Friday, December 17, 2010

Posting

I am going to try to make at least a short post each week.  If I don't, please try to remind me. :)

I would also like some ideas on what to post about.  Try to be detailed, like a really specific question or something.  I think that will help me get ideas to write about.  I will try to answer questions, especially the really specific ones, but I might not answer a question that is asked, or it might make me think of a tangent and I will write about that instead.

Thanks everyone!  And help me get more people to read and post and discuss!

Drinking and allergies

I had 2 beers tonight so I was thinking about this.

I don't drink lots, but I do like to a bit.  I usually don't drink to being very dunk though.  When I get tipsy, my sneezes feel different, but i can't exactly explain it.  They aren't totally different, but things just feel not exactly the same.  I still would be congested, sneezy, runny, etc but just slightly different.  Does that make any sense?  I wish I could explain it better than that.

If I do get drunk, I don't pay as much attention to my allergies.  Not that I am less embarrassed by them, but more like a feeling of less control and not really realizing it.  Things can get really messy before I know what is going on.  By not getting drunk around lots of people, I can avoid embarrassing myself in front of them.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Allergies in winter

I posted before about the fact that without the pollen, winter is usually a bit easier on my allergies.  I still have to watch out for lots of things, but most of them are a bit easier to avoid than pollen (although dust and molds can be kinda hard still).

What is nice is that I am not sneezing as much and also I can usually smell things and I can actually sniffle sometimes.  Makes it easier to deal when my nose gets snotty.  My sinuses also don't bother me as much.

I still get times were my allergies act up and often times its hard for me to tell why.  There is just nothing obvious sometimes.  The weird part is feeling my congestion get worse when that happens.  through most of the year I am just always very congested.  In the winter though when my allergies act up I can feel the congestion in my nose and sinuses get worse.  its just kind of strange, and annoying.

Sorry about not posting as much as I used to.  I feel like I am running out of things to talk about.  Probably more like I just don't feel like writing much.  I do wish more people read this.  Maybe even share their experiences with allergies too.  That would help me write more and maybe help to give me ideas about what to write.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Needing to sneeze

If you notice I am catching up on posting today :)  I had some half-finished posts and I figured I should get them done.

I think many people don't realize that I almost always have a need to sneeze.  It can vary in intensity, but it is always there to one level or another.  Its like a tingling or tickle deep in my nose and it spreads when I actually am going to start sneezing.  It can spread really slow or really fast or at almost any speed.   I don't like it super fast because then I am not ready for the fit.  Its best when it spreads slow enough so I can get ready for it and even get away by myself before the fit starts.

The intensity of the tickle depends on how bad my allergies are at the time.  On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being sneezing, I often am around a 5 or 6.  It can be a bit distracting sometimes but as I mentioned at least it helps me sometimes be able to keep track of when I am about to start sneezing.  If its in the winter and I am not around anything I am allergic to at all for a while, it gets as low as a 2.  When my allergies are really bad it can sometimes never go below a 9.

From what I have been told, most people sneeze and that feeling of needing to sneeze goes away for a while.  For me it doesn't.  No matter how much I sneeze, that feeling of needing to sneeze is still there.  It is usually lessened for a while after a fit at least.  Its like sneezing fits just give me partial relief.

Cold and allergies

I just got over having a cold.  People often ask me things like "how can you tell when you have a cold?" or "Maybe its not allergies, maybe its a cold."  I guess these are people who don't have allergies!  Yea, some symptoms are similar, but they are different, so it is easy to tell.  I will say that is IT a pain to have a cold on top of allergies.

These are the things that happen when I get a cold on top of my allergies: 

With allergies, I can get worn-out, but when I have a cold its more like having a feeling of physical weakness, different from feeling worn out from doing alot of activity.

My sneezing feels harsher and it feels like something could spray from my mouth.  I also notice that my snot is thicker and more yellowish instead of clear or white.

