On December 21st, I went to my book club for our annual book exchange and treats. There's not much to report about this, except that it was where the first of some hives began to form on my elbows. They stayed pretty contained on my elbows and knees (the usual starting points), and I went home and went to bed, expecting that they'd be gone in the morning, since I did a good job of not scratching them.
I am fairly used to getting hives. I had them a lot for a year or two when I was in elementary school. When we went to the doctor, she said, "You're allergic to something." (So helpful.) I never was able to pinpoint anything that would trigger the hives to begin. It usually began on my elbows and knees, and if I could keep from scratching, they'd usually fade away. If I scratched, they'd spread along my arms and legs, and then they'd last for two or three days. I could keep them from itching with baking soda/water paste on the spots, or if it got really bad, a bath with lots of baking soda would help, along with a dose of liquid Benadryl. I had them only a very few times in high school and college. Once I got them really bad on my mission, for several days. Since I've been married, I'll get them once or twice in a year, and then go several years without any. It seemed that instead of being an allergic reaction, it was often triggered after a stressful event, like my body was releasing toxins. That still may be the case. I guess December (and, well, all of the fall) had been a bit high in stress, but not really more than other times, and having the kids out of school and Christmas a few days away doesn't really seem like the END of a stressful event.
Anyway. The hives did not go away the next day. They were worse. They spread up my arms and down my legs and onto my hands and feet, and up onto my neck and onto my face. It was pretty miserable. I only had Benadryl pills, and they don't seem to do the same job as the liquid for my hives, and they make me so drowsy! But we had to get the house ready for Scott's How to Host a Murder party that night, so I just sucked it up and went to work. I happened to have some oatmeal bath packets that I had purchased for Tessa, and used two of them that night, and they helped sooth and calm the hives down a lot. I was really hoping they'd be gone the next day.
Spoiler: they weren't gone the next day, or the next or next or next.... This turned into the worst case of hives I have ever had. I'll be referring to them as I report on the activities of our December and yes, into January. So--awesome!
