3:00 AM Sunday Morning

Woke up with a bad headache about an hour ago.  Took some Tylenol PM in hopes that it will help me go back to sleep.  In the mean time, it is useless to go back and lay down because that makes the headache worse.  So here I sit waiting to be tired enough to lay down so I can tolerate the headache and hopefully fall back asleep.  Crazy, huh?

But I guess it affords me the time to muse in the wee hours of the morning (if I can think straight J  That is debatable.

I’ve been doing some research on this Erythema Nodosum that I have on my leg.  The doctor did an initial Google search on it plus Ehlers-Danlos III (a.k.a Joint Hyper-mobility Syndrome) and came up with a ton of hits that had both search terms in the web page together.  Initially, that led both of us to believe that the two were related and that my problem could be caused by the EDS III.  Of course he didn’t have time to sit there and sift through all the websites on it.  We both sort of assumed they were probably related based on all the sites that came up with both terms together in them.

Well, after sifting through a majority of the websites here at home, I am finding that just because two search terms show up in the same hit, doesn’t mean they are in the same document together.  They may be on the same page, but one may be in the side bar referring to something totally unrelated to the other term. L 

So, I am coming to the conclusion that our original conclusion was wrong.  Erythema Nodosum and Joint Hyper-mobility Syndrome (Ehlers-Danlos III) do not appear to be related.

What I am learning is that Erythema Nodosum has a list about as long as my arm of possible causes including everything from medication sensitivity to fungus, to bacterial, to viral, to a plethora of underlying diseases.  Most cases of Erythema Nodosum have no known cause. 

Of the things on the list, medication sensitivity, and celiac disease are the most plausible.  Tylenol (not necessarily the brand name, but the ingredient in it) was on the list.  I had had a bad siege of headaches for two weeks prior to this lump showing up and had taken a lot of Tylenol during that time.  Perhaps that could be a contributing fact? 

I have come to realize that I may never know why this popped up.  It  may be one of those weird and whacky things that my body does for no apparent reason except to make me realize I have no control over my life, but God does and everything He does is for a good purpose spiritually in my life.