HUGE allergic reaction

Well, Tuesday evening I went in for a follow up shot where they up the dose more to get me closer to the maintenance dose. I sat there for the 20 minutes they require and headed home. About 2 minutes down the road my eyes started itching. I figured they'd just pumped me full of allergens, so that would be expected.

By the time I got home my eyes were swelling and itching more. I took some Benadryl and used some antihistamine eye drops. It wasn't getting much better. I have always been told that I'm over-dramatic, so it seems that when something really does start going wrong I get really stubborn (I waited 3 days before I went in for an emergency appendectomy a few years ago.) Although my symptoms seemed to be getting worse, I kept telling myself it would pass.

While I was fixing something to eat I started coughing. My chest and throat were tightening. I went ahead and ate because I still didn't want to overreact - one thing I'm accused of doing often. I figured having a huge allergic reaction would be considered drama. I told Mark I was going to lie down for a bit. He looked very concerned and asked if I thought we should go to the hospital. I told him I felt like it wasn't getting much worse.

When I lay on the couch my breathing became more constricted. It was 6:45 and the allergy place closed at 7:00. I called them and they told me to get there immediately. When I got there they gave me a breathing treatment, steroids, antihistamines, epi shot. I sat there for about an hour with Mark, my doctor, and nurse - everyone else in the clinic had gone.

She gave me a prescription for an EpiPen and an inhaler - just in case. So, next time they'll lower the dose dramatically and I'll sit there a little longer. This was Tuesday night and I'm just now starting to feel normal again - actually better than normal. All of this makes me very excited to go back next week and do it again!