NEWSFLASH

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I’ve amalgamated all my blogs into one. Too much to do, too little time to keep 3 going.

Definitely first of the season

I have my first proper cold of this autumn/winter.  At first I thought it was hayfever because I’d been out in the garden trimming bushes.  Unfortunately the anti-histamine did nothing but the paracetamol I took 3 hours later took the edge off things.  This morning I am all bunged up on one side and perfectly fine on the other.  Lovely!!!!!!

I also have plenty of spots, probably the worst of the summer apart from Edinburgh in May.  They’re not itchy or really obvious.  I hope that the end of this month will mean the end of PLE till March/April next year.  Unfortunately by then it will probably be too cold to be out for very long without a jumper on.

It’s August!

And I’ve been away, so apologies for the lack of posts recently.

Yes, it’s August.  A good month/bad month for me.  Good because it’s my birthday month.  Bad because it’s the month of most reactivity, and I usually end up very miserable/depressed by the end of it.

This year has been no different as far as reactivity is concerned.  However, I am only more reactive compared to the rest of this year.  Compared to previous years it hardly counts.  In fact, I’ve been worse than this in other months in those years and considered those good months.

There has been a marked decrease in how long I can be out in it before the spots start and the petechiae seem to be more plentiful.  I’m still happy though.

On a slightly negative note I’ve had wicked catarrh this month and the loratadine doesn’t seem to be touching it.  I did wonder, at one point, whether it was allergy or the first cold of the autumn/winter.  I’m sneezing more too.  But, so far, things haven’t gotten worse so I’ll go with either an allergy or a warning shot that I have taken enough anti-histamines and my body would like a rest from them now.

How are you doing so far this year?

It rained!

On Friday it really came down.  Saturday afternoon saw some very fine drizzle for most of the afternoon too.

On Friday morning it was total cloud cover, before the heavens opened, so I got out in the garden (short sleeved) and trimmed back some of the bushes.  I did half an hour and it did bring out some rash but still not nearly as bad as I have had it in previous years.  Then, as I said, it rained so I stayed in.

On Saturday I went to the gym (short sleeves again), parking about 100 yards from the entrance. The rash didn’t get worse.

Today hubby and I went to Brighton.  Today was heavy on the sunshine with cloudy intervals.  Today I wore my denim shirt and kept my hands in my pockets.  The rash seems to be slowly improving and I am happy.  Why?  Because I can go out for several hours in jeans and a long sleeved shirt and have a good time.  Hubby is really on-the-ball with my exposure times, probably even better than me.  Today he steered me to the shady side of the street – when there was one – and was a real help.  Did I tell you how much I love him?!

Back on the up

The rash seems to be fading nicely, though the skin keeps having itchy sessions.  Ah well, it was purely self-inflicted so I shouldn’t complain too loudly.

Do you know how hard it is to type one set of words whilst singing along to a DVD?  And can you guess how long this post took to correct?

Six hours

That was the sum total of my continuous exposure on Sunday.  Ok, so the weather was mostly cloudy and I was under a canopy as much as possible – a canopy with big enough weave holes to let UV through – and a short sleeved t-shirt.  I was partying hard with my friends.

And my punishment?  Apart from a slight hangover, I have spotty arms and hands – BUT not as bad as I would have expected in previous years and not as bad as on my trip to Edinburgh in May.

I’ve done a couple of applications of steroid cream as it got a bit itchy in places.  Things are fading nicely.  Still working on shaking off the tiredness, though that could just be the excess booze.

Spots in new places

After a lovely visit to friends who have moved to the New Forest, and spending all afternoon sitting in their garden, I have some new spots.  It is entirely self-inflicted and I’m not looking for sympathy.

I have a few spots on each foot and, thanks to a low cut t-shirt, on my upper chest.  My hands are also spotty but, thanks to wearing long sleeves for most of the afternoon, my arms aren’t too bad.

I sat in the dappled shade as much as possible but my feet were more exposed.  I didn’t think to pull the shirt closed over my exposed upper chesty bits – silly me, I’ll know for next time – but I’m SO grateful they don’t itch.

I couldn’t stay completely covered over as there’s very little breeze in their back garden and the weather was hot and humid with intermittent cloud cover.

Even my hubby commented that I wasn’t as bad as I would have been last year.