Postpartum/Menstrual Hives

am I the only person that self diagnoses through googling symptoms?

I know we are probably every doctor's nightmare, but I swear a lot of time when the doctor's leave the room for a minute they are googling too. haha!!!

After having kids I have come to love googling things just to make sure everything is okay and not freak out. The doctor/nurse usually tells me the exact same thing as what I found doing research myself. Of course I never tell them I googled or act like I "know" anything...cuz boy would that be annoying.

anyways. with that said...

yesterday at church one of my eyes started swelling...bigger and bigger, then i started noticing lumps. Then throughout the day I felt like my throat was itchy. By the time we got home at about 630pm I noticed that I had broken out in hives all over my arms. My hands were swollen and itchy and my shoulders were killing me. My arms often fall out socket and hurt really bad, so at first I thought that was all it was. Then it got worse and worse. I felt like all my bones were being smashed with a huge sledge hammer or that I had been hit by a huge mack truck. pain.

I could not sleep.. itchy and in so much pain. So I got up and looked up if it was okay to take benadryl while breastfeeding...which let me to start googling all my other symptoms.

I had also had started my first period since being pregnant the night before. This was already more excitement than I could handle. After my 2nd, my first period was horrible. It lasted almost 2 months on and off...and had the worst cramps ever. *sigh.

so back to self diagnosing... I had a sneaky suspicion the hives were from me getting my period again. I discovered that there were many woman who experienced getting hives postpartum or when they got their period after giving birth.

Most of the information I found was from forums, and moms asking for advice or if anyone else had experiences the same thing...more than actual medical help.

So I a hoping that mine was just an isolated event. (some women had hives every day for YEARS after giving birth).

So today I still feel groggy, benadryl is not my friend. my body still feels kinda sore...I feel dizzy but the itchiness is gone. one eye is still a bit swollen but I'm hoping it will all pass by tomorrow.

have any of you experience this before?

We are on our way to take the kids to the discovery museum, hopefully they won't discover their mom on the floor itching and scratching with bones in pain!