I am not a doctor.

I am not a doctor.  But I tend to think I am really good at self diagnoses, and so therefore, I wanted to share with you a little bit of helpful information I learned this week.

 

You all know I've been traveling like a fiend.  And this fiend-like traveling has led to me having some exhaustion issues that have brought me into the doctor's office and have found me seriously spending a few days in a row in bed trying to just not be weak, etc.  On top of that, I was in Dallas during a West Nile Virus outbreak, and I got bit by a mosquito.  So I was trying not to associate the exhaustion with the West Nile situation until....

I woke up one morning this week, and upon looking in the mirror, I realized that my tongue. was. black.  I'm not kidding you, it was black.  BLACK. 

 

I silently freaked out as I stared at my reflection, but my mind was saying something like this: "Holy shit, I have West Nile Virus for sure now.  The mosquito bite.  The exhaustion.  The weakness.  And now an effing BLACK TONGUE." 

It is not an understatement that I truly thought I was going to have to go straight to Urgent Care.  (And even though I do self diagnose, I wouldn't call myself a hypochondriac by any means.) 

So straight to Google I went, typing in "Why is my tongue black?", and thank you, dear Superior Being, for creating the person that created Google. 

Apparently, Pepto Bismol Chewable Tablets are known to turn your tongue a black hue.  And guess who took a Pepto Bismol for an upset stomach right before she went to bed?  Mhm, I did.  Something about the chemicals in it reacts with something something in your mouth, and voila! - your tongue is a color scary enough to make you think you've contracted a fatal mosquito disease.

 

Who the heck knew?