My sinuses hurt differently when I have a cold.  Sometimes when my allergies are bad my sinuses will hurt, but with a cold they hurt differently.  I can't really explain better than that.

When I have a cold, my throat hurts and I cough.  I don't cough from allergies and at the worst my throat will tickle/itch but not hurt.

When I have a cold, my teeth hurt.  Yea it sounds weird, but it happens. 

When I have a cold, inside my nose burns.  With allergies it is tickles or itches or tingles or has a throbbing feeling, but when I have a cold it feels more like a burning.

I am curious if other people with allergies have a similar experience.  I don't think many people read my blog, but if you do, and have allergies, can you share what it is like for you having a cold with allergies?

Why I like chatting online

I was chatting with someone recently online about why I like to chat online and I wanted to post about it.

Most of the time I am very congested and its pretty impossible for me to not sound all stuffed up when I talk (even though I keep trying).  I just don't like the way I sound like that, I am embarrassed by it, and it feels like more of an effort to talk.  My sneezing also interrupts my conversations.  I have to stop what I am saying while I am sneezing and people will stop talking while I am sneezing.   I really feel bad about disrupting conversations like that and I hate all the focus from people when I have a fit in the middle of a conversation.  It also really sucks when I am trying to answer a question, or I really need to tell someone something, but I can't because I am sneezing so much.  It can cause problems.

When I chat online I can avoid most of that.  The congestion is not an issue at all and some of the fits I can still type through and the sneezing is less of a disruption for an online conversation.  When my allergies are really bad, it gets pretty hard to talk, but it is much easier to chat online.  So if it seems like my allergies are always bad when I am online, that's why.  When they aren't that bad I tend to be online less.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Day after parties

My allergies make me have to miss out on some social things.  Sometimes, like last night, I am able to go to parties and have some fun.  One thing I notice though is that my allergies are always bad the day after I go to a party.  Maybe I am just not as careful when I am at a party with avoiding things I am allergic to, but then it should affect me right away.  If I get through the party feeling ok, I go to bed ok and then I wake up the next day with really bad allergic reactions. 

Today my nose feels like there are tiny pointy sticks up in both my nostrils.  Makes it tickle really badly and giving me alot of sneezing fits and a very runny nose.  I am too stuffed up to blow my nose and I hate that.  My nose feels all filled up but I can't do anything about it.  That's just one thing I can never understand, that my nose can be so stuffed up yet so runny at the same time!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

New idea

I think what I will start doing is make more shorter posts about how my allergies have been recently.  I find making the long posts about the past pretty challenging.  Not exactly sure why.

Last few days have been better and worse with my allergies.  They are fluctuating some.  Last night they got pretty bad but today they aren't as bad.  I am planning on hanging out with friends later and I think it is pretty doable today. Without the constant irritation of so much pollen, now its more about trying to avoid being around all the other things that cause my allergies.   Until the winter really gets going, the hardest will be heating systems kicking up all the dust that settled into them over the year.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Short one

I just wanted to check in with a short post.  I am having problems again with writing real posts.  I have a post partly written but I just am not in the mood much to write it all  up.

Its starting to get colder so that means much less pollen, so that will help my allergies a little bit.  Because of so many months of my nose and sinuses being totally over-tweaked by pollen it takes a while for them to calm down though.  Also, when heating systems start to come on, they tend to kick up some dust and that can bother me too.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

People can be mean

I had mentioned in an earlier post about people being mean and I think someone asked for me to write more about it.  I am going to post here a few of my experiences with people who suck and/or don't really seem to care about other people.

I can split these people into 3 categories.  Some who think they are being funny and say stuff in public areas, some who just don't care/understand and are mean because of that, and some who are just deliberately mean.

