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Random Histamines
Aug. 4th, 2007 07:44 pmI woke up...this morning *blues riff*
My right eye felt funny, but I didn't think too much about because when I first wake up, that sometimes happens. Then I saw myself in the mirror. The whole right side of my face was swollen, red, and hot. My right eye would only open about half-way.
Okay, allergic reaction time. This happened to me once before, but I had taken Immodium the night before, so I knew what had caused it, and it was my whole face that time. This time, I didn't take any new medication and didn't eat anything out of the ordinary. And there was the bit about it being only on one side of my face and scalp.
I called the 24 hour nurse line my health insurance company offers, and after answering some questions, the nurse said to take an antihistamine and go to the emergency room to make sure that the swelling didn't progress to cut off my breathing or swallowing. So we got dressed and went to the urgent care facility in Reston.
They said it seemed to be an allergic reaction and gave me a 5-day prescription for antihistamines, 4 times a day if necessary, and prednisone (a steroid to reduce inflammation and redness) once a day for three days. Antihistamines and I have a long history of them making me very sleepy and not being able to think straight. So I spent most of the day lying on the couch, half-asleep watching DVDs. The swelling has gone down a lot, but not gone away completely.
The only thing different I did that I can think of that might have caused this was last night I pulled up all the dead day-lily stalks in our yard. I suppose I could have been exposed to something I'm allergic to out in the yard. But why would it happen only on one side of my face?
Anyway, I'll have to check in with my regular doctor on Monday to see if she wants me to do anything else about this. I wonder if I should go to an allergist.
My right eye felt funny, but I didn't think too much about because when I first wake up, that sometimes happens. Then I saw myself in the mirror. The whole right side of my face was swollen, red, and hot. My right eye would only open about half-way.
Okay, allergic reaction time. This happened to me once before, but I had taken Immodium the night before, so I knew what had caused it, and it was my whole face that time. This time, I didn't take any new medication and didn't eat anything out of the ordinary. And there was the bit about it being only on one side of my face and scalp.
I called the 24 hour nurse line my health insurance company offers, and after answering some questions, the nurse said to take an antihistamine and go to the emergency room to make sure that the swelling didn't progress to cut off my breathing or swallowing. So we got dressed and went to the urgent care facility in Reston.
They said it seemed to be an allergic reaction and gave me a 5-day prescription for antihistamines, 4 times a day if necessary, and prednisone (a steroid to reduce inflammation and redness) once a day for three days. Antihistamines and I have a long history of them making me very sleepy and not being able to think straight. So I spent most of the day lying on the couch, half-asleep watching DVDs. The swelling has gone down a lot, but not gone away completely.
The only thing different I did that I can think of that might have caused this was last night I pulled up all the dead day-lily stalks in our yard. I suppose I could have been exposed to something I'm allergic to out in the yard. But why would it happen only on one side of my face?
Anyway, I'll have to check in with my regular doctor on Monday to see if she wants me to do anything else about this. I wonder if I should go to an allergist.
