![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
revenaLong-time readers (and those of you who know me in real life) may know that earlier this year, I started getting rashes on my lips. They're itchy and painful in a rather intense way, and make it difficult to smile or talk normally or eat or any number of other activities. They usually last about three days, and so each time I would get the rash, I'd consider seeing a doctor and then it would go away before I got around to it.
I finally did consult a doctor about it, and she was able to tell me... nothing. Well, that's not true. She did say "it's definitely not herpes," which was certainly reassuring. The best she could offer for a possible cause was a choice between a topical allergy and... stress.
I stopped using flavored and scented chapsticks entirely, and I still got the rashes. Every time I did, I had a huge paper due, or had been having a bout of insomnia, etc. Stress was the obvious culprit.
So I was kind of thrilled not to have anything more than a brief one-day tingling in my lips throughout the first two drafts of the thesis. I had expected to have near-constant painful flare-ups, I guess, but it just never happened. I kind of thought that maybe I was cured.
Late last night, my lips began to itch. This morning, they were swollen and rough, pebbled with the rash.
I climbed into Jameson's lap, just now, for a little cuddle. I was feeling stressed out, I told him. When he asked why, I said I wasn't sure. I'm not supposed to do anything with the thesis right now. I don't have any more tests this week. I haven't got any term papers due until the 18th. There is -nothing- I'm supposed to be doing tonight. If I want to stay up kinda late and work on the next Valmai Hammerhand story, I can.
"So," he said, after a moment, "you're stressed that you might have fun?"
Damn. I've gotten so used to feeling like I'm not working as hard as I should be... I think I am, a little bit.
I finally did consult a doctor about it, and she was able to tell me... nothing. Well, that's not true. She did say "it's definitely not herpes," which was certainly reassuring. The best she could offer for a possible cause was a choice between a topical allergy and... stress.
I stopped using flavored and scented chapsticks entirely, and I still got the rashes. Every time I did, I had a huge paper due, or had been having a bout of insomnia, etc. Stress was the obvious culprit.
So I was kind of thrilled not to have anything more than a brief one-day tingling in my lips throughout the first two drafts of the thesis. I had expected to have near-constant painful flare-ups, I guess, but it just never happened. I kind of thought that maybe I was cured.
Late last night, my lips began to itch. This morning, they were swollen and rough, pebbled with the rash.
I climbed into Jameson's lap, just now, for a little cuddle. I was feeling stressed out, I told him. When he asked why, I said I wasn't sure. I'm not supposed to do anything with the thesis right now. I don't have any more tests this week. I haven't got any term papers due until the 18th. There is -nothing- I'm supposed to be doing tonight. If I want to stay up kinda late and work on the next Valmai Hammerhand story, I can.
"So," he said, after a moment, "you're stressed that you might have fun?"
Damn. I've gotten so used to feeling like I'm not working as hard as I should be... I think I am, a little bit.
