hives; and not the bee kind

Right after my oldest son was born, I began to come down with these very strange bumps. They started in my lower lip, leaving it swollen in a "botox gone wrong" kind of way.

At first, I thought I was the victim of some strange spider that only had eyes (or fangs) for me. But, then the bumps spread. They started to itch. And pretty soon, I was covered in these plateau shaped, red, sore bumps. Every. Single. Day.

Turns out, I had a chronic case of hives. Weeks went by and still, without missing a beat, the hives would return day after day. Some days they wouldn't be so bad. A single Benadryl would knock them out. Other days, I would have to go to the Emergency Room for a Benadryl IV drip, because NOTHING would get rid of the suckers.

Doctor after doctor tried, and failed, to determine the cause of the hives. In the end, I walked away knowing I was allergic to something, but no one could tell me what.

These hives lasted until I was done breast-feeding my YOUNGEST son. Then one day, as fast as they had come, they left.

And I was happy.

Until, about a week ago when the pesky bumps returned. And returned they did, with a vengeance, making up for lost time.

I had to come home early yesterday from work, because the damn hives were in my ears, in my throat, and threatening to take over my face at any given second. I was a mess. And, these were the bad kind of hives. The kind that itch. Make you incredibly sore all over. Give you chills, then leave you burning up. And, last but not least, make you so incredibly swollen that all you can really see doing for the rest of the day (or week) is sleep because that's the only time you aren't willing to claw off your own skin for some comfort.

That is how I feel right now as well. We are going on twenty-four hours of relentless hives. I've taken pill after pill, and slept more than I thought I could sleep. All of that, with nothing to show for it.

Tonight I fear a dreaded trip to the ER is in order. I would go now, but unfortunately, I can't drive after being pumped full of Benadryl, hell I can hardly walk. So, I have to wait for Tim to get off of work.

So, for now I'm off to wrap my hands in duct tape and go back to bed.