Sometimes I would hate the public people the most because it can feel the most embarrassing.  Many times in high school, but also some in college or in other public places where many people are around, some would yell out stuff.  I would start sneezing and after a number of sneezes, people would laugh, and someone would yell "BLESS YOU!" loudly many times.  Some people might yell "why are you sneezing so much?", or "OMG!  Just stop!", or other things like that.  I hate all the attention that draws to me.  The worst was sometimes at lunch in HS, I wold have a very long fit and the lunchroom would start to get all quiet because everyone was listening to me and looking at me and laughing.  Sometimes I really wanted to cry from embarrassment.  I can deal with it better now.  I do run off to the bathroom often when I start having a fit in public.  I tend to miss parts of many movies.

I have had to deal with many people who just didn't care.  I would go to someones house and they  had an animal that I was allergic to, or just something in the house would set me off.  They say that I will get used to it in a bit, or my allergies would calm down, or that I was making too big a deal.  If I didn't have a ride sometimes I would sit there feeling and looking miserable and not be able to get away.  I also knew some people who didn't believe I was allergic to something or think that maybe it was all in my head.  They hid the animal, or flowers or whatever before I came over.  My allergies would get worse and worse and I had no idea why.  Then they say "Oh, we didn't think you were really allergic to it"

There were a few people who deliberately set off my allergies because they wanted to upset me or mess something up for me, or I guess they were just plain mean.  The main one was someone in HS who just really hated my guts.  She blamed me for stuff that wasn't even my fault and kept trying to get back at me.  She discovered she could set off my allergies at really bad times for me.  I didn't find this all out until much later.  Once she did it before I was going to meet up with a guy I was interested in.  My allergies got so bad that it screwed it all up.  One time she stole the tissue box out of my backpack and in class when I started having a bad sneezing fit I couldn't find them and I had to keep sneezing into my hands and I couldn't deal with the snottiness and dripping and everything and that was really horrible and embarrassing!  Another time she got a hold of my tissue box and put dust or pollen or something all around in there.  Of course I was using the tissues and not knowing so I kept getting worse and worse all day and I had no clue why.  That one was really miserable!

I have had people tell me my allergies were bothering them, my sneezing was a disruption, that I should be able to control them better, or that I was deliberately exaggerating them.  They all really suck!  I don't get why people have to be like that.  Its not as bad as it was in high school, but I think some people just don't get it.  I wish they would.

Quick update

Sorry I haven't made a blog entry in a while.  I have still been feeling stuck.  I am in the process of making 2 entries.  I just have been going slow with writing them.

This weekend was pretty icky for me.  Yesterday I was sneezing for almost 15mins straight.  That really takes alot out of me.  Its so hard when I am sneezing for so long.  I just want it to stop but it feels like it will go on forever.  Its so exhausting too.  I can't even do anything else during it.  I just keep sneezing and sneezing and it feels like I have no control.

I also didn't get much sleep at all last night.  My allergies were too bad for me to sleep more than like 10-15mins at a time and then I'd be awake for a long time in between. 

At least when winter comes these things don't really happen that much.  That constant pollen allergy isn't there so its a bit easier for me to avoid many of the other things I am allergic to.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Today's notes, possibly TMI

My allergies and my PMS seem to make each other worse.  I have to deal with PMS for about a week leading up to my period.  Often my allergies seem worse during that time.  Maybe I just notice more/it annoys me more though.  I will spare you the details, but all my sneezing also makes things hurt more and be more ouchy.  I hate it!  :(

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Discovering my horse allergy

This happened when I was about 14.  I didn't know yet I was allergic to horses.  Maybe I was tested for it, but back then I was really in denial about my allergies so I didn't pay attention to alot of stuff.

Some friends wanted to go horseback riding, and I had never done it before so I thought it would be cool to try.  Being spring, pollen was bothering me some, but I was just mainly sniffling and had some sneezing.    I hated using tissues back then and I usually could just sniffle and be ok, so I just kept a few tissues in my pocket.

