Over the past month, I have been a bit off. Had a bout of vertigo - the swirlies were handled with Foster Maneuver.
The fatigue and malaise took longer. In the middle of this, my rosacea flared. And nothing that usually helped - helped. It slowly, gradually, kept worsening. So I used more lotion. Went for single ingredients so I could figure out what was irritating my face. It helped keep the skin moist, but the redness and itchiness would not abate. I developed sores behind my ear, in my nose, on my scalp.
A nurse practitioner I work with suggested over-the-counter cortisone cream, which helped while I was using it, although the scalp itch worsened. After the 10 day course I stopped, and Horrible Rash returned, looking like it was going to cause my entire head to fall off.
Yesterday, my clinic nurse friend got me a quick look-see from one of her dermatologists. And SHE got me into the same day derm clinic that afternoon. (I'd tried to get in, but it fills up between 0755 and 0801, and I missed it by a minute.) Fought my way through all the construction and confusing bus routing, 7 flights of stairs, to be there.
Now I'm on corticosteroids and antibiotics, and the change is... impressive. Have to stay out of the sun and stick to mild lotions, probably get a bit moon-faced until this is over.
Slept 8 hours, instead of 10, but it was good sleep for the first time in a month.
Trying to get a primary care doc, but no one is taking new patients until the new residents arrive. Can't try to schedule until the last of the month. I've been trying to get this done since the whirlies episode. The dermatologists who peered at my face yesterday kept asking if I had an autoimmune disease, and I kept answering "Well, not that I know of..." So, yeah, I need a doctor to check me for that sort of thing.
8 comments:
That Fosters manoeuvre looks interesting..and common sense.
Could be auto immune...and could be stress....or both.
Hope you get to the bottom of this soon....virtual hugs..((0))
I hope the steriods and antibiotics will do the trick. Also, rest. Rest.
I guess the doctor asked about autoimmune disease because it kind of looks like petechiae, I had that for a while as part of an autoimmune diagnosis but it's definitely not itchy and in any case, the steroids will take care of it.
Look after yourself.
gz,
I'm really not feeling stressed, not as compared to when I was in the previous job in the OR certainly.
Sabine,
Both my informal and formal doctor visits, the questions and proposed causes were very congruent. So, likely something I'm allergic to in the air, but I should be checked for some kind of autoimmune disorder.
This rash is raised, very itchy and burning. Although at the moment, that is mostly abated.
I hope the meds work and that you’re feeling much better soon.
ShouldFishMore,
I am. I can tell I'm on some strong meds, but the itch/pain/redness are much improved.
Oooh, that rash and all the rest of it sounds ghastly... I hope they find out more about what underlies it and that you can fully recover and then keep it at bay!
I have heard of the Foster treatment - a friend who had labyrinthitis used it very successfully to combat her vertigo.
Not sure why that last comment says I'm anonymous... !
Gentle,
Thank you. It felt rather awful. They think it's allergic/airborne, unless it turns out I have some incipient autoimmune process simmering. At the moment, corticosteroids doing what they do. I've never been on this before, aside from a few local injections in my hands.
It's all very weird, and for a nurse - strangely interesting.
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