Make up your damn mind

[Micer]

Yep, they're pretty much in all the unit buildings, they come out from holes between the roof and wall in the evenings and pretty much swoop around, but otherwise, if you live on one of the end units, it also means you can knock on your walls and hear squeaking and rustling.

And when it gets colder, a chance of the bedbugs that infest them to come along looking to infest you. Anyhow, the owners have been swearing up and down that they're getting someone to 'evict' the bats, but had to wait until their mating/baby bats are now grown up bats season was passed because they're protected. ...yay Florida.



That's one of the little guys that got in through the access hole to the dishwasher (boarded up now, they've also gotten in through the vent in the kitchen - which is now chicken-wired up)

[Shalom]

First thing I would have tried would have been an oral antihistamine. Atarax (hydroxyzine) is kind of the gold standard for hives, but you need a prescription for it; nearest thing to that OTC is Zyrtec (cetirizine). If the Claritin's not cutting it, try the Zyrtec. Even Benadryl is useful if you can't find the others, but only by mouth: do not use the topical Benadryl, because it's a contact sensitizer (chemically related to the fabric softeners, as it happens) and can actually cause a rash in some cases.

(I've heard claims that at the recommended dosage, Claritin isn't much use... but at the dosage where it's effective, it's no longer non-drowsy, which was the main marketing point for it in the first place.)

Also, any time I hear of someone taking sulfonamides (Bactrim/Septra is the most common one nowadays) who breaks out in a rash, I tell them to stop taking that immediately, as that's a common drug allergy. Can also cause hypersensitivity to sunlight, so it might not be a good idea to sunbathe either. Are you still taking antibiotics?

[Micer]

Nope, off of the antibiotics for a couple of weeks now and been off of the doxepin since last week, the claratin wasn't working, but the dermatologist suggested allegra, which seems to be working a bit already, the itching is now down to quick urge spurts here and there (just spent three hours at the department of health for wic and only scratched myself once during that time), I'm still itching like mad when I get up in the morning, but nice to have some relief during the day already.

And otherwise still limiting my sun exposure, going for short walks in the sun just for the sake of different enviroment, but not swimming or laying out, more so since sweating seems to aggravate things as much as getting a sunburn did.

And as an update, talked to management, apparently our previous complaint about the bats was lost, but they're going to call the 'critter catchers' to come back (they just evicted a colony of bats from another unit) and do ours, followed with a fumigation.

[Micer]

So I'm starting to think it's not detergent, it's not food, it's not - well, completely stress (I know the hives stress me out, which I suppose makes more hives) I'm starting to think it's certain fabrics and synthetics that are setting off the hives on my hands and feet. I lay down on my comforter (polyester and poly-something filler) and the backs of my feet go nuts, sheet (microfiber polyester-something) everything goes nuts, I wear my sandals, tops of my feet go nuts. That's all I can come up with, if it's polyester or something like a pad or a diaper, it's hive time, if it's cotton, nothing. I pretty much just spent last night sleeping on a flannel blanket atop the bed and woke up fine, save for some pressure itches.

So guess I invest in some socks and cotton gloves for now -_-

[Micer]

Thought I'd throw in an update.
Still no idea what caused it, but, things are healing. I still have patches of dry skin on my hands, but considering how many of those little blisters there were, I can only imagine how much of my skin I need to shed before those will be normal again. My heels are a nightmare since it looks like the backs of my feet want to peel off all the skin on it. Otherwise for now, controlling the dryness with baby oil gel that has aloe in it. Still can't touch polyester without getting the urge to itch myself like crazy, least all the cotton clothes have helped out, hoping someday I can wear jeans again.

Still on the lexapro, saw the therapist who thinks that the majority of it has been stress, still on the fence on continuing to see her, I have unrelated issues that should have been addressed with therapy when I was a kid, and it might help with my habit of beating myself up mentally when things go wrong.

Still have the bats, management swears they're taking bids, I'm expecting them to hem and haw until the next breeding season to say 'There's nothing we can do, they're protected again!'

But things are getting better. I got this little guy =)



Thanks again for all your help, advice and support, guys, its appreciated!

[Sapphire Silk]

Squee! OMG, he is soooo cute!

[Seshat]

Contact the tenants' rights association wherever you are, and get them to help you force management to evict the current crop of critters, and place proper gridding/netting/whatever where it's needed to prevent future intrusions.

At least in Australia, if it's a health or safety issue and the landlord isn't doing it within a reasonable time frame, the tenant may do something themselves (with a professional, and appropriate receipts, etc) and send in a duplicate of the receipt instead of their rent.
This, however, MUST be done only under certain conditions: I would strongly advise that if you're thinking of going that route, you check with the tenants' rights association; whatever it is where you are.

(In Australian states, each state has a rental properties board that covers both landlord and tenant rights: this board is who I would consult. I'd like to assume there's a similar agency wherever you are.)

[Peppergirl]

Hi Guys,

First off, Micer - we are very glad you're feeling better.

Secondly, I'm afraid we're going to have to close the thread. It was created near the time we made the rule about not seeking medical advice and we missed it. Our apologies for that.

Again, it's great you're doing well and congrats on the gorgeous baby!