Friday, January 30, 2009

Allergies are funny

And by funny, I mean freaking scary.

Guess what I found out I was allergic to last night?

Aspirin.

Yeah, I know. Who the hell is allergic to aspirin?

Here's how it went down:

I came home from my haircut (super cute) with a headache (super painful).

Normally I'm a Motrin girl. But for some reason, I tried a different pain reliever. This particular brand is a client of mine, so I thought I'd give them a little holla at home and try them out.

Oh.
My.
God.

And hour after taking it, I was covered in HIVES. And by hives, I meant WELTS.

They were everywhere! Arms, back, chest, neck, face...even in my ears.

They were so itchy I wanted to rip my skin off. I was writhing around, scratching like a mofo.

Seriously. I looked like a FREAK.

And then I started to freak out. What if my throat closed and I stopped breathing?

I grabbed the package, which so warmly read:

Aspirin may cause a severe allergic reaction which may include:
• hives (check!)
• facial swelling (swelling?!)
• asthma (gasp!)
• shock (WHAT???)

After a call to the pharmacy, we determined it would be in my best interest to take Benadryl. STAT.

I was leery, but desperate. After taking Benadryl, I've been known to collapse into sleep while in the middle of a sentence. I was petrified that if I fell asleep now, I would never wake up.

After an hour, the hives began to calm down, as did yours truly.

I mean, there's got to be a better way to find out you're allergic to something rather than trial and error, no?

(At least my headache went away.)

2 comments:

Merely Me said...

No!
This and last week I officially claim as "haircut week". I had to cancel one week ago (already overdue) and told my husband tonight, "I am overdue for hair color, cut, nails! It is girls' weekend and I am still going...they love me anyways!" He said, and I quote, "Yes, Dear." :)
Everyone I see has "new hair".

FunnyGal KAT said...

Ugh. That sounds terrible. I would have had trouble taking the Benadryl on top of the aspirin because the both times I mixed medications, I got violently ill. Wouldn't it way better to find out you are allergic to anchovies or broccoli or anything else you wouldn't mind giving up anyway?