Itchy and scratchy

Another shitty symptom of ichthyosis is the constant itching.

The itchiness is usually easy to manage. It comes and goes. But sometimes, like today, I wake up and the itchiness is so intense I worry that I will scratch myself to a bloody mess. Luckily I have learnt not to let it get to this stage, but as a young child I'd often wake up with bloody sheets and pillow cases from deep scratching, and then my skin was very sore when it was washed.

This morning I was so itchy I couldn't go to work. My eyes and nose were itchy and runny. My face was puffy. My body was itchy all over. My scalp itched so much that I wanted to scratch it against furniture corners, like a sheep scratches itself on a fence.

There's not much to treat my itching with other than antihistamines. So that's what I did.

I've been in a haze of phernergan and zyrtec today. I'm not sure whether you can take them together without side effects, but I took them anyway. I'm not dead so it must be ok.

I admit, I love a phernergan sleep. It's a deep, warm sleep where most of the itching subsides and the world is forgotten. But when I wake up, I am left with a hangover. Not a headache type hangover after drinking all night (I've only had one of those in my whole life!). It's a hangover where my body is heavy and I don't feel fully awake for a long time.

After Rush I don't know whether I will take another phernergan or not. I am still itchy. I don't want to feel horrible at work tomorrow. I have an event to coordinate. I can't risk not waking up in time or feeling like a heavy lump all day.

When I scratch, people tell me not to scratch. I am used to it. But I really hate it when people tell me not to scratch and throw in a slap on my hands. That really pisses me off. Them slapping me is more annoying than me scratching.

Here's hoping tonight is without itching. And tomorrow too.

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