WHEN I THINK of having dermatographic urticaria, I ultimately think of the irony inherent in my own condition: I was a young writer afflicted with a disease whose name means "skin writing." My body was mistaking my skin for living parchment, penning the narrative of my environment as I might write on paper.
Although I no longer wake to find the imprint of my clothing on my body, I sometimes still dream of dermatographic urticaria, and in these dreams the sensations and symptoms--the burning itchiness and crawling skin--are as vivid as in life.