Knock on wood... but

today I actually feel like a normal person again.

I have not really blogged about the hives issues I am having- actually, sometimes it seems silly to blog at all because my only readers are girls I 'talk' to all the time anyway and they know this stuff. But it is cathartic to write it all out, and then I am not such an AW or whatever if I write here...

but anyway

I have been breaking out into hives DAILY since July 26th-28th (I can't pinpoint the exact day, but I went to my parents house on July 31st, had a break out, my mom freaked thinking it was the lobster I ate, and I remember reassuring her that I had been getting them for a couple days already and it was not an allergic reaction to the lobster).
Even in San Diego I had hives, although not nearly as bad as they are at home. But at home I have some days where it is an annoyance, and some where I want to scratch until my skin bleeds.
After we returned from vacation I called multiple dermatologists for an appointment- so many said they couldn't see me for a month or even more. I finally found one to take me within 5 days. I went to see this dermatoligist- and I cannot tell you how much I loved her. She wrote me a script for allegra, told me it is a 24 hr pill but I could take it twice a day if I felt like I needed it, and we would follow up in 3 weeks b/c that is when the magic 6 week mark would hit. For hives- 6 weeks is the time mark where it goes from accute to chronic- who knows why that is the time limit, but it is.
So we hit the 6 week mark, and I went into the dermatologist. She removed my bumps on my head (totally unrelated to hives but YAY for that anyway). It was a weird procedure because it was only local numbing so I was awake, could see the bloody gauze as they carried it away, and could hear/smell them catarizing my skin to seal up the blood vessels. We discussed my hives and I am so proud of myself for advocating- she switched me from allegra to zyrtec because allegra is category C while zyrtec is category B- so YAY. Now I don't have to feel guilty medicating myself for this while ttc. I also had bloodwork taken, and a few days later, I got a call from the dermatologist with a diagnosis-
Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria
YAY a diagnosis- WTF does it mean? It means we have no fucking clue why you have hives but you do... I am relieved that all my bloodwork came back normal, but no explanation for the hell I have been living with is unacceptable to me.
So now I have an appointment with an allergist October 6th. Yet another day off of work for this crap, and I am really, really dreading the days before the appointment b.c I am not allowed to take antihistimines for 4 days before the appt if I want allergy testing done (which is the whole point). I am going to die.

In any case- the good news is I have been googling, this is common enough to have a lot of online threads, blogs etc, about it. I was able to see what had and had not worked for people. lot of people said in addition to zyrtec, they take a heart burn pill such as zantac, because it attacks a different type of histimine in the body then zyrtec. I started this combo last night, and again this morning- and I have a couple itchy spots on my calves, but that is it.
So here is to hoping this helps me out, and to praying I make it through the wait for the allergist. At least that appt. is on a Monday so I can be home and not at work for a couple of the days.


TTC front- 8dpo, cheapy HPTs came in mail... now i know why they were so cheap, but hey- at $0.40 a pop I am not going to complain. BFN, big surprise huh? So tonight I am going to enjoy some cocktails at our friends wedding, and I won't be testing again until October (sounds so far, but Oct1 is 12dpo, I think I will wait until 14 dpo though :)