Man Have I got a... well, OK, this is the last one!

So. I finally got home (without completely scratching every part of my body) late (very) Friday night (almost Saturday morning). Alas, my sister had shown up at my mom's house while I was gone for the week and had organized a little family get together (Italian family get together = at least 30 people and food for 60) for that Saturday. And, being that I'm the dutiful brother - or something like that - I was obligated to show up.

Unfortunatly, because I had to show up, I also didn't have time to get my hair cut, my lawn mowed or the damn RASH looked at.

Fast forward. Saturday night (early Sunday morning) and my hands are suddenly covered with bumps, and the rash is now on the inside of my thighs (oh, stop that!) and on my waist. I was freaking. I thought for sure the closest thing I could find to what I had was Scabies. I figured I had gotten it while on one of my recent trips. Really, I was freaking.

So, Sunday morning when I get up, sure enough everything is still really bad. So, off to the emergency room (but hey, this is my emergency room now - not some ER in Burbank!) to have my rash looked at. Do I feel like an idiot? SURE! But damn, I was really concerned.

So, after reading through a chapter or so of my UltraMetabolism book while I was in the waiting room (and listening to a few podcasts), I get called in. The doctor looks me over, thankfully nukes the thought of Scabies (if you don't know what Scabies is by the way, it's a nasty rash that's caused by little mites that infest you and burrow into your dead skin cells. It's a royal pain in the BUTT to get rid of and you can infest your whole family - something very scary to a man with a 4 month old baby that sleeps in the same bed with him) and tells me it's either a reaction to some plant, but more than likely he thinks fungus. Which gets me to thinking.

So, off I go to the pharmacy with my prescriptions for Prednizone and some other steroidal topical ointment. Get the stuff, read the indications (God! Am I sure I really want to take this stuff?) but then, like the good little boy, I pop the pills.

Then I start doing more research. First of all, steroids in this case will inhibit my immune system from responding properly to the allergens in my system. This is why the bumps all over my hands will go away. The bad part of that is that my system was doing what it was SUPPOSED to do. Damn, I'm in a DETOX. So, as a person with diary allergies (mild), wheat allergies (not so mild) and candadiasis (candida albicans) who's detoxed before - I should have realized that the rash was because I had all the yeast in my system that was no longer getting fed being flushed out! And, then I looked at the topical cream and sure enough - it specifically mentions candadiasis!

After this I tracked down the book that I used to detox about 12 years ago. Sure enough, one of the indications/symptoms is a rash. However the book cautions that you shouldn't take any medications to stop the rash because they'll cause the toxins to end up burried in your system. Great. So I'm not really dealing with the toxins, so where the hell are they going?

Well, again, I went back to the warning labels on the steriods and the cream. Based on what I read, it seems like my body will essentiallly funnel out the toxins through my, uhhh, excretions. It's one of the side effects. Still, I'm not completely jazzed about the whole thing. After all, I don't want to detox only to find myself more ill because I kept the toxins in. Sigh.

Finally, Monday morning comes and along with Monday morning do many of the bumps on my hands again. Well, I called the pharmacist, found out how fast I could taper down from the mega-dose I was on. Pretty fast as it turns out. But what to do with the rash. I don't have enough time to track down how to handle it with a more natural method, I don't have a doctor I can go to without a referral from my primary doctor, not to mention I'd have to make an appointment. So, I'd have a rash, not know what to do with it and I was going to an interview in the morning on top of it.

I did what any good pill popper would do. I took the drugs. Of course, even though I'm on steriods I still haven't started lifting weights to take advantage of it. Heck, the way my knee has been I haven't done much at all. Though, I will admit, the steriods have really helped my knee feel better too. Sigh.

So, I'm three days in. I'm taking the last of my large dose this morning. After that, I think I'm going to taper down. I'm hoping that the worst of the detox is over (though I'm in the 3rd week now) and that the rash won't come back with a vengence. At the same time, I'm concerned about the fact that I've prohibited my body from cleansing the way I'm suppposed to. Damn, it's complicated! I'll figure it out sooner or later - but I don't know which yet. I'll let you know on my final decision - but until then, it's great not being covered with a itchy, hivey rash!

Now to bed, then to Apple Camp with my oldest daughter Halle in the AM. I'll have pictures of that :-)