The Welts

23-May-2004 8:36 PM

Public access prohibited. Do not view or redistribute this page, its URI, or any images without permission.

On Sunday night, 16 May, I ate a large “Veggie Supreme” pizza, and some time after, a bowl of ice cream, followed later by a litre or so of “Lemon, Lime and Bitters” soft drink. When I woke in the morning, my stomach felt acidic, and I had mild heartburn. I felt unwell, insofar as my stomach was upset, all day, and the following days. I never felt very sick – I just felt as though I had a slightly upset stomach. Because of this, I ate very little during the week – generally only one small meal a day and a snack or two while at uni. However, I did drink some Coca Cola and perhaps other soft drinks – although not a large quantity of any. I gradually felt better as the days passed.

On Friday, I felt much better, and ate more than the previous days. I bought a milkshake around lunchtime, and because I went home via Indooroopilly to check what movies were showing, I bought another milkshake from the Cold Rock store there later in the night. This didn’t make me feel sick, just full, and I figured I was perhaps better.

On Saturday, I went into uni, and spent a day in the labs. Towards the end of the day, I noticed itchy welts developing around my waistline. I had worn my coarse wool jumper tied around my waist, so I thought it was perhaps an irritation caused by that – even though it didn’t actually contact my skin. On the bus home, I dropped my ticket on the floor while sitting at my seat. When I went to bend over to pick it up, I felt a sharp pain from my abdomen – reminiscent of a very full bladder. This alerted me to the fact that I felt as though I should urinate – not quite the same, but a similar feeling, and once at Central Station I tried but didn’t need to urinate as much as I would have expected from the feeling. This led to one of my early theories, that whatever organ lives near the bladder wasn’t happy. Once home, I discovered to my shock that the welts had spread to splotchy spots around my body – under my arms, a few spots on my upper torso, and my upper legs. I wondered what it could be, showered, and went to bed. Around 3 AM, it sleepily occurred to me that perhaps, due to not eating normally all week, I could be drastically lacking some vital nutrient, so I got up, discovered the welts had spread more, and had two multivitamin tablets. When I woke in the morning, the welts were mostly gone – with just a reddish remnant remaining in a few spots, so I had another multivitamin tablet and went to the train station.

On Sunday 23 May 2004, by the time I had gotten to the train station, the remnants of welts, mainly around my waistline, had become slightly more pronounced. They remained mostly static for most of the day, and I tried to ignore them. Towards evening, they began to become more pronounced, and itchier. I had been in a computer lab at uni coding for some time, and went with some friends down to the Ville to get something to eat. I got a falafel kebab, and a small bottle of Sprite soft drink. By this time, the welts had become quite itchy and spread down my upper legs, but were still most pronounced around my waistline. There were a few small ones under my arms, similar to Saturday evening. The welts gradually spread. I kept coding for some time, but eventually the welts had spread to spots across my upper torso, and my upper arms, and I realised I had better go home. On the train home, the welts spread in blotches across half of my upper torso, and most of my arms and legs – but only in patches. Now, after showering, they cover most of my body in patches, similarly to when I woke up Saturday night.

• My current theory is that I have a sugar imbalance, so now I don’t want to eat in case this is true – which could be a problem if it’s not true and I should, in fact, be eating.
• I am now suspecting this may be something more along the lines of hives or shingles. I am currently reading up on both of those.
• After some reading, I no longer thing shingles fits the bill, but hives does sound very similar. Perhaps even hives caused by a urinary tract infection, or food imbalance, or something along those lines. I am slightly sore where my bladder would normally be (and hopefully still is). It feels sort of similar to when I’m busting to go to the toilet, but only mildly – so mildly in fact that I am not sure if I have been sore there before and only just noticed now due to this, or not.
• ’m now favouring the urinary tract infection caused by overly acidic stomach conditions, exacerbated by lack of drinking and eating due to feeling unwell and causing hives or a similar skin condition. This scenario fits all the symptoms, but hopefully a doctor tomorrow can confirm (and fix) this.

View of welts on the arm, elbow visible.

View of arm showing welts.

View of inner arm showing welts. The wrist can be seen just beginning on the left.

Close-up view of the bottom of the arm. The wrist can be seen just beginning on the left.

View of welts on the upper portion of the lower arm. The crease of the elbow can be seen to the right.

Close-up view of welts on the arm. The elbow can be seen to the top right.

Close-up view of a welt on the upper leg.

View of welts on the upper torso.

23-MAY-2004, Images not to be viewed or redistributed without permission.