Slowly getting stronger

On July 4th I had a reaction to something. An allergic reaction to something unknown. I took Benedryl for a few days and slept the worst of it away. I had hives on my right arm when I first noticed that something unusually was going on. Before the Benedryl kicked in, I had hives on both arms, both legs, my neck and upper back.

I didn't go to the doctor because the office wasn't open over the holiday and then the weekend. I thought about going to urgent care but after talking to several people, decided to just wait it out at home. I agreed with others. Urgent care would send me home and tell me to take Benedryl. I wasn't having problems breathing and my heart was doing just fine. There wasn't much that I could do about it.

I took a shower to make sure that if it was something on my skin, it would be gone. I ran through a list of the food I had eaten in the last 24 hours and tried to figure out which foods could have caused a reaction. I went through a checklist of soaps and detergents that are in the house or that I may have come into contact with. I'm really careful about what we use and we have not made any changes for a long time. I couldn't figure anything out.

A few days later I could spread out the Benedryl doses until I wasn't taking anymore. The entire thing left me exhausted both mentally and physically. It would seem that sleeping for 23 hours a day is a hard workout and requires much sleep.

I was also left with some muscle fatigue. This one really threw me for a loop. I'm not used to that. I have had allergic reactions the past decade and my list of known allergens seems to grow longer all of the time but this is the first time that I have experienced any muscle loss or tenderness. This is distressing for me.

For a week, it was very difficult to raise my right arm above my head without intense pain. Even now I have pulling in my bicep close to my elbow if I raise my arm into the air. My hips are sore and my back is aching. The hips and back pain are not new but the seem to hurt in a different way. It is a deep down pain that is still there in the morning.

I am also having a hard time catching up on rest. I am sleeping at night but I am waking up tired. I take a nap during the day and that seems to help but but I'm still so very tired. I would take a Tylenol PM to help me sleep but the problem is not falling asleep or staying asleep, just getting enough. I am averaging about 8 hours a night and however long of a nap the children will allow. Maybe I'm sleeping too much.

I'm also in the middle of a colitis flareup. I haven't had a bad one that has lasted for more than a few days in a long time. It's not fun. I'm trying hard to watch what I put in my body but it's been so long since I had a flare that I can't remember what foods helped and which ones made it worse. I could really use a bunch of caffeine and have to talk myself out of having some during the day because I know that I will suffer if I have any. The amount of pain involved has been so high that I've actually not had any caffeine in some time. I made a cup of coffee today because I really, really wanted it. It just sat in the kitchen until I dumped it out. Wasted. The caffeine would not have even been close to balancing out the pain but man I really wanted that.

I am slowly starting to feel better. I have more use of my right arm, the pain in my back and hips is slowly receding and heat treatments seem to help a lot. Although I am still tired, I am feeling a little more rested each day. I sleep until the kids get me up and go to bed not long after they do. I have started to figure out the food situation a little and I am not in abdominal pain all day long.

When I am feeling well and strong, it's easy to forget how much my health effects my life. Not thinking about sleep past what show to watch late at night. Not thinking about what food I'm eating beyond not gaining weight. Even not thinking about how many times a day I wash my hands and what I use on them. These things are quickly left behind when I am in doing well.

I am getting stronger each day. I just have to remember that I will get back to that place of not thinking about it all day long and if I don't reach that point, at least being thankful that it's not worse. My health problems are more annoyances in the grand scope of life. I would like them gone but I can live my life around them with very little planning, thought or changes.