Just letting you know, this post isn’t technically M.E related, but it is health related so that’s close enough.
For the last week I have been itchy from my neck to my toes. My hands and forearms also escaped so far but the longer this goes on, the more they are being effected. It’s been a week now and the itching is getting worse. I barely sleep because it wakes me up throughout.
The thing is though, there is no obvious cause. No rash or hives or dry skin. Nothing in my washing or cleaning routine has changed. It’s not a deep, burning itch, like you get with allergies, but like thousands of teeny tiny spiders crawling all over me, but scratching doesn’t kill them. Heat soothes it instead of making it itchier. I’ve not been out in the sun or under a lamp or anything. It has been a literally 24/7 itching all over my body and I have no idea why.
So I called the GP and she says “Hmmm… Let’s get some blood tests and check out your liver function and things, and then we can stop worrying.” Before she said that, I didn’t realise that we were worrying.
The closest blood clinic didn’t have an appointment available for 2 weeks, so I had to get one a little further away, and the current state of affairs means busses aren’t an option for me, so I had to walk the 40mins there and 45-50mins back (I’m tireder now).
But before that I made sure that to worry sufficiently, as the doctor had told me to do, I looked up all the things it could be. In the end I decided it was either a dormant virus rearing its ugly head (shingles for example), hypothyroidism, or some kind of cancer. I put those in order of likeliness for you too. Of course the other option is that it’s a new undiagnosable chronic illness that shows up on no tests and has no treatment, but I’m currently refusing to accept that possibility.
I’ve just come back from having my blood taken now. I asked the nurse what “liver and things” actually meant so I knew what I could rule out if the blood tests showed nothing. She confirmed that I was getting the full works. That means full blood count (red cells, white cells and platelettes), blood glucose levels, liver function, kidney function, thyroid function and calcium levels (to check heart health).
I’m supposed to get the results tomorrow and it can’t come too soon. I’m starting to get some bad bruising from the scratching that I’m doing (mostly subconsciously in my sleep). I need this itching to go away. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Tangent: I forgot my keys because I’m not sleeping and was running late for my blood test and, after the locksmith let us back in, he looked at my cane and said “What have you done to your foot, did you hurt yourself?” and I realised that’s the first time since March that I’ve had someone ask me a stupid ableist question. I was annoyed with a hint of nostalgia.