Pay backs are hell!

I have been dealing with poison ivy or poison something for 3 weeks now, and the worst part of it... is I think I got it doing yard work in my own backyard! I, of course, wait 3 days to see if it actually something, so when it blisters, I break down and get the $36.00 Zanfel. Knowing that this will do the trick...I can't wait to tell 1st Sgt..how fast that worked! So, I do my usual shifts at work, wearing long sleeves, in the middle of summer, and stopping every couple of hours, to scrub with this crap! At night, I added the Calamine lotion, because waking up every 2 hours, scratching...is no way to get my much needed beauty sleep! I threw the Benadryl gel in the garbage, with a note to self, never to waste my money on that. The cortisone cream was not working...ok maybe it was old or something. I finally break down and ask the Doc for a RX for solu-medrol dose pak. Yep!....Cortisone. Now I hate taking cortisone, not that I think it will make me any more deranged than I already am, but why take the chance. So, now I am dealing with 3 creams, cortisone pills, long sleeves, day and night, and add a benadryl pill at night to help me sleep! So, when I wake up in the morning and see some on my leg...I start to have a little anxiety! Like maybe, this isn't poison anything, but I am being eaten alive at night by a spider or something! This leads me to completely strip all the linens, and de-fumigate the house! Of course, this is how I spend my day off!

The Zanfel tube is done...the cortisone pills are gone... the calamine lotion is empty...the "poison" area is dried... red... and scarred! But I can scratch anywhere on my arms, and a nice big rash appears! Just great! And boy, does it ever itch.

So, I go to the self-help section, in my mind...and remember when I had a reaction to Motrin...the very pricey specialist prescribed a 3 drug treatment plan, all meds you can get over the counter, all weird meds that really don't make you think of a rash treatment. But there was a scientific explanation and it worked! So, now I was off to Wallie World to get yet 3 more drugs, also picked up a calamine-cortisone cream for good measure, oh and ya, throw in that bottle of Aveno lotion!

I don't remember this treatment being such a slow process. The itch-scratch cycle is driving me mad...or maybe it IS the cortisone! Needless, to say I am at wits end. So, I break down and lower myself to ask for 1 more RX for the cortisone pills! Good Lord!

The following Tuesday was my first day of some relief...so I go out and mow the yard, after all, I am on every drug combo you can imagine! 2 days later, I am feeling much better, so I do my day of geocaching...in the woods...hey, might as well test this out! As I write this...the horror of itching is starting to fade, with just 2 days left of the pills...I may make it after all! On the other hand, this constant "grazing" in front of the refrigerator....is all Cortisone related!

Hey, what can I say...but...Sorry 1st Sgt...I really didn't mean to laugh at your poison ivy! Pay backs are Hell!

I will "cache" up with you later...got to get a snack!