Chronic Illness - What I Learned And What You Need to Know, Medicinally and Mentally

My journey began when I was five months pregnant. One night my husband found me curled in the bedroom, frantically scratching my back, legs and arms. Everything felt like it was on fire and nothing would relieve the pain or the angry red welts that covered my body. A quick call to the doctor began a series of blood tests that revealed nothing unusual. After a thorough check of mine and the baby’s vital signs, the doctors and I concluded that my body was simply reacting to the changes brought on by pregnancy. Seven years later, it is clear that something more was wrong with my body. 

I suffer from chronic hives, also known as Chronic Urticaria. At random times, on any given day, a portion of my body will burn, itch and begin to swell into angry red welts. It could be my face, my back, my legs, my arms or my hands. It can be painful as my skin darkens and swells into unsightly bumpy red patches and often frightens people who insist I immediately rush to the emergency room for a dose of epinephrine, fearing I could collapse at any moment. 

What is known about my illness is that my immune system is on constant red alert, seeking out toxins that have entered my bloodstream. What remains unknown is what caused my immune system to reach red alert status and what my body considers toxic. It is the fear of what may be lurking under the unsightly and slightly uncomfortable welts on my body that keeps me awake at night and keeps me searching for answers to the mystery when my doctors have assured me that nothing serious is wrong. 

Seven years of an overactive immune system is taking its toll on my body. I am more fatigued than I should be, some days finding it difficult to drag my tired body from bed or feeling as if my sleep lasted eight minutes rather eight hours. I am sick more often than I have ever been and my hives are appearing more frequently than usual. I am thirty-five and yet, I often feel twenty years older.