Strep and antibiotics and hives! Oh my!

Remember me?  Again.

I swear to you Internetz that I had all the good intentions of following up after my last post.

But then I got sick.  Really sick.

I thought it was swimmers ear so I was treating it with an over-the-counter ear drop. 

The fact that the glands on the left side of my neck were practically popping out should have been a clue that it wasn't just swimmers ear.

Note: NEVER Google "swollen neck glands."  Just don't.

Post-freak out and one week later, I finally dragged myself to the clinic convinced that I had a more serious ear infection.

Turns out I didn't.  My ears were fine.  My throat on the other hand was a hot mess.

One gag-filled strep test later and yours truly walked away with my first prescription for antibiotics in I don't know how long.

So I googled the antibiotics I was taking.

Do you think I had learned from before?

Note: sometimes some things are best left un-Googled.

But a week into the antibiotics and I was feeling much better and having none of the awful side effects that I had been warned about.

Until the one night I noticed a small rash on my arm.   By bedtime it was all over my upper arms and travelling down my back.

By morning I was covered, and I mean covered in hives.

But did I stop taking my antibiotic?

Of course not!  I was going to finish those ten days!

So I returned to the doctor.  Even more miserable.

She took one look at me, told me to stop taking the antibiotics and for the next five days I was on prednisone, antihistamines, and a topical lotion.

It took three very long days to even turn a corner.  But eventually the hives started to go away.

So here I am.  Strep free.  Hive free.  And back. 

Hi.