Benadryl Dreams

I occasionally get hives. Not often, just every few years or so.

Several of my friends have had them in the past and I never really thought much about them until I contracted them myself.

Let me tell you, I would not wish hives on my worst enemy. They're not just ugly and annoying. They're TORTURE. They itch. They itch like hell.

I would rather be in pain than itch.

And the really wretched thing about hives is that most cases have no known cause. While 75% of women will contract them at some time in their lives, the majority of cases are idiopathic. Grrr!

Luckily, while the cause is unknown, the cure is simple (for me at least): Benadryl.

I don't like taking Benadryl. It has a lot of side-effects: sedation, tiredness, sleepiness, dizziness, disturbed coordination, drying and thickening of oral and other respiratory secretions, and stomach distress. May also cause low blood pressure, palpitations, increased heart rate, confusion, nervousness, irritability, blurred vision, double vision, tremor, loss or appetite, or nausea.

Fun.

Benadryl knocks me on my ass. I know people who can (and do) take it every day. Not me. It knocks me to sleep within a half hour. And I get weird dreams. The sort of dreams that seem real but can't possibly be real.

Last night, for instance. I took one tiny little Benadryl and soon I could barely raise my head from my pillow. Before long I was having Benadryl dreams.

I dream that my power went out - and I dream that my cat was eating my hair - and I dreamt that the lamp doing a tap dance. And I was convinced that there was someone in my front room (it was probably just Fluffy Kitty Butt eating the Xmas tree) But I couldn't do anything about any of it because I was practically comatose from one little pill.

The dreams are weird and they freak me out. But they're still better than hives. No question.