Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Exactly How Stressed Am I?

Yes, we are in a particularly eventful stage of the physical manifestations of my stress.

The inside of both forearms covered in itchy dry hives. My chest a veritable map of the Andes with wetter yet itchy hives. The twitch in my left eye whenever some bad thought enters my head. The stunningly painful upper left shoulder where I pulled a muscle this morning washing my hair.

My jaw remains loose in my head, but only because I note every time I my teeth touch.

I am in a pathetic shape. And I don't see how this is going to ease up for another good 9 to 10 months.

And since I'm off alcohol. Geez!!!!

I must say that the scratching o' the hives is very attractive, especially the ones on my chest. I'm sure it's odd to be in a meeting with me and to see me scratching like a monkey during our entire conversation. Lovely.

3 comments:

Jennifer said...

Poor Anita!

For some itch relief, at least on your forearms, try this: run the itchy area under water as hot as you can stand for 30 seconds or so. It'll start to itch more while you're doing it but it'll buy you several hours of relief.

(I'll confess I haven't done the research, but I think I heard that it works by drawing out the histamines that cause the itch, essentially using them up. Not sure if that's true, but it does work.)

The only downside is that, short of a shower, you're limited to body parts that can be stuck under a faucet, and that you can't use this method on little kids.

Carroll said...

Lovely images there, Anita!

Poor baby -- I hope the situation (or at least your physically-manifested reaction to it) improves quickly.

Anita said...

Thank you! I'll try the hot water, and I bet it does draw out the histimines!