So...

is it a legitimate use of a sick day to stay home because you're covered with hives from a bad reaction to anti-biotics?

I don't feel sick, I just... itch.

Good god, yes! Plus, if you take Benadryl for the hives, it might make you exceptionally sleepy.

Today in Chicago, the day is exactly as long as the night. (Whether this is true for you depends on your latitude.) Tomorrow our high is supposed to be 70. Spring begins on Saturday. On Sunday, the high is 36, and the forecast is:

Good chance of wet snow or a snow/rain mix trending to all snow before diminishing to flurries or sprinkles late. Blustery and colder. North winds 12 to 24 mph.

Boo Sunday.

if you take Benadryl for the hives, it might make you exceptionally sleepy.

Good point, although I'm out of Benedryl, will have to walk to Walgreens for more.

It's a bit of a drag, since this means I now have two categories of antibiotics I can't take. Very annoying.

It's a bit of a drag, since this means I now have two categories of antibiotics I can't take. Very annoying.

I have about 3. Penicillins and sulfa drugs, because they have cross-reactivity, and the fucking fluoroquinolones, not because I'm allergic, but because they will FUCK YOU UP big time.

So I have the penicillins and the sulfa drugs now (the sulfa drugs are new); guess I can look forward to more? Joy.

K is allergic to sulfa drugs. It's nasty.

I took them for a week and a half without a reaction, and then last night I started scratching madly in my sleep. Didn't even realize until I started getting dressed. Lovely!

guess I can look forward to more?

Not necessarily. Like I said, I shouldn't call the fluoroquinolone thing an allergy, because it isn't -- it's just that the side effects are badass (tendon rupture being the most notable -- and increasingly common -- one).

The fluoroquinolones are Cipro, Avelox, and Levaquin; they're effective as hell because they're broad-spectrum. And if my life were in danger, I would definitely take them, and deal with the side effects later. I'd rather be alive with screwed-up tendons than dead. But I had a doctor prescribe Cipro for an ear infection, and it jacked my tendons up for about 6 weeks. Never again.

Another example of 19th century man slang:

Blind Monkeys: An imaginary collection at the Zoological Gardens, which are supposed to receive care and attention from persons fitted by nature for such office and for little else. An idle and useless person is often told that he is only fit to lead the Blind Monkeys to evacuate. Another form this elegant conversation takes, is for one man to tell another that he knows of a suitable situation for him. "How much a week? and what to do?" are natural questions, and then comes the scathing and sarcastic reply, "Five bob a week at the doctor's-- you're to stand behind the door and make the patients sick. They won't want no physic when they sees your mug."

More here: Manly Slang from the 19th Century

Cat-heads. A woman’s breasts. Sea phrase.

Cold Coffee. Misfortune ; sometimes varied to COLD Gruel. An unpleasant return for a proffered kindness is sometimes called COLD Coffee.—Sea.

Colt’s Tooth. Elderly persons of juvenile tastes are said to have a Colt’s Tooth, i.e., a desire to shed their teeth once more, to live life over again.

...

Gullyfluff. The waste—coagulated dust, crumbs, and hair—which accumulates imperceptibly in the pockets of schoolboys.

Gunpowder. An old woman.

...

Nose-ender. A straight blow delivered full on the nasal promontory.

More:

Out of Print. Slang made use of by booksellers. In speaking of any person that is dead, they observe, ‘”he is out of print.”

Perpendicular. A lunch taken standing-up at a tavern bar. It is usual to call it lunch, often as the Perpendicular may take the place of dinner.

Sneeze-lurker. A thief who throws snuff in a person’s face, and then robs him.