sleep journal entry (sleep vs hell's itch)

 it was a miracle i was able to sleep at all. and i cannot begin to describe the depth of my gratitude that "hell's itch" only seems to be affecting the relatively small and accessible surface area of my upper arms and shoulders.

between uncontrollable, violent spasm reactions to the sensations, i tried moisturizing, damp cloths, and running cool water over it, but nothing helped longer than a few seconds. it got so bad that the thought of tossing myself out of a window crossed my mind, like, i can totally understand an experience like this driving someone to injure themselves (or worse).

so believe me when i say that i have no idea how i alighted upon the idea of "confusing" my nerve endings my lightly brushing or tickling my fingers over the affected area. i had to do that for a long time (most of an hour), and i was expecting to just have to keep doing that until i passed out from exhaustion, but i was able to actually get to sleep in spite of having to position myself uncomfortably to do so.

i woke up twice in the night with the sensation returned, did the same thing again, and ultimately slept until about twenty minutes to my alarm clock. i'm feeling pretty beaten up this morning, but also magnificently relieved. i hope this part of the story is done - or at least, almost over - and i pray i never, ever feel anything like this again as long as i live.