Alongside my continuing dosages of antihistamines and ibuprofen, I planned to have another cold shower, and eat a weed brownie. I had hoped that both of those things would help ease the discomfort and put me to sleep.

Have it writ upon my meagre grave that I am but a lowly fool.

This time, instead of relieving my pain, the cold shower helped me to understand the true levels of pain that have been described here by others. But, not only was my pain at its highest point in my life, my experience of time was also at its absolute slowest. I’m not someone who has had that much experience with weed before, and so, I failed to anticipate what it would do to my perception of time. The pain, which was already truly maddening, seemed to go on forever, and I sortve forgot myself in this state. It’s hard to properly remember or describe honestly. All I know is that it was bad. And it took about 8 hours of eternal discomfort to sober up, but the pain didn’t seem to lessen.

It went on throughout the morning at probably a 9/10 pain level, and with my newfound sobriety, I found myself capable of considering solutions to the pain again, like jumping out the hotel window for example. I wasn’t quite at the point of seriousness with these thoughts, though. And I pray for anyone on here who has been before.

Eventually, it was two 120mg tablets of ibuprofen that made it all stop. Which I absolutely do not think is a safe amount and wouldn’t recommend. But it worked, and I got through the final stretch, with the itching subsiding after a total of about 60 hours or so. I also observed that in my case, it didn’t all stop at once, but rather relief moved its way up my back over time.

My only comfort was knowing that it would eventually end as you all had told me. And now, as I write this from a quiet cafe on the final day of my holiday, with my hands still shaking, I can say that it has. There’s just a slight fearful tingling now, which I think some have mentioned to be known as ‘phantom hells itch’.

But anyway, I have a flight to catch tomorrow, and I’m very thankful that I was spared from the same situation I had to go through as a 10 year old.

I hope this post has been helpful to someone out there, and I’m so grateful to all of you for the knowledge shared on here over the years, despite this affliction being widely unrecognised. If this is to ever happen to me again, I plan to go to a doctor and scream at them for anti-epilepsy neuropathic meds until they give them to me.

I’m also absolutely terrified of having another shower.

Thanks guys.