I'm still Here
Barely, I think.
I went to, no, make that I was taken to the ER Tuesday night. I had anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction to something. I think it was a food allergy to an ingredient in a box of Cheez-It Snack Mix I picked up at Target during my lunch break and snacked on upon getting back to work, as the first symptom showed up within a half-hour. I never had any food allergies before (other than the adult-onset lactose intolerance, although I've always avoided shellfish because my father is allergic and I can't stand the smell alone) so it was a complete surprise. My eyes started to get really puffy so I left work a few minutes early. I wanted to go to bed because my flight back from San Diego Monday night had been delayed almost 2 1/2 hours and I was running on about 3 hours sleep. I tried to go to bed but I started itching. I got up and popped a Benadryl and waited to get better.
I didn't. Started to get hives, and my palms and hands itched as they swelled up like balloons. My skin turned bright red. More hives. Still I didn't do anything, other than to think about going into bed to try to sleep it off. Then I noticed I couldn't breathe through my nose. Began to think about going to urgent care, thought about cost, decided I'd tough it out. Tried to take a drink to swallow another Benadryl and discovered it was very difficult to swallow, like having a case of strep throat. Tongue and lips are swollen, making it hard to talk, and my gums are swelling to the point my lower denture plate would not fit in my mouth.
OK, I give. Called the ex, told her to get over to my place NOW, I need to get to urgent care. (The nearest urgent care is closer than the nearest ER, and at this point I'm still thinking about expense and insurance coverage and non-necessary visits to the ER being billed at exorbitant rates.) Drove myself, noticing I'm starting to cough to try and clear my throat. Itching like nothing I've ever felt before, chicken pox and eczema nothing compared to the sheer torture of every part of my body itching. Walk into urgent care with ID and insurance in hand. Receptionist takes one look at me, calls over nurse, and sends me back to room NOW. Nurse takes blood pressure (which is dropping as she takes it), looks in my throat, and looks very alarmed. Suddenly my shirt is off and I'm watching hives popping up on my torso. The other nurse can't find a vein in my left arm, I'm so swollen. By this time, I'm actually starting to worry. 2nd nurse gets vein in right arm, in goes the lock for the IV, and I'm pumped full of dexamethasone, IV benadryl, and Zantac (which acts as an anti-histamine on different receptors than benadryl). I can feel the stuff taking effect, like icy needles are being pushed into my skin, and the itching subsides. Nurse says I need to go to ER for follow up (I found out later from ex that I was in respiratory distress; the itching distracted me from the gasping for breath and the nurse found my throat was starting to swell closed) and gets the local ambulance squad to transport me. I'm on oxygen in the ambulance and feeling much better already, although I look like a Macy's Thanksgiving balloon, I'm so puffed up. My hands were so swollen the fingers were touching even though I had them spread - like little red sausages. I kept apologizing to everyone for being such a bother; I still haven't got it through my somewhat thicker head that this really was an emergency. At the ER I have a few minutes on the gurney where I am with it enough to take in what is going on around me as the intake questionnaire and papers are signed. Then comes another IV to rehydrate me since I lost so much fluid to the swelling, and a few oral pills. I'm at the hospital for about three hours before I am released. Thankfully the ex has gotten herself and my car safely to the hospital and yes, I drive myself home.
I'm OK now, although I woke up this morning to find my eyes were swollen shut. Angioedema, a common co/side effect. I'm on prednisone (steroid) and Pepcid (H2 histamine blocker) and benadryl again, as needed. I went to work the next day, mostly because I was so out of it at the ER I forgot to ask for a written excuse for work and I didn't want to bother with the hassle the next day. I feel fuzzy-headed and out of it due to the drugs, but otherwise OK except for a little leftover puffiness, and it wasn't until I talked to the ex last night that I really understood how close I came to dying. Probably within 15 minutes or less. And I wonder what would have happened had I decided to just lay down in bed and tough it out.
I'm sorry if this is really long, but I wanted to get this all down before I forgot the details. I'm not asking for sympathy, just telling a story. The sympathy will come when the bills start rolling in!
