That, my friends, is how you get poison ivy. Scratch at it for three days like it's a bug bite and you can have a a foot and a half, square, of absolute misery. My condition has not improved since my last update. In fact, it's gotten worse. The infection has spread across my lower back. The new stuff isn't as raw and pus-y as the original site, but it itches so bad. The pus-y stuff has gone from one big spot surrounded by little oozy parts to one huge mass of nasty. I didn't notice any change with the use of Caladryl and oatmeal only made me itchier after a while, so I've resorted to burning it off. I've been pouring peroxide on it a few times a day, especially when it itches. Stings like hell, but dries up the pus for a while and makes it stop itching. Unofrtunately, I have to wear pants in public, so I end up rubbing and irritating the worst part all over again. Damn it damnit damn it.
I don't have health insurance, or any kind of money, or the luxury of sick days, so I have to keep trying to firgure out a good home remedy. Last time I had poion ivy as a kid, I ended up with impataego. The infection got into my blood stream and I was completely out of commission for a good two weeks, sick as a dog on top of the itching, scabbing and general epidermal misery.
In other news, I've worked almost sixty hours in the past week. I'm tired. I'm sure the lack of recovery and down time has antagonized my problems.
My little sister came down today. Her boyfriend had remedial driving classes at the sriving school near my house, and she had to take him. Since she had nothing else to do and doesn't know the area very well, she came over to my house (at 8:30 in the morning). She gave my roommate's ginormous doggy a bath and swept the whole house, including my roommate's bedroom! We went out for coffee and bagels and spent two hours wandering around Target (oh, how I covet. . . Curse my poverty.) She bought me a pair of cute shoes from Payless. hehe. We now have matching silver sequined wedges. Woot.
Work at the restaurant was non-existant, so I got to come home early. If only I had some vegan ice cream and cable. . . Perfect solution for exhaustion and poison ivy. . .
Are you super-neat? Messy? Somewhere in between? Tolerant of your own messes, but not those of others?
As for tidiness, I'm not so fussy about being tidy if it's my mess, but other people's mess tends to irritate a bit more. I wish it weren't that way. Dusting is about the only thing I don't do very regularly. At work, I'm very vocal about cleanliness because people can be slobs.
It's been a few years since I caught any poison ivy, and have since discovered various clay mud masks, designed from cleaning one's pores. Have used this on insect and spider bites, and this herbal clay mud mask stuff really pulls out a lot of the toxins, just like some hillbilly poultice, or the old folk remedy of spiderwebs, dirt and spittle applied to the thing.
Gotta feel for you about this business. I've had both eyes swollen shut with it. Once I inadvertantly sat down in some poison sumac, and got it all over the insides of my thighs, scrotum, all in there.
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Your question: cannot abide other people leaving their messes in my space, or taking my shit without asking, or cleaning up my messes left in my own space.