******* CAUTION ******

***** Poison Ivy Rash Photos Ahead *****

*** It’s highly recommend you put down whatever you are eating and maybe put on a puffy coat in case you feel the need to itch yourself. ****

*** Consider yourself warned. ***

Yesterday morning The Girl drove me to a doc in a box in hopes of getting some relief from my awful poison ivy rash. The HH, didn’t want to go. Because apparently walking around with an intense rash {his is 10x worse than mine!} and giant ooze filled blisters all over your arms kind of goes hand in hand with the whole manly man I now wear thick henleys, haul wood and sport a beard look. I have no idea what his reasoning was. But I did tell him I wasn’t about to share my meds with him so TOO BAD FOR YOU if you don’t want to go. Whateva.

So we get to the doc in the box. And I remembered from last time I was there {the tick bite} that there was a hopping donut place next door and told The Girl to grab 5 donuts and we could bring them back for breakfast. After all a long line is a good thing, right?

Well she came back with the most beautiful {and filled!} apple fritters I’ve ever laid eyes on. Or tasted for that matter. I LOVE it when we find a new local place that serves good food. It’s the best feeling knowing you are supporting a truly wonderful place.

Anyway….

After checking in at the front desk of the Doc in the Box, and then being sent over to the financial desk, then brought back to a room to get my vitals checked, then moving to another room to wait for the Doctor…. or the Nurse Practitioner in my case…..

Apparently my case wasn’t severe enough to warrant a “shot” of medication {and YES, I asked for it repeatedly}. According to nurse practitioner guy, I just had a run of the mill case of poison ivy. He said they only give shots to the peeps with a “severe reaction.”

So of course I asked what qualified as a “severe reaction.”

Basically, he said that if I had it all over my face, or if I was swelled up a little more I would have been given a shot. Interesting. Note to self: Next time I get a poison ivy rash, RUB A FEW LEAVES ON MY FOREHEAD before heading to the urgent care center so I can get the good {fast acting} instant relief drugs.

Apparently here in New England, they’re a little stingy on the meds {remember the 2 doxy pills they gave me for the tick bite?}. Well. I walked out with an 11 day prescription for prednisone.

Nurse practitioner guy said that basically the side effects for the average weight person who doesn’t smoke, drink, take any other meds and is otherwise healthy, would most likely be insomnia and hyperactivity.

I nearly fell off the little table covered in paper I was sitting on because I was laughing so hard. Tears actually formed in my eyes, I kid you not.

“C’mon, give me the GOOD STUFF… you get paid the same either way. Do you like seeing housewives in pain? I’m a totally normal person, I’m not some sort of junkie. What are you, some kind of sicko? GIVE ME THE SHOT.” 

Obviously, I should have brought my mother along. She can wear ANYONE down.

Yada Yada Yada…. We went to the pharmacy to pick up the pills and the pharmacist explained how to take the 20 milligram pills:

• 3 pills a day {taken all at once} for the first 3 days
• 2 pills a day {taken all at once} for the next 3 days
• 1 pill a day for the remaining 5 days

The pharmacist was male, and the only reason I mention that is because of what he said when I asked about the potential side effects of the prednisone {just to make sure what he said matched up with nurse practitioner guy, because who knows, maybe he knows something the other guy didn’t. Also, I was raised to always ask a lot of questions in medical situations}.

This is what pharmacist guy said:

You may have difficulty sleeping, the medication may make you hyper or on edge, so if your husband is pissed off at you because you are not behaving normally, it is because of the medication. You’ll need to tell him that.”

Well then. What an interesting thing to say.

Okay, sounds good, I’ll warn my husband. Thanks.

Then I walked away with {what I’m almost positive was} a puzzled look on my face. Why did he say the whole bit about the husband? Was that a thing? The misbehaving woman? Or was that a New England just tell it like it is kind of sort of thing? Is actually appropriate for a pharmacist to use the words pissed off? Was he just trying to be funny? Because if there is one thing I’ve noticed since we’ve moved here, is that people often have a dry sense of humor {more so than any other place that I’ve been} which, I kind of like.

But seriously, did his wife take prednisone and flip out at him or something and he thinks it was the meds {and not something else?}.

I walked out with more questions than I walked in with.

And then I went home and looked up the side effects of the medication. And, well, according to the internet {and you know EVERYTHING on the internet is true} craziness is in fact a side effect of prednisone.

So, if you see a bunch of nonsense or should I say “controversial and edgy posts” that some people have been offended by over the years here on the blog by like this, or this one, maybe this or heck, even this one, clearly it was written at 2 am because that’s when all the really good whack a do stuff is written around here. You know, when I can’t sleep or I’m on edge. 😉

I can usually pull an all nighter about once a month and be totally fine with it as long as I get a nap the next day. But 11 days of sleep deprivation? Sweet gravy. Even I have my limits. The hyper activity? Now that, I know I can totally handle.

These days I feel like I’m on a train and I’m constantly wondering what’s up ahead and waiting for me at the next stop. Who knows…. Maybe I’ll find a bear in the yard next week, or there will be a tornado something. Because really, at this point, anything is possible around here.

Keep on truckin’ 😉

Peace Out Girl Scouts, make it a good one.

~Mavis

P.S. If you have had poison ivy before and were given a shot…. How does my rash compare to the rash you had? Am I just being a big baby about this? Do I just need to toughen up? Or do you think my rash was shot worthy? I need to know.

P.P.S. I bought a bottle of Tecnu Spray while I was waiting for my prescription to be filled and it did in fact provide a little relief while I was waiting for the steroids to kick in yesterday. A word of warning though, don’t spray it in an enclosed space {like your car!} because not only you, but the whole area you are sitting in will suddenly smell like your grandmother’s musty basement. 😉