All Itchy

For the past couple days I have been dealing with an ugly, itchy rash on my face. I started noticing a little swelling on my lips on Saturday night. Sunday my lips were full-blown swollen and the rash was starting to attack my eyes, so I called my uncle (who is a doctor) and had him check it out. We had narrowed it down to a virus (because I had been sick with a fever the previous week), stress, or some allergic reaction. I planned on going into work on Monday and stopping by the in-house clinic first thing in the a.m., but it didn't quite work out that way. At 5 a.m. I woke to a very unpleasant reflection of swollen lips and eyes and a very blotchy, red face in the mirror. Immediately at 8:00 a.m. I had secured a doctor's appointment for 9:15... hoping they could fix me all up and I would be back into work that afternoon...no such luck. My doctor gave me a good dose of steroids and other meds to keep me itch-free and set me up with a dermatology appointment for the next day to nail down the evil itch culprit. On a good note, I was able to get into the dentist Monday afternoon and I feel so much better and love having my teeth cleaned!

Tuesday I woke up with an even more swollen and red face, and had to sit through the pain and itch until my 10:15 dermatology appointment. My dermatologist was able to pin-point the cause of my nasty break-out, a new face wash with hazardous preservatives in it: Methylisothiazolinone (MI) & Methylchloroisothiazolinone (MC). I spent the rest of the day sleepy from the Benadryl and itch-free. Boy, did I learn my lesson about saving $.50 and buying generic, that mistake cost me over $150 in meds & doctors bills.

I was very impressed with my boss through this whole ordeal, he was extremely understanding and very willing to let me work from home on one of the company laptops. I had arranged to pick up a laptop this morning to work from home, but I was feeling and looking better last night and thought I could make it into work. Now the rash just looks like I have a wind or sun burn from skiing. Although my face was really itchy all day, it felt so good to get back to work and be worthwhile and productive instead of a bum. I will definitely be playing catch-up for the 3 sick days I have had in the past 2 weeks!