Some people may know by this point that I have a nasty looking rash on my legs. After a variety of medical opinions, tests, meds, and biopsies, it was determined to be..... dermatitis.
No duh.
At first I thought it was hives. Or possibly related to grasses, since it started at the end of last August. At that point, my entire body was just plain itchy, and scratching would cause large welts to appear.
But one morning I woke up to blood splattered sheets, that apparently came from my elbow. Again, I thought it was something benign. I spend a lot of time resting on my elbows, reading, knitting, playing video games, I thought it was just irritated. But it never went away.
Then, another spot appeared above my ankle, about the size of a nickel. I thought it was a scratch, or a bug bite. It looked pretty bad. I tried neosporin, hydrocortisone cream, benadryl, just about anything I had lying around the house. Every time the spots started to clear up, they would start to itch like crazy, and then I scratched them open again.
Actually, I've had this problem long enough, I can't even really remember the early details.
A nurse I work with said the ankle and elbow looked like eczema, but the rest was something different. The allergist I work for, and the dermatologist all said the same thing. But all the areas started out looking the same, kind of like acne, but on my legs. Nope, 2 spots are eczema, the rest is something different, they all said.
The most common answer I was given was bug bites. Surely my dog has fleas, or we have bed bugs or dust mites in our house/bed. Ew. No, the dog does not have fleas, at least according to the vet. And if it was in the bed, wouldn't K have it too? Not that I wish this upon anyone.
So, I stopped taking antihistamines long enough to be skin tested. Lo and behold! I'm allergic to grasses and trees. Not really that surprising. What was surprising was that I was not allergic to dust mites, dog, cat, molds, or cockroach. I have lived some very sketchy places.
As a perk of working for an allergist, I can get allergy immunotherapy, i.e. allergy shots. It's been 8 months. I was hoping that by now I would have some relief. Maybe I do? Who knows? All I know it that it's hot and humid, and every day I wear shorts or a skirt (which is almost every day) I get a shocked look and an "Oh my god! What happened to your legs?" Granted, I did fall in March and have a beautiful brown scar across my left shin, but it too is becoming red and bumpy from the rash.
Okay, so lets see, I've tried antibiotics, antihistamines, $300 topical steroids (okay, just the samples), not shaving, every kind of thick body lotion, antibacterial soap, allergy shots... Everything short of moving to the arctic. Well, that, and giving up roller derby, which requires sweating for hours in spandex and neoprene. But I have stopped wearing the tights and knee socks.
One of the doctors I work with thought I should stop eating grains, for at least 2 weeks, because I have such a high grass sensitivity. I wasn't able to ask her which one in particular, but after a few Google searches another nurse found quite an extensive list of cereals a person with grass allergies may be sensitive to. Here is a sample;
Wheat
Oats
Rye
Barley
Rice
Corn
Two weeks. If this doesn't work I suppose next I can try cutting dairy, or eggs, or nuts, or soy out of my diet. If nothing else, I'll probably lose some weight.
