I am BLOODY ITCHY. I have hives all over my back, tummy, arms, neck, cheeks and bum which make me want to tear my wretched skin off, toss it in the trash and just get on with my life without it. Sure I’d be slightly scary looking and fall prey to the nearest infection but right now ANYTHING WOULD BE BETTER THAN THIS FUCKING ITCH.
I know there are probably worse things but I am so god damn over being allergic to my world. I am histamine intolerant which megoracle translates to IRRITATING, sometimes DEBILITATING and very very BORING. You can look up the real meaning here if you’re interested but I don’t expect you to, as I said, it’s very boring and I’m not here today for the facts, I’m here for a big old fashioned whinge.
Every day of the year I have to take antihistamines and every day I have to restrict the food I eat to low histamine (read bland) foods. If I eat anything really tasty – cheese, wine, yeast, champagne, fish, tomato, chicken, vegemite, raspberries, citrus just to name a few – I itch like buggery, often break out in hives and sometimes swell up in the face, particularly lips and eyes. The first time I ever experienced the swollen face thing was 5 years ago on the morning of my friend’s wedding at which I was a bridesmaid. I walked up the aisle looking like someone had socked me in both eyes. I haven’t had a glass of wine since.
Then comes January which is the month I have extra issues because I get hayfever from dry grasses, which naturally increases my histamine levels further and renders me itchy regardless of how little histamine I get from food. So despite being extra extra careful and attending a heap of Christmas/New Year/Summer get togethers and sitting there with my lettuce in flat bread while everyone sips champers and raves about the prawns, I AM STILL FUCKING ITCHY. And itchy makes me angry. I am short tempered with the children, I have trouble concentrating, I am constantly tired due to itchy lack of sleep and I am frequently embarrassed by having to turn down food or ask for menu changes.
I have to eat differently to the rest of the family and when I’m busy I just can’t be arsed making anything. The food I can eat I am sick of anyway. I long for a vegemite sandwich and an aged steak like no one’s business. Don’t talk to me about champagne or I might cry.
I have cried a lot in the last week or so. This doesn’t help one bit, but it sometimes prompts someone in my family to stroke my skin, which I crave, or to help me get ice onto it, which kills the itch at least temporarily.
Tomorrow I am seeing another dermatologist. I have seen so many. I have tried UV treatments, a million oils, creams, lotions and soaks. I have tried herbal remedies and salt baths (fucking ouch) and total elimination diets. Nothing works but hardcore steroids, which I am loathe to take and only work fleetingly anyway.
I will be surprised if tomorrow’s appointment affords me anything new but every time I hope against hope that it will.
Perhaps I’ll try acupuncture next. Even if it doesn’t work I might get some relief from all those needles sticking it to the itch. Pain would be preferable at this juncture.
Anyway, that’s all. No funnies, no new learning, just misery-guts me being miserable. And what’s more, I have a bladder infection still, which proves that love doesn’t solve everything.
Hope you’re better than me.
Categories: Navelgazery
Tags: histamine intolerance, itch, misery
megoracle.com 
hi meg. so sorry to hear you are itchy. i’ve never had the same issue you are having, but about 5 years ago i started getting hives all the time everywhere, even in my mourh. i went to the doctor, same thing as you antihistamines, blah, blah. they kept getting worse. after i had them under control taking 4-5 zyrtec a day, someone recommended accupuncture. i had one treatment. the next day i got one hive on my hand and haven’t had one since! it’s worth a try! good luck!
Thanks Amy, I just learnt today that zyrtec can actually have drowsy affects despite claiming otherwise. I take 4 per day as prescribed by my allergist and now I’m thinking it’s contributed to my general feeling of crappola. I will definitely look into acupuncture.
Bugger
You POOR girl:-( xx
I have seen this man who is wonderful if you need a second opinion.
Take the prednisolone though and see it as your allergie’s friend…not your enemy.
Siemensma Nicholas Dr
Allergy & Clinical Immunology – East Melbourne, VIC
Ste 3, 1st Flr 182 Victoria Pde, East Melbourne VIC 3002
Phone
(03) 9663 2199
Thank you Mary I’ve been wondering whether I should look further afield. Will note down his name. x
Oh Meg that actually made me cry….
People don’t realise how ghastly it is to have an itch or two, and you have more than an itch or two.
And being allergic o all yummy food is jus as ghastly.
I have one or two itchy scratchy patches on my upper arms now I am back in the tropics; I will suffer in sympathy with you!
xxx Marguerite
Hope yours clear soon Marguerite, Thank you. x
I once wrote the best 20 things I used to scratch with (e.g. exposed 90-deg corners of brickwork were brilliant to scratch your back) even while swollen with cortisone injections, and have had many hospital admissions for treatment for “atopic dermatitis” [Wow, I thought, they finally know what’s causing this – until I learnt it means “non-specific skin disease”. Bastards!]. Of course, I tried every traditional treatment, and then exclusion diets, and acupuncture and homeopathy and yoga and hypnosis and… Can’t say any one thing did the trick.
I’ve long since lost the list of 20, and it’s well over 20 years since cortisone or hospital visits [except for visits occasioned by extreme skiing and extreme dancing]. In short, it will disappear over time, particularly if you’re careful to avoid those things which cause trouble.
In the meantime…
Enjoy a little of what you fancy
& give your new house plenty of airing to dissipate all the new chemicals and solvents
&/or good time to come and visit us, or stay in the Silos?
xxx UncaDick
Thank you Dick. Yes, might be time for getting away. I am cross with medical science, they should have come up with something years ago. I’m so glad it’s passed for you. Wondering when it might for me. Back on cortisone. x
Meg, on the ABC news tonight they told us how Australian scientists had discovered how to completely fix children’s allergies to peanuts – using pro-biotics to effectively block anaphylactic shock. The message was that they used specific pro-biotic strains to combat allergy.
Coincidentally, I attended a workshop on Saturday morning at the Dunalley Community Kitchen held by Tas Cultured Foods introducing us to the benefits to be had from including in your diet simple fermented foods using simple natural yeasts and vegetables. It is an ages old way of preserving/using vegetables (think sauerkraut) that introduces a huge variety of pro-biotics (as opposed to antibiotics) to our gut with great benefits to the digestion of our food., to our immune system and to our overall well being.
Anyway…..it made a lot of sense to me and when the ABC spoke to me tonight (well not only me but in my house the only other listener was my dog and he showed no interest) it made even more sense. Especially when your writings indicated that your body’s response to your dose of antibiotics was a crippling dose of itchy hives.
For the record, Tas Cultured Food is a new business venture for Ingrid Ramsdale (Health Practitioner/Educator, B.Ed; Grad Dip Clinical Nutrition) and she lives and works in Copping. Just thought I’d hang this one on you. It’s not hippy hogwash, it’s not snake oil or hoodoo. It’s just using nature instead of pharmaceuticals to keep your gut and your body happy. You never know! It’s on your doorstep. And the food and drinks are very tasty! Try http://www.tasculturedfoods.com.au. You never know! Cheers, Bob G.
Thanks Bob. I am certain my gut is playing a role in my reactions and I’ve just today made an appointment with an ‘integrative’ doctor who evidently will help me investigate this further. I will look at this website too. Thanks again. m