1. The Act
a. I slept in unwashed hotel sheets Thursday and came down with mild itchiness late Friday. Saturday morning, woke up with a rash on my left upper chest/shoulder, right upper chest.

2. My Attempted Treatment
a. On Sunday I bought some Tecnu® Extreme™ (“poison ivy scrub”) and began showering twice daily to ease (and satisfyingly “scratch” with the tiny plastic balls in the product) the itching. Every shower since, I have used it to scrub the rash.
b. Sunday night I made a paste baking soda and water paste that I applied to my rash. It seemed to work okay. Only did that once.

3. The Diagnosis
a. Monday afternoon I went to the CVS Minute Clinic. The NP, along with a doctor looking at some pictures, diagnosed it as contact dermatitis. I was asked more than once if I had been outside. I had said no (but had explained that I felt, upon lying down, that the hotel sheets were unclean). The rash looks like poison ivy: redness and/or blisters that can weep.

4. The Prescription
a. The NP prescribed 54 10 mg prednisone tablets, to be taken once per day for 14 days with this many tablets on each day: (first day) 6-6-6-6-5-5-4-4-3-3-2-2-1-1 (last day).
b. She also prescribed a medium topical steroid which I did not fill the prescription for, since I wanted to try to use OTC medication. She said the topical steroid was optional, since the prednisone could do the trick on its own.

5. The Treatment
a. 33 hours prior to now, I took six tablets. 16 hours prior to now, I took six tablets.
b. I continued using Tecnu® Extreme™ for each shower, once or twice per day. I’m now beginning to think that may be a mistake, since I just (1 a.m. Wednesday) re-read the package and saw 2 things that made me think twice: 1) “Do not use on severe, draining rashes.” (oops…but it felt so good! To the point where I was moaning at the relief for diligently not scratching anything ever!) 2) “If condition worsens…stop use and consult a physician.” (here I am)
c. I applied generous amounts of calamine lotion every time after I showered, and sometimes throughout the day without cleaning the existing calamine off, which again may have been a mistake, since on the bottle it says “Stop use and consult a doctor if condition worsens.”

6. My Current Condition
a. The rash continues to itch and has since spread to my forearms (L is pretty thick and bubbly/blistery, R is more patchy), L inner elbow, L neck, upper back, lower back (this is the biggest single patch, and expanding) and sides. It is beginning to spread on both medial tibias, L buttock (this seems the least likely place for the rash to spread since it has always been covered, except in the shower) and, most recently, R mons pubis.
b. Lying in bed, I was forced to shower to reduce the itch so I could attempt to sleep. After scrubbing and calamine’ing, I felt a mild burning sensation. I suspect it was because I applied calamine to the weeping blisters I had just vigorously scrubbed. Now that the calamine is dry, I feel medium itchiness in the most affected locations, and nothing in the more mildly affected locations.
c. Please help! I don’t know what to do! Thank you.