Maybe I should stop talking about my health problems.

So Saturday, I ventured out to play some tennis with my neighbors.  It wasn't a particularly sunny day -  in fact, it was pretty overcast and a little windy. ( Not that it matters, but I just want to include that I was the champion of the day, coming back being down 1 set and 3 match points to eventually pull off the win in the 3 set. It was epic, especially for someone like me, who feels I've actually gotten worse at tennis in the last year or so. But I digress.)

Later in the day I realized I was a bit sunburned on my shoulders. No big deal.  If anything, I was slightly ashamed I had been out in the sun for, oh, maybe 90 minutes on an overcast day and still managed to sunburn.  What developed later in the evening was more disconcerting, however.  I noticed my legs had these red bumps on them - maybe just razor burn, I thought.  But then my legs started to itch. And then my arms started to itch .  And then I went into the bathroom to take a shower and saw that my stomach was covered in this red rash.  My back was pretty bad too. Ok,  rashes, in any form, gross me out for some reason so I was understandably disturbed.  I could not for the life of me figure out how I got this rash, although I was beginning to think it had something to do with my sunburn.  But I'd never reacted to the sun like this before, so it was all the more confusing.  

Enter WebMd.  

WebMd has become a trusted friend of mine over the years, offering me confident diagnosis' House could be proud of.  I searched general sunburn rash topics and eventually stumbled across this little bit of info:

Sun-Sensitizing Drugs

Sun-sensitizing drugs are drugs that have side effects when people taking them are exposed to the sun. Some reactions are caused by exposure to the sun's UVB or "short" waves, but most are caused by UVA or "long" wave exposure.

There are two main types of sun-sensitizing drug reactions. They are:

1. Photoallergy. In this case, problems occur when skin is exposed to the sun after certain medicines are applied to the skin's surface. The ultraviolet (UV) light of the sun causes a structural change in the drug. This, in turn, causes the production of antibodies that are responsible for the sun-sensitivity reaction. The reaction usually includes an eczema-type rash, which often occurs a few days after exposure. The rash can also spread to parts of the body that were not exposed to the sun.
   
   
2. Phototoxicity. This is the most common type of sun-sensitivity drug reaction. It can occur when skin is exposed to the sun after certain medications are injected, taken orally, or applied to the skin. The drug absorbs the UV light, then releases it into the skin, causing cell death. Within a few days, symptoms appear on the exposed areas of the body. In some people, symptoms can persist up to 20 years after the medication is stopped. Among the most common phototoxic drugs are the tetracycline family, NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen) and Cordarone (a heart medication).

This woman, whom I am sure is completely qualified to be giving medical advice, agrees:

Bingo.  As it would seem, I have diagnosed myself with a phototoxicity as an affect from the antibiotics I'm taking.  Wonderful.  Not sure how long this will last, but you better believe I am not going outside today, even if it is my day off and really nice out.  I don't mess around with rashes, ok?