July 18, 2007
The next morning
This entry follows on from my itchy legs entry.
The next morning I did not realise my husband left for work. I woke up thinking oh its probably 9am. When I looked at the clock it was 12pm. I got out of bed, still feeling grogy and sleepy. I made my way to the kitchen to make brunch and get on with what was left of the rest of the day. But after lunch I ended up still feeling sleepy and I had to sleep it off. My whole day was gone.
Now don’t get me wrong there are antihistamines that are not sleepy. Atarax which is the anti histamine my dermatologist gave me, is not only an anti-histamine but also an anti-depressant. It treats the anxiety caused as a result of my eczema. It is what my student doctor brother and his mates call combined therapy. (Thanks Jaxman)
One of the common side effects of Atarax is drowsiness. And I can tell you by experience that its so drowsy that I can’t drive. My day is absolutely spoilt. I can’t do anything but sleep it off. Check this website out.
Its been two days after I took atarax. And believe it or not I’m still slightly affected by it. It will ware off soon.
But lets put this in perspective. If a child took it, that child would end up not going to school or sleep in class. Either way that child would be dubbed either lazy for sleeping in class or stupid as a resulf of not going to school and missing class and trying to catch up. Especially when the teacher does not understand and play up that behaviour in class. By the teacher teaching the child and the other children that its a bad behaviour either by embarrasing them or making them as an example to the rest of the class. Can you imagine what this does to a child. I absolutely can. And it is for this reason til now that this is a very lonely disease.
As a carer of child with eczema, especially if you don’t have other carers around you, you feel like you are the only one in the world battling and managing this disease with the child. And it is hard to stay positive for yourself and for the child when you know there is no cure.
For carers there is a fantastic book writted by Dr. Jenny Titman called “Understanding Childhood Eczema” that I recommend. I have it and its fantastic. Also try this website too “www.undermyskin.com” Its a book also in pdf.file that you can read with your child. Makes me want to write a book as well. 🙂
Till the next entry here to feel good and having fabulous skin.
ItChY
Diaries of an eczema sufferer 
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