Apparently Fifth Disease is considered a common childhood illness. It's cousins are measles, chicken pox and the mumps. It's a.k.a is Slapped Cheek Syndrome. From what I have been told, it's very, very common. I had never in my life heard of it. I must be living under a rock.
In early March Princess woke up with bright red Raggedy Ann cheeks. We kept on asking if she felt okay. She kept giving us the thumbs up that she was doing great. A few days into the bright red checks, a lace-like rash started all over her body. Against the wishes of my pediatrician, I went to the resource every mom finds reliable.. the Internet. My 'Mom' diagnosis came up with Fifth Disease. Off to the doctor I took Princess to confirm my ,which was correct. The doctor said that in a few days, Princess' cheeks and rash would clear up. As he was walking out the door, he looked over his shoulder and said that if adults get Fifths they can have chronic joint pain for up to a month. Oh okay,I respond, not thinking about it much.
Flash forward to the middle of May.... Dear Husband and I both got Fifths in the middle of March and I don't wish it on my worst enemy. It was the sickest I have ever been. Apparently it affects adults much worse and differently than kids. And... apparently the joint pain is worse for women. Let me just go on record and state that I can sympathize with every older person that suffers from arthritis. I never understood the pain, I do now. I am now 2 months into the 'joint pain' and it is awful. Though I am told it will eventually go away, I still struggle every day with the pain in my knees and hands.
The moral to this story is... if you too are living under a rock and have never heard of Fifth Disease... stay away from anyone with bright red checks.
Showing posts with label rash. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rash. Show all posts
Monday, May 17, 2010
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
The 'rash' saga continues...
Today I went back to the doctor for my never-ending rash. If you haven't seen me in the last 6 weeks, you don't know my saga. Let me bring you up to speed.
The third week of July I came down with a horrible rash that ran up my right arm. After a grueling hot weekend of itching and the husband stressing that I was going to spread the rash to him (oh..and the kids), I called the doctor and had the rash checked out. The doctor said I had poison oak. What the heck!! I live in the concrete jungle. I take care of two small children all day long. We are not going on wild nature hikes or exploring the wilderness. Shoot, even our two cats are indoor cats. Where in the world would I get poison oak? I was not a believer of this theory but I let them treat me as such.
I was given a prescription of prednisone and sent on my way. I have never been on prednisone nor did the doctor tell me a couple of little facts that would have been helpful. I popped my three pills as prescribed for the first day at 4pm. I was in heaven by 5pm. No itching! Whoo hoo! Then I discovered the side effects. I was wired like a power pole. I was awake watching the clock at 12am, 1am.... I don't know if I even feel asleep. My brain was going a mile a minute. My neighbor mentioned to me that you are supposed to take the prednisone in the morning for that very reason. Wish someone had told me that before I popped 3 pills at 4pm!! Holy moly!!
Next came side effect #2. The medication make you hungry all the time! I was a bottomless pit. I couldn't get enough food in me. For someone wanting to lose weight, this wasn't a good situation. The 10 days I was on the medication, I gained 2 pounds.
I took the medication for the duration and then the rash traveled to other areas of my body. I still didn't believe it was poison oak. I went back to the doctor and got another 10 days of the medication. At least I had relief from the itch, no matter the side effects. The second round of medication ran out this past weekend and the rash persists. [BTW, no one in my family has come down with any symptoms... just lucky me]. Instead of going to my primary care doctor again I went to see a dermatologist today, figuring they might be a bit more familiar with rashes.
This was the first time I had met this one particular doctor and let me tell you that I wish I had put some makeup on and brushed my hair a bit more before the appt. He was so nice and super cute. Then I had to get in a gown and show him my yucky rash. He said that my body had some allergic reaction to something (doesn't think poison oak) and now my body is short-circuiting. The initial allergen is gone and I am suffering through the reaction. He compared it to a computer that needs to reboot. He put me back on the Prednisone and also prescribed a steroid ointment (It is in a 1lb vat) that I need to cover my whole body in before bed each night. I also need to take a Benedryl .
He said that all combined should battle the rash but to be prepared for it to take awhile, possibly up to a year!
BTW, I am not contagious, dear Husband!
The third week of July I came down with a horrible rash that ran up my right arm. After a grueling hot weekend of itching and the husband stressing that I was going to spread the rash to him (oh..and the kids), I called the doctor and had the rash checked out. The doctor said I had poison oak. What the heck!! I live in the concrete jungle. I take care of two small children all day long. We are not going on wild nature hikes or exploring the wilderness. Shoot, even our two cats are indoor cats. Where in the world would I get poison oak? I was not a believer of this theory but I let them treat me as such.
I was given a prescription of prednisone and sent on my way. I have never been on prednisone nor did the doctor tell me a couple of little facts that would have been helpful. I popped my three pills as prescribed for the first day at 4pm. I was in heaven by 5pm. No itching! Whoo hoo! Then I discovered the side effects. I was wired like a power pole. I was awake watching the clock at 12am, 1am.... I don't know if I even feel asleep. My brain was going a mile a minute. My neighbor mentioned to me that you are supposed to take the prednisone in the morning for that very reason. Wish someone had told me that before I popped 3 pills at 4pm!! Holy moly!!
Next came side effect #2. The medication make you hungry all the time! I was a bottomless pit. I couldn't get enough food in me. For someone wanting to lose weight, this wasn't a good situation. The 10 days I was on the medication, I gained 2 pounds.
I took the medication for the duration and then the rash traveled to other areas of my body. I still didn't believe it was poison oak. I went back to the doctor and got another 10 days of the medication. At least I had relief from the itch, no matter the side effects. The second round of medication ran out this past weekend and the rash persists. [BTW, no one in my family has come down with any symptoms... just lucky me]. Instead of going to my primary care doctor again I went to see a dermatologist today, figuring they might be a bit more familiar with rashes.
This was the first time I had met this one particular doctor and let me tell you that I wish I had put some makeup on and brushed my hair a bit more before the appt. He was so nice and super cute. Then I had to get in a gown and show him my yucky rash. He said that my body had some allergic reaction to something (doesn't think poison oak) and now my body is short-circuiting. The initial allergen is gone and I am suffering through the reaction. He compared it to a computer that needs to reboot. He put me back on the Prednisone and also prescribed a steroid ointment (It is in a 1lb vat) that I need to cover my whole body in before bed each night. I also need to take a Benedryl .
He said that all combined should battle the rash but to be prepared for it to take awhile, possibly up to a year!
BTW, I am not contagious, dear Husband!
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