Why I haven't been writing any songs lately - PLEA FOR HELP!
I have what seems to others like a "minor" health problem, but it isn't minor to me. Symptoms are deep under-the-skin itchy red blotches on hands, feet, scalp, arms, chest and back.feet, sometimes developing into hard painful bumpy spots. Right now I have one of the bumpy spots on my foot and I can't put my shoes on. This has been going on maybe 4 weeks. I first tried all the usual OTC remedies - they cost a lot, and provide either zero or temporary (like 5 minutes) relief. The first doc thought it was some kind of allergy or cold sores, gave me Doxepin (I take Allegra and had already tried adding some Benadryl) and said it should work in 3-4 days. It didn't. The second doctor thinks what I have is hives, said I should have given the meds 2-3 weeks (come ON - I'm SUFFERING here) and switched me to Hydroxyzine and Triamcinolone Acetonide Cream USO 0.1%. That was 5 days ago. The red spots on my arms disappeared after 24 hours. but now they're coming back and it's also on my scalp, the back of my neck, etc. The cream does provide temporary relief to where I can sleep for 2-3 hours at a time.

And no, I haven't changed anything about my diet, environment or personal products lately.

I'm not asking for or expecting any free medical advice, but do any of you know any good home remedies that I haven't tried yet? Let's see, I've tried vitamins of all kinds, eucerin cream, hydrocortisone cream, gold bond cream, vaseline intensive care, cutting things out of my diet (I have no history of food allergies, but what the heck), pain meds and just relaxing. My BP is 130/82 according to my home monitor.

And yes, I plan to try the doctor again on Monday. This time, I'll try to get either my PCP or a dermatologist.

The other thing that's bugging me - and I'm working very hard not to be stressed out about it - is trying to get Fedex to deliver a package to me. I spent 12 hours today waiting for a package that never came, and being unable to leave the house. Their customer service is not very helpful, and can't do anything at all until Monday, at which point they probably still can't. I work 8-5, have called them and asked for evening delivery, and they said no they can't do that but they can deliver on Saturday. I called 5 times today to try to get a delivery time window, but they couldn't do that either, although they did promise me more than once over the phone that the package would be delivered today, and that they deliver up until 8:00 PM. According to the internet tracking, my driver called it quits at 5:46 PM without delivering my package. The company that sent the package refused to send it to my PO box, which is also very annoying. Going to pick up the package is about a $20 cab ride, which would probably have been better, in retrospect, than waiting at my house all day.

Needless to say, I will never again do business with these lying sacks of garbage, and UPS is on my list as well.

I know there's nothing any of you can do (other than patronize the US Postal Service, which, I think, has much better customer service) but it's been nice venting my frustration. If any of you would like to call FedEx and tell them for me what you think of them, their number is 1 800 463 3339.