tsw: what is worse getting bit by fire ants or dealing w tsw

I battled fire ants yesterday at my students' house. That was seriously yucky. I rushed home and went straight to the shower.  My skin felt better yesterday before the fire ants and despite them.  I almost felt like a normal person...a normal person that can't wear anything unless it's super soft to the touch. Getting ready for the day is frustrating deciding what to wear that won't hurt. If I feel better tonight, I think I will make a project of taking off the tags. The tags on the collar alone irritate my skin.  I'm wearing my pjs inside out because even the stitching doesn't feel comfortable.

I woke up to a red swollen face that felt like it had an electrical dermis storm going on.  It took a few hours of ice packs and cold compresses to calm it down to a pink.  I'm drinking ginger root steeped in my French press with hopes that I can drown out the baddies.

Its day 20 of not taking any topical steroids for eczema and allergies.  Normally, if I used a topical steroid, the dry irritated areas on my face may calm down to a smaller patch of dryness, maybe not.  I would encounter some breathing trouble at some point and would add breathing in steroids (asthma medicine).  My "allergy flare" would calm down for a couple of weeks and I would repeat after a week or two.

But I was only barely gaining wellness and I was slowly growing less well.  I've become less sociable and have fallen into the habit of disappearing for months thinking that perhaps I needed to slow down (they say eczema is a stress reaction).  Seriously folks, I have made it a lifestyle to be a negativity slayer, working toward taking things in stride, defusing drama and staying away from toxic people and situations.  I think if I was a Buddhist monk, yogi master or nun, I'd still be struggling with flare ups.

Topical steroids have stopped working.  But wait!  Despite the misery of the red face electrifying dermis storm, I'm breathing free and easy.  I'm petting my students' cats and not sneezing at all. That's weird.

It's as if a part of my "life with allergies" has whisked itself off to fairyland.  My asthma buddies are lamenting allergy season and I'm standing alone with no need for inhalers.  Can it be that the asthma/eczema medicines were giving me asthma?

I'm reading up on non steroid ways to handle allergies.  Wow.  There's a whole world out there that I didn't know of.  Himalayan salt.  Who knew?  Google it.  I plan to write on it eventually.

So fire ants or topical steroid withdrawal...which feels worse?  TSW.  It takes a lot more to feel better if you are going through TSW.

jnet