(no subject)
Let's see...I have to have a filling redrilled and refilled on Thursday...so there's $200 down the hole for that. It's not too bad, but but before then, I have to go see a doctor about the random swelling in my face/finger.
Woke up shortly after my return from Texas with a fat lip on the left side, upper lip. No bug or spider bites, no redness to the flesh, nothing but puffy swelling. (I also noted that I'd drooled on my pillow. *sigh*) I took some otc benadryl stuff and it gradually went down. Then a morning or two later, my finger itched, so I "bit" it since I was being lazy and half-asleep...and then within a minute or two more, I realized it had gotten a bit swollen. Again, no scratches, bugbites, or anything. Just puffy swollen flesh. More benadryl-stuff.
Then today (Monday, haven't been to bed yet), I woke up with a puffy face. Like an n shape around my mouth, jowls, cheeks, this time the right side of my lip, not the left. May or may not have drooled. Again, no itching, no bite marks, no rashes, no hives. Just swollen. It still feels a little tender now, after 4 (2x each) pills and a good 18 hours later, but not nearly so swollen. Also, the back of my left hand (same hand as the finger that swelled up a little) was slightly swollen...maybe. Possibly also the insides of my feet/ankles between the heel and the arch of the instep.
I'm not sure what's causing it, but I am trying to eliminate the various possible culprits. Shortly before leaving for Texas, I started cutting my detergent (A&H perfume/dye free, because I cannot stand the cloying perfumes most detergents use) with my roomies' detergent (another perfume/dye free product, not made by A&H) because of late, the A&H wasn't completely removing the sour-sweat smell from some of my teeshirts. I'd tried the other stuff once or twice before, but entirely on its own, not mixed. My attempt was to see if a little of the other would help remove the smells.
I did all my sheets with this combo, and a good chunk of my clothes...which I am now rewashing with just straight A&H (and a little extra baking soda to kill smells). I think it may be the two detergents reacting poorly together. I hope it is, because that's the cheapest solution--just rewash everything, stick to the A&H, and I'll be good.
If not, it could be bedbugs...which apparently have teeny tiny bitemarks. I don't know if I do have them or not, because the way to tell is to look for tiny "blood specks" left behind when they bite someone. Alas, the sheets on my bed were red. It could be dust mites (if it is, I'm screwed), but other dusty locations in my home (office, lol) don't seem to be causing any problems...and my eyes aren't red and itchy, I'm not really sneezing (no more than twice since I got home), no runny nose. Typical symptoms of an allergy aren't there, which should also rule out possible mold problems, one would think.
So I put fresh-out-of-the-package white sheets on my bed. I'd bought them when I bought the SleepNumber bed (absolute best mattress investment ever), but never got them out of the package. If it's bedbugs, maybe picked up in Texas or something, I'll see blood specks. I also swapped out my feather pillows for ones I haven't touched or used in over a year. If it's a feather allergy (which is actually rare), that'll still trigger it. If it's the detergent, I should be good now that all the bedding is swapped out.
I had my roomie take pics of my face, including both profiles, and loaded them onto my Nook to show to the doc where the puffiness was. Must remember to -take- said Nook with me, lol. ...Of course, being fat, it's hard to *see* the puffiness to begin with, but there's definite signs of asymmetry & jowly-ness.
Either way, I go to the doctor's office in the morning to shell out-of-pocket money to find out what else it might be. Could be something that needs an epinephrine shot. Could be something that needs those allergen-pinprick tests. Hopefully it's nothing big, just the detergent...but going from one swollen half-lip to half a swollen/puffy face in less than a week = not good.
...It could even be something that needs an antibiotic. *headdesk* I didn't need this, honest. A doctor's appointment is another $150 down the drain this week, on top of the $200 filling replacement, on top of groceries, bills, Worldcon...
*sigh*
~Lotm
P.S. I did buy some big-winnings lottery tickets this last weekend! A little compensation, here? A huge positive jolt to my finances, please??
P.P.S. Sucky-suck of suckery, I also had to reschedule my massage therapy. Even though going more than 3 weeks between sessions is bad for my back, and I'm already at the 3 week mark, my therapist pointed out that if this has anything to do with the lymph system, massage would only spread it around by getting things flowing and making things worse. So my back is knotted-unhappy and I can't do much about it. And I wanted to try an isolation/float-tank session when I got back from Worldcon so that I could approach DAMNATION with a clear head, but I can't do that until I know what's up with this swelling/puffy crap.