This entry was originally posted at http://gentlehum-mel.dreamwidth.org/2630.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
I went to, no, make that I was taken to the ER Tuesday night. I had anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction to something. I think it was a food allergy to an ingredient in a box of Cheez-It Snack Mix I picked up at Target during my lunch break and snacked on upon getting back to work, as the first symptom showed up within a half-hour. I never had any food allergies before (other than the adult-onset lactose intolerance, although I've always avoided shellfish because my father is allergic and I can't stand the smell alone) so it was a complete surprise. My eyes started to get really puffy so I left work a few minutes early. I wanted to go to bed because my flight back from San Diego Monday night had been delayed almost 2 1/2 hours and I was running on about 3 hours sleep. I tried to go to bed but I started itching. I got up and popped a Benadryl and waited to get better.
I didn't. Started to get hives, and my palms and hands itched as they swelled up like balloons. My skin turned bright red. More hives. Still I didn't do anything, other than to think about going into bed to try to sleep it off. Then I noticed I couldn't breathe through my nose. Began to think about going to urgent care, thought about cost, decided I'd tough it out. Tried to take a drink to swallow another Benadryl and discovered it was very difficult to swallow, like having a case of strep throat. Tongue and lips are swollen, making it hard to talk, and my gums are swelling to the point my lower denture plate would not fit in my mouth.
OK, I give. Called the ex, told her to get over to my place NOW, I need to get to urgent care. (The nearest urgent care is closer than the nearest ER, and at this point I'm still thinking about expense and insurance coverage and non-necessary visits to the ER being billed at exorbitant rates.) Drove myself, noticing I'm starting to cough to try and clear my throat. Itching like nothing I've ever felt before, chicken pox and eczema nothing compared to the sheer torture of every part of my body itching. Walk into urgent care with ID and insurance in hand. Receptionist takes one look at me, calls over nurse, and sends me back to room NOW. Nurse takes blood pressure (which is dropping as she takes it), looks in my throat, and looks very alarmed. Suddenly my shirt is off and I'm watching hives popping up on my torso. The other nurse can't find a vein in my left arm, I'm so swollen. By this time, I'm actually starting to worry. 2nd nurse gets vein in right arm, in goes the lock for the IV, and I'm pumped full of dexamethasone, IV benadryl, and Zantac (which acts as an anti-histamine on different receptors than benadryl). I can feel the stuff taking effect, like icy needles are being pushed into my skin, and the itching subsides. Nurse says I need to go to ER for follow up (I found out later from ex that I was in respiratory distress; the itching distracted me from the gasping for breath and the nurse found my throat was starting to swell closed) and gets the local ambulance squad to transport me. I'm on oxygen in the ambulance and feeling much better already, although I look like a Macy's Thanksgiving balloon, I'm so puffed up. My hands were so swollen the fingers were touching even though I had them spread - like little red sausages. I kept apologizing to everyone for being such a bother; I still haven't got it through my somewhat thicker head that this really was an emergency. At the ER I have a few minutes on the gurney where I am with it enough to take in what is going on around me as the intake questionnaire and papers are signed. Then comes another IV to rehydrate me since I lost so much fluid to the swelling, and a few oral pills. I'm at the hospital for about three hours before I am released. Thankfully the ex has gotten herself and my car safely to the hospital and yes, I drive myself home.
I'm OK now, although I woke up this morning to find my eyes were swollen shut. Angioedema, a common co/side effect. I'm on prednisone (steroid) and Pepcid (H2 histamine blocker) and benadryl again, as needed. I went to work the next day, mostly because I was so out of it at the ER I forgot to ask for a written excuse for work and I didn't want to bother with the hassle the next day. I feel fuzzy-headed and out of it due to the drugs, but otherwise OK except for a little leftover puffiness, and it wasn't until I talked to the ex last night that I really understood how close I came to dying. Probably within 15 minutes or less. And I wonder what would have happened had I decided to just lay down in bed and tough it out.
I'm sorry if this is really long, but I wanted to get this all down before I forgot the details. I'm not asking for sympathy, just telling a story. The sympathy will come when the bills start rolling in!
This entry was originally posted at http://gentlehum-mel.dreamwidth.org/2630.html. Please comment there using OpenID.