Yesterday I broke out in hives all over my body. Not fun. After spending the entire day trying to figure out what was causing them, I went to the doctor and told him that I had been unable to pinpoint the culprit. He asked a bunch of questions about medications and food and then he asked, "How is your stress level?" Yup. He thinks my hives are stress induced. Yeehaw. Just what I need. A stress reaction that adds to my stress. And I thought I was actually handling things pretty well. Of course, the dinner plate sized hives on my rear end would seem to say otherwise.
But seriously, I've only dissolved into tears three times in the past three weeks and considering everything that has happened and taking into account that I've got loads of postpartum hormones racing through me, I really think I'm managing quite nicely. Yes, things have been pretty crazy (In the past month, the longest we've gone without having someone at the doctor, the hospital, or the instacare is three days. Try and beat that!) but overall I'm feeling okay with how everything is going. And yet the hives are still going strong. I'm on prednisone and zyrtec and I'm still itching like crazy. The ones from yesterday have faded, but new ones have taken their place. For those of you who have never had hives, let me just tell you that it itches so badly that it makes me want to claw my own arm off....
On the bright side, my usual reaction to stress is getting a headache and as horrifying as the hives are, they are still better than a migraine. Not much better, mind you, but at least I can function...and scratch...
