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When I went to the doctor yesterday regarding the rash I got, she said that it did not look like a drug reaction to her. That was a little irritating because it just seemed so likely, given all the drugs I've been taking lately. I totally sound like I have an interesting life, doesn't it.. all those drugs I'm on? Well, hardly.. perfectly legitimate prescription stuff for all the illnesses, of course. But still. Seemed reasonable.
Since we didn't get home until 2:!5 last night (unsuccessful emergency room visit, which I wrote about in a friends-only post) I called in to work to let my boss know that I would be at least late. I didn't fall fully asleep until after five. As it turns out, that was just as well because the rash was still in full force when I woke up. I cannot accurately convey how horrible my face looked, and it itched like crazy, everywhere, and had even taken the opportunity to spread to exciting new locations. Like my eyelids, and one eye was noticeably swollen. I called my mom to tell her about last night's adventure, and I think I heard in her tone a bit of a question as to why we had decided to go to the ER at all, given that I had already gone to the doctor. Somewhere in the conversation, it was decided that she would throw some clothes on and drive down here to go to the doctor with me. She met me at the clinic, and she looked amusingly like someone had hit her when she saw my face, because she had not imagined that it was nearly as bad as it was, and she immediately understood why at that point.
In an effort to speed this story up a little, since I have been writing for ages about this by now, I'll skip ahead to the punchline. No, my rash probably didn't look like a drug reaction to the doctor yesterday--but it is. I am allergic to Factive, which is the antibiotic I finished on Sunday night. (Ironically, I have been praising this antibiotic up and down since I started taking it. I loved it. And now.. well. See, it's everywhere, Alanis.) Apparently it's a pretty new drug, and rash is not all that common after taking it. According to the doctor, it is most common in women of my age. And the part that made me feel much more like my doctor yesterday was perfectly well excused for not knowing what it was? The allergist went to get about six of his associates to come in and look at it because they hadn't seen anything like it before. (It was cute because they were all totally sympathetic and horrified when they came in to see me. One lady even patted me on the shoulder before she left.) He left to go look up the appropriate treatment, and he returned after talking to someone on the phone about it. He had a booklet with him with a mention of the rash and more interestingly.. a photo of it.. exactly what I have. It also said that it usually happened on approximately the eighth day--the beginning of the eighth day for me would have been Monday night--and it arrived by Tuesday morning.
So, a prescription of prednisone for the rash, and a handful of Zyrtec for the itching. Apparently, left untreated, drug reactions like this can turn out to be really dangerous, and Dr. Google has both totally confirmed this and also totally scared the crap out of me. (Oh, speaking of Dr. Google, the allergist confirmed my diagnosis of the other rash I get. Didn't mention what I can do about it, but I'll ask him at the next appointment in two weeks, perhaps.) I have taken my first doses of the prednisone, and my rash has faded a LOT. It has faded enough that I am a little terrified at what would have happened if they hadn't given me the shot yesterday, since I thought it didn't seem to do anything at all.) It's almost completely off my face, and has faded to light pink everywhere else. So M and I are breathing a little more easily now (literally, in my case) and the relief in this household is almost a tangible thing.
Okay, one more thing and then I am going to bed, which I am looking forward to a LOT. Someone from the ER called this afternoon to see if I was feeling better. I think it might have been the nurse who looked very disturbed when we left. I was polite, even though I thought of many nasty things that I could have said.
Since we didn't get home until 2:!5 last night (unsuccessful emergency room visit, which I wrote about in a friends-only post) I called in to work to let my boss know that I would be at least late. I didn't fall fully asleep until after five. As it turns out, that was just as well because the rash was still in full force when I woke up. I cannot accurately convey how horrible my face looked, and it itched like crazy, everywhere, and had even taken the opportunity to spread to exciting new locations. Like my eyelids, and one eye was noticeably swollen. I called my mom to tell her about last night's adventure, and I think I heard in her tone a bit of a question as to why we had decided to go to the ER at all, given that I had already gone to the doctor. Somewhere in the conversation, it was decided that she would throw some clothes on and drive down here to go to the doctor with me. She met me at the clinic, and she looked amusingly like someone had hit her when she saw my face, because she had not imagined that it was nearly as bad as it was, and she immediately understood why at that point.
In an effort to speed this story up a little, since I have been writing for ages about this by now, I'll skip ahead to the punchline. No, my rash probably didn't look like a drug reaction to the doctor yesterday--but it is. I am allergic to Factive, which is the antibiotic I finished on Sunday night. (Ironically, I have been praising this antibiotic up and down since I started taking it. I loved it. And now.. well. See, it's everywhere, Alanis.) Apparently it's a pretty new drug, and rash is not all that common after taking it. According to the doctor, it is most common in women of my age. And the part that made me feel much more like my doctor yesterday was perfectly well excused for not knowing what it was? The allergist went to get about six of his associates to come in and look at it because they hadn't seen anything like it before. (It was cute because they were all totally sympathetic and horrified when they came in to see me. One lady even patted me on the shoulder before she left.) He left to go look up the appropriate treatment, and he returned after talking to someone on the phone about it. He had a booklet with him with a mention of the rash and more interestingly.. a photo of it.. exactly what I have. It also said that it usually happened on approximately the eighth day--the beginning of the eighth day for me would have been Monday night--and it arrived by Tuesday morning.
So, a prescription of prednisone for the rash, and a handful of Zyrtec for the itching. Apparently, left untreated, drug reactions like this can turn out to be really dangerous, and Dr. Google has both totally confirmed this and also totally scared the crap out of me. (Oh, speaking of Dr. Google, the allergist confirmed my diagnosis of the other rash I get. Didn't mention what I can do about it, but I'll ask him at the next appointment in two weeks, perhaps.) I have taken my first doses of the prednisone, and my rash has faded a LOT. It has faded enough that I am a little terrified at what would have happened if they hadn't given me the shot yesterday, since I thought it didn't seem to do anything at all.) It's almost completely off my face, and has faded to light pink everywhere else. So M and I are breathing a little more easily now (literally, in my case) and the relief in this household is almost a tangible thing.
Okay, one more thing and then I am going to bed, which I am looking forward to a LOT. Someone from the ER called this afternoon to see if I was feeling better. I think it might have been the nurse who looked very disturbed when we left. I was polite, even though I thought of many nasty things that I could have said.
