MyKidney.com

I finally went to the doctor today after waiting way too long. I saw my regular doc (the new kidney doc appointment is in 10 days) for a skin rash I've had on and off since May. This isn't the first time I've had it but this is the first time that it wouldn't go away on it's own. I've always called them my "stress bumps". Every time I encounter a huge amount of stress in my life, I break out all over, with these little fluid-filled bumps. It takes about 2 weeks after the stressful event(s) before the bumps appear and then they usually last about 6 weeks before going away. This occurs once every 15 - 18 months and it taks a LOT of stress to bring it on. The bumps themselves resemble infected pimples, but upon feeling one, it's almost as if there is a hard marble under my skin. The pain is enormous. To touch one is torture, to lie or sit on one is unbearable. They don't come all at once - I get a rash of them, and as those start to fade and heal, one or two new ones will break out at a time. This time I got the bumps as a result of 3 major events happening in my life in one week - going to court to finalize my divorce, buying a car and sending my son off to visit his father (alone) for 6 weeks. Throughout May, June and July I had bumps all over - the ones on my stomach were so bad they scarred. Ken begged me to go to the doctor but I just kept hoping they would go away. Of course they didn't this time. Finally in August they seemed to be clearing up - no new ones were breaking out and the old ones were healing. Then, I moved to my new apartment. Along with that, another huge amount of uncontrolled stress... two weeks later, a big breakout of new bumps. Since I had to take my son to his doctor this morning to check out his rash (how ironic - he just had a reaction to some bug bites as it turns out) I decided to take myself to the doctor, also. The doctor isn't sure exactly *what* these bumps are, but she is sure they aren't shingles (which is what I thought they might be based on the pain). She thinks maybe it's some sort of reaction from my failing kidneys or something tied into that. As a temporary fix, until I see the new kidney doc a week from Friday, she put me on Prednizone to try and reduce the inflammation. As I said in this LJ comment a few days ago I swore I would NEVER take this drug again. Because I have no other option, and because the doc doesn't know what my "stress bumps" are, I agreed to take it - but in a low dose (40 mg/day) for a short period of time (5 days). Obviously this dose is no where near the high-level doses I was taking in 1995 when it was being used to treat my kidney disease. I'm just hoping it will help and with little or no side-effects. She also put me on some high potency antibiotics. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping this will work. These stupid bumps are a big pain in the ass and I really hate having to go to the doctor for something that seems so minor to me.