Last summer, I woke up one night absolutely consumed with horrible itchiness. Upon clicking on the light, I was appalled to see my entire body covered in angry red welts. Hours later, the doctor informed me that they were hives, presumably caused by an allergic reaction to something. Little did I know that I was about to embark on a months long struggle that would change the way that I looked at my body.
First I got scared, then I got organized, then I got mad. The torture became weekly, then sometimes daily, and there was never any readily apparent reason. My lips swelled to Angelina proportion, my limbs were more hives than not, and waistbands and bra-straps became torture devices. After keeping a month long journal followed by a $700 doctors visit at the allergist, I finally got a diagnosis: chronic, idiopathic, auto-immune urticaria. In English: you have hives, we don't know why, but we know that they have lasted longer than 6 weeks and they have no external trigger. Well gee, thanks guys.
What was their suggestion? To take steroids and/or anti-histamines everyday. I resisted this track for a number of reasons: I did not have breakouts everyday, the drugs made me sleepy and/or loopy, I wanted the drugs to really work when I needed them, and I had discovered that taking them daily rapidly reduces their potency. Also, I was still able to function, and could for the most part handle the breakouts.
So what did I do instead? Several things. First, I started taking time each day to be grateful for the miracle of my skin. Think about it: everything that we experience in our life is through our skin, or made possible because we have it. It is absolutely remarkable! The hives themselves were a result of my body trying to protect me, even if the reaction went a little haywire. I took my dad's advice, and instead of slathering foul medicinal creams on my body, whenever I had a breakout I would rub soothing olive oil on the hives and pray for healing with a thankful heart. During those breakouts, I concentrated on calmness, both for my state of mind, and for my skin's reaction.
So guess what - after 6 months of suffering, as soon as I started this new approach, my breakouts rapidly became less bothersome and fewer and farther in between. After a less than a month, they disappeared altogether. It has now been over a 6 WEEKS since I have had a problem - how incredible is that? When my doctor called to check on me last week, she was astonished and happy for my amazing news. So here is my time to give thanks more publicly. I don't take a single day of being hive-free for granted, and I hope to carry that joyfulness with me for a long, long time :)
Erin
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Blog Archive
-
▼
2010
(357)
-
▼
March
(68)
- Watermelon Girl
- The cherry on bottom
- Today my joy comes from...My parents flying into L...
- An Ode to My Nose
- Random bits of joy
- Summery Saturday
- For Dad
- An Easter Limerick
- Pretty prism
- BUSTED!
- Farmer's Markets
- You
- Working in MS
- Family Dinners
- A comedy of errors
- The photo on my desk
- Seventh grade is for suckers
- An Ode to Dreams
- Top Ten Things That Made Me Smile Today
- Lost and Found
- Towering wildflowers
- Cloudy with a chance of Growth
- Old Friends
- Hope in the Ruins
- In praise of the mini-vacation
- Ice water on St. Paddy's
- Going Green
- Luck O The Irish
- Kindred Spirit
- Old Friends
- An Earthquake Haiku
- Family Tree
- Shhhh...
- Gratitude isn't a big enough word
- Ahhhh
- Two Jerks
- Movie Marathon
- Gratitude for Inspiration
- Garden Promises
- Kids Today
- Impossible Things
- Music to my Ears
- Making Lemonade
- Being there
- Giving Thanks
- Is there anything better than a hot shower? All t...
- west side gaggle
- Just an Apple
- Daffodils!
- Gratitude Haiku
- Golden Statues and Mini Cupcakes
- And The Winner Is...
- Inside the Fairy House
- A spring in my step
- Somewhere that's Green
- Playing Dress Up
- Quitters
- Old Brushstrokes
- Nuts
- Rye Bread and Cauliflower Soup
- In Gratitude of Here and Now
- Shatner's Son
- The word "yes"
- Cause for Celebration
- Living Foot Warmers
- Little Plants
- I'm thankful that while I was lying in bed with a ...
- hockey, eh?
-
▼
March
(68)
Thank you for this, sister...it is wonderful to read when good things happen after struggling for so long. Hooray!
ReplyDeleteWonderful news! I used to break out in hives in high school and we could never figure out why. My mom figured it was stress...or the laundry detergent :) I'm glad you are hive-free and hope it lasts! And thank you for sharing.
ReplyDelete