Posted by BarbaraCat on April 29, 2004, at 16:07:21
In reply to Thanks for the major panic attack., posted by bwl on April 26, 2004, at 22:58:38
Giving you a major panic attack and bad dreams was not my intention and for that I apologise. You certainly don't need the extra stress. Getting your undivided attention, however, was my intention and it seems it was successful.
About not supporting you. I could easily have thought 'oh my God, she's actually got a rash! Oh well, no one wants to hear anything negative about something they feel might be helping and everyone has their path to follow and she doesn't seem too concerned, and besides it'll probably just go away. I don't want to alarm anyone or have them not like me! Anyhow, I would prefer to not bother because I'm still feeling pretty rocky from almost dying from it....' But I sensed your concern and felt conveying my alarm was more important than my normal concern for diplomatic politeness. The truth is, very few medical practitioners know what the heck this thing is about, who gets it, why we get it, or what to do about it!
My advice is that a med rash is an allergic symptom that if ignored, CAN lead to Stevens Johnson Syndrome. It's a progressive reaction that can be halted if the offending allergic agent is stopped early enough. I did not stop taking my med early enough, and I got a mild, but very debilitating case of it. It did not have to occur had I been more informed.
Thanks to my brutally honest advice, you will be probably be paying close attention to any future itchiness or rashes or adverse reactions - as you well should be. Putting a cream on an allergic med reaction is like covering up a blinking oil light on your car. Most people don't like to think about these things until it happens to them. I sure don't have the energy to get up on a soap box about my experience, and your reaction proves that nobody really wants or hears information that's disturbing.
One more bit of well meaning advice. If you read over your original post I think you'll see that your tone conveyed a rather lighthearted breezy and cryptic manner. Most of us here are depressed and brain-fogged and can relate to being scared, so a clear request is appreciated. All the best to you. Barbara
ps - Thanks Katia for your words of support.
> I just wanted to thank you for absolutely terrifying me. By the way I wasn't "yucking it up" in my recent discourse. Of course I know that there can be long term side effects from the rash I got. I'm not stupid. However, your overly graphic information really did nothing more than to cause me to have a major panic attack. I am terribly sorry about what happened to you and I can only pray to God that it does not happen to me. The thought of something so horrid happening because I wanted to be a happy person as opposed to a weak, timid person terrified of leaving behind those she adore or causing them any stress is all I wanted to do. Now, thanks to your uplifting words, I'm sure I'll have such pleasant dreams. By the way, have you ever thought that maybe I was "yucking it up" because I was scared? Next time, think before you type...support is so much better than terror.
poster:BarbaraCat
thread:208531
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040429/msgs/341413.html