Itches and twitches

[cjsmith]

My shins itch. It started several days ago, invisibly, and now it is a rash that looks like I've attacked the skin with sandpaper. I know I sure would LIKE to attack the skin with sandpaper. In fact, how about those wire brushes you can attach to a power drill?

It quiets briefly with Caladryl or Sarna, and is only slightly improved by Benadryl. Wearing clothing is torture. Concentrating on anything is difficult... anything but sandpaper, that is. I could think of sandpaper all day. Bliss! Sadly, I do not earn a paycheck by loving contemplation of sandpaper.

The only thing worse than having such a rash on one's shins is also having an affectionate cat (or three). All you cat people pictured it instantly, didn't you? You know EXACTLY what those furballs are continually trying to do. I should note that cat fur sticks to Sarna, but Caladryl sticks to cat fur.

EDIT: Enough with the doctor comments, people. Would you believe I almost wrote in the original post, before anyone said anything that anyone ordering me to see a doctor would be summarily unfriended for insulting my intelligence? I know it's a caring thing and not meant as an insult, but enough already. If I were a better writer you'd all be laughing at the image of a Caladryl-covered cat instead. The humor in the situation was part of the point of making a post at all. Some day I'll be more skilled....

Comments

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

Yes, the first thing someone says to me is "have you seen the doctor?"...I usually give a bah-humbug, since the docs never know what to do. I broke out regularly in itchless body hives last year for the first time in my life...and my hands and feet itched incessantly, but WITHOUT rash. The dermatologist I saw, a jovial man of about 80, just poo-poohed me when I thought it was a cause and effect of my year-ago flu and Zithromax antibiotics. The dermagraphics lasted at least six months.

So I feel for you. And I won't tell you to go see the doc.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I usually give a bah-humbug, since the docs never know what to do.

I hear ya. I have simultaneously very little faith in modern medicine AND a certainty that some things really should get checked out. I have some majorly annoying sh*t they can't even diagnose much less cure, but you never know, it MIGHT be something they can fix that won't cure itself. And you never know, they MIGHT not charge you $400 just to say "take Benadryl".

I'm also smart enough to look up my symptoms and see whether and when I need to call a doctor. I mean, I'm not a total idiot. I just seem to attract people who think I'm a total idiot... or who are panicky about even tiny symptoms... or something.

(As it turns out, information I found says "Many rashes last a while and get better on their own. It is therefore not unreasonable to treat symptoms like itchy and/or dry skin for a few days to see whether the condition gets milder and goes away. [...] If these measures do not help, or if the rash persists or becomes more widespread, a visit to a general physician or dermatologist is advisable." I'm getting up to that point and will go see a doctor if needed.)

[vito-excalibur.livejournal.com]

don't be too mad at your friends. I don't think it's so much smart/dumb as "used to going to the doctor"/"not used to going to the doctor." You've got a chronic condition, so you're probably quite used to thinking to going to the doctor as a normal thing. Going to the doctor for me is a major project including finding a doctor to go to, every single time, because I pretty much don't have to go to the doctor but once per city I live in. (I move a lot, too.) So I really don't go unless I'm in fear of imminent death or, sometimes, unless somebody bugs me to do it. I'm not a total idiot! It's just... not something I'm used to thinking of as an alternative.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm not HUGELY mad. Thanks for the datapoint. It's an interesting change of perspective. (I'm a little like you in some ways -- I go to my FOOT doctor all the @#$!ing time, but skin? A skin doc? A general physician? Never had one!)