didn't have time to go to Lab Corp before we left so I went when we got back.
Almost three weeks later!!! And still no results. Partly due to this: So it turns out the swelling does have a small link. Sex. Intercourse. Yeah, that sucks. Within hours afterwards, every time, something swells. It obviously did not take long to uh, put two and two together, but once I did, I called, assuming that new tests might need to be run. I was, of course, right and now I'm stuck waiting longer for results since we added to the requests and had to come in and draw some more blood. This little piece of info has put a major damper on my relationship with my husband. Sex = swelling. No sex = no swelling. Well you can figure out which equation we function under currently.
This brings us to now. Specifically, last Friday. June 8, 2011. I finally get a call. You know 10 weeks from the beginning of all this insanity. 10 weeks of HIVE HELL. As it turns out I'm allergic to quite a few things. We'll start with the level 1's: Chicken, Strawberry, Zucchini. The level 2's: Peaches, Pineapple, Summer squash, Winter squash, Pumpkin, Broccoli, Citrus Fruit. And for the next month I have to give all of these up. All of them. Don't touch them, don't eat them, don't even look at them. They are off limits. They are food bombs.
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