I'm at home right now, recovering from a case of contact dermatitis, presumably contracted during my last weeding session. I think I know enough to recognize poison ivy by now, and I haven't seen anything resembling it. However, there was one plant that I thought might have been poison sumac, so just in case I made sure I washed my hands and arms afterwards. About a week later I came down with itchy lesions on my neck, abdomen, arms, and legs. Especially the legs. A coworker said he's never seen a case this bad.
Yesterday my doctor confirmed the disagnosis of contact dermatitis, but we can't really say where I picked it up for certain. Since the worst seems to be over, I think I'm not going to fill the prescription for a steroid that he gave me; he said my case was right in the middle between mild and very severe, so it's my call as to whether to try the steroid. Saturday night I would have gladly tried it. So I'm sticking to my hydrocortisone cream. Last night I took several benadryl which he told me would control the itch and make me sleepy. It sure did. When the alarm went off this morning I was too tired to wake up.
At least I got a good night's sleep.
Posted by jt at September 3, 2003 03:10 PM