PMLE

Today, someone asked, "Oh, can you stand this dreary weather?"  I answered that I am a PLUVIOPHILE and enjoy this weather.  I suffer from PMLE (Polymorphous Light Eruption) which means I am allergic to the sun.  I am very careful;  I slather on sunscreen, avoid sunlight, wear long sleeves even in the summer, have tinted windows, usually ride in the back seat of the car, wear gloves and hat when I rarely work in the yard.  

Being allergic to the sun, I suppose it is normal that I like rainy days, cloudy days, overcast skies, and nighttime.  A friend quipped, "So, Rainy Days And Mondays don't get YOU down?"  I answered, "Even though I like the Carpenters and Paul Williams, I'm more of a Charles Addams kind of girl."



See one of my favorite Charles Addams cartoons from The New Yorker where the Addams family is looking out the window on a terrible rainstorm and Gomez says happily, "Just the kind of day that makes you feel good to be alive!"

Last winter my doctor told me that my Vitamin D level was low and prescribed 1200 MG extra calcium a day. She told me that I could discontinue using them during the summer because I'd probably get enough from the sun.

I told her that I do not go out in the sun very often because I'm allergic to the sun. She looked shocked and said, "How long has this been going on?" I told her, "All my life."

She asked, "Did you ever tell me that?" I said, "I'm sure it's in my original paperwork that asks about allergies as I'm allergic to nickel alloy and the sun." She leafed through fifteen years of charts and said, "I'll be damn; it is there."

She asked me what would happen when I am in the sun and I told her I would have blotches and blisters appear accompanied by severe itching. She said that I have SOLAR URTICARIA. I told her that in the 1960s a dermatologist diagnosed my condition as PMLE. She said it's the same thing.

Les says I look like a "Red-Hat beekeeper" when I go out just to pick flowers for bouquets. In the 1970s a friend bought a bonnet for me at an "Amish" store and in those days, I actually helped with gardening and the bonnet had a lot of service. I should get another one, but wide-brimmed straw hats are better because they also protect the back of the neck.