June 9, 2004

 

Yesterday afternoon I went to the drugstore and bought some Viactiv, Niciacin and Biotin supplements, and some children's vitamins.  I've never tried the Niacin or Biotin before, but the people at the last support group meeting told me that Biotin might help with some hair regrowth.  I had read a little about Niacin, too, and it seemed like it couldn't hurt, so I grabbed some of that, as well.  I got home, ate half a bag of beef jerky and drank some iced tea, and took all of these pills and chews.  Not ten minutes later, my ears started burning like crazy.  It had been hot and humid all day, and though I hadn't been out in the sun more than a few minutes all day, I figured it was either a burn or my imagination.  Then my whole face felt really hot, but when I touched it, my skin felt cool.  All of a sudden, my arms and shoulders started burning, as if I had gotten a horrible sunburn, and my skin started turning all shades of red.  I thought I was going crazy, so I hollered to my brother to come and see if I looked red.  His face looked horrified when he came in and he said my whole face was turning black.  I jumped up and headed to the bathroom, and sure enough, my whole face was turning a dark shade of purple.  So I immediately headed out the door with my little sister and bolted to the emergency room.  The woman behind the counter kept laughing and saying how tired she was and repeated the same questions several time.  She said she was leaving in a couple of minutes, and I could tell the other woman about it when she arrived.  Sheesh.  So finally the other showed up, and she felt my skin, which still wasn't hot, but it was obvious that something was going on because I was red from head to toe and the burning was enough to almost make me cry.  It was starting to itch and I got noticeably thirsty.  It was so bad that I started searching for a water fountain, but the only thing around was a juice machine, and I didn't have any money.  Eventually my mom showed up, as she had gone to the store with my dad when all of this happened.  She sat down and kept reminding me of how much the co-payment of my insurance was going to be, but I told her it would be worth fifty friggin' dollars if I didn't die.  She asked me which pills I had taken, and I pointed to the pile of bottles sitting next to her on the stand and told which two I thought were the culprits.  So she started reading the Niacin bottle.  "NOTICE: Use of this product may cause skin flushing, burning, itching or rash.  Do not take on an empty stomach.  This reaction can usually be relieved by drinking one or two glasses of water."  (The preceding notice has been edited from its original reading.  There were also several sideways glances at me as if I had the word "DUMBASS" written across my forehead.)  So she told me that she had just saved me fifty bucks and could we leave now.  I was literally thirsting to death, and I didn't care so long as I could get some water, so I told the admitting nurse that the bottle clarified everything and that I would come back if it got any worse.  She "adviced strongly against" this, but it didn't seem so urgent that they had let me see a doctor in the entire half hour I had been sitting there, even though there was no one else there, so I said, "That's okay.  Sorry I wasted your time," and left.  Of course I felt like an idiot, and Camisha kept laughing at me because the Outkast song, Hey yeah! was playing, and it, oddly enough, matched this situation to a tee.  So when I got home, I drank about 32 ounces of water within a twenty minute time frame.  That had to be a new record, but I was so thirsty that I couldn't even believe it.  All I could keep saying is, "What kind of company makes a pill that causes people to burn and itch?  Shouldn't they be working against that sort of thing?"  But Mom sure seemed satisfied with herself, gloating about how much smarter than me she was.  I had to admit that she was right, as much as that one hurt.  So what did we learn here?  Oh yeah!  Read the entire label before taking a mystery pill.  At least that way when your world crashes around you, you'll know if it's a normal occurrence or if a trip to the emergency room is actually warranted.  In other news, another job has been posted at my college working in the Admission Office.  I'm not going to get my hopes up (hopefully!), but man, I hope I get that job!  I also mailed out a package to my friend, Bethany, who is in the Peace Corps and living in Paraguay.  I sent her a bunch of clothes, pictures, and candy, so let's hope that brightens up her day.  She only brought three pairs of pants with her, and her little puppy chewed one of them a bit, so I sent her a bunch of different clothes.  Her mom told me that everything she has to wear is in bad shape because she has to wash them in the river on rocks.  I hope she likes what I got her!  I'm also waiting on a new seat for my wheelchair, because the old one busted a few seams and is sagging, about ready to come crashing down.  I'm using my old backup chair, but I don't like it.  It has no clothing guards and it's a lot wider, so it doesn't go through doors very well.  But other than that, it's just another exciting day of cleaning the house.  Yippee skippy!