We got there and everything was ok for a while.  A few minutes after we got on the horses, I noticed that my nose was getting very stuffy and it was tingling pretty badly.  My nose started to run more and I was trying not to sneeze.  Eventually I couldn't keep from sneezing because of this constant tingle all inside my nose.  I kept having sneezing fits while we were going around on the trail.  People kept asking me if I was ok, and I would just nod yes because I didn't want them to hear me sounding all stuffy.  My nose was too runny and I went through the few tissues I had pretty quickly.  I kept on wiping my nose on the inside of my shirt  and I was trying really hard not to let anyone see my nose being snotty.  My friends kept looking at me when I kept sneezing and I could tell that they felt kinda bad for me and I just felt more and more embarrassed because I couldn't go run off anywhere.

By the end of the trip I was feeling miserable and I probably looked it too.  As soon as we got off the horses, I told my friends that I would be in the car.  My nose and sinuses were all stuffed up and my eyes were all itchy and puffy and watery.  I got in the car and I just kept sneezing and sneezing.  I couldn't find any tissues so I kept sneezing inside my shirt and kept trying to wipe my nose as much as I could.

I was bad like that the whole trip home.  My friends kept asking how I was and they were acting all concerned and I was really wishing I could be away from everyone.  I wanted to die from embarrassment.  They were going to hang out but I asked them to drop me off at home 1st.  They did and I just went into my room and felt pretty miserable for the rest of the day.

Since then, I haven't ridden on a horse and I haven't been around any that much.  Out of curiosity I have been around one for a bit every year or so just to see if I am still allergic (I do that with most things I am allergic to that I usually can avoid), and I am.

Quick notes

To help me keep posting, I am starting to post quick notes about things that are allergy-related in some way.

Today I have 2 quick notes:

1.  I have noticed over the last few months my nose either feels very warm or very cold much of the time.  I have no idea why.  It never happened before.  Does anyone know why this might happen?

2.  Trying to eat a meal when you keep having sneezing fits is very difficult to do!

I will make my next real blog post a bit later tonight.  I think I worry over my posts sounding too stupid, being too long or too short, or getting too embarassing.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

My Symptoms

Since I posted about what I am allergic to, I am also posting about what symptoms I get from my allergies. 

I am a bit stuck with what to write next so this is a good tangent.  Forgive me if it is a while before I post again, I just don't know why I am a bit stuck with what to write.

Major Symptoms.  These are the main symptoms I have pretty much all the time, and they tend to be the ones that affect my life the most.

Sneezing:  I sneeze LOTS.  I have very long fits, and I have many fits all through the day.  Sometimes it feels like I will never stop sneezing.  My sneezes aren't overly loud, but because I sneeze so much, its easy for everyone to tell.  This is one of the main parts of my allergies that makes me very embarrassed.  I will try to run off or duck into a bathroom when I am having a sneezing fit because of the embarrassment I feel.  I hate when my sneezing interrupts me trying to have a conversation or when I am trying to do things.  Most of the time I feel the need to sneeze to at least some degree.  It can either feel like a tickle, thousands of tiny needles, or a tingling.  It can be mild or intense and I usually feel it back deep in my nose and sinuses.  I know I am going to start sneezing when the feeling starts to spread.  Sometimes it doesn't do that though and a fit can hit me by surprise.  The one good thing about so much sneezing is that it helps keep my abs in good shape :)

Sinus Congestion: I always have sinus congestion.  It can range from not too bad to lots of sinus pressure and pain.  It can sometimes hurt to move my head too fast, and often I feel it when I bend forward.  On occasion I wish I could drill a hole into my sinuses!  Luckily I only get an actual sinus infection one or two times a year.

Nasal Congestion:  I am always very congested through most of the year.  I am so congested that I usually can't smell anything and I can't really blow my nose or sniffle.  It can get extremely annoying.  I sound very nasally and that embarrasses me too.  Sometimes my noses feels throbby inside because of all the congestion.

Runny Nose:  I don't understand how I can have such a runny nose when I am also so congested!  Ugh!  My nose runs alot.  Not being able to sniffle or really blow my nose means I have to wipe my nose all day, sometimes almost constantly.  I am REALLY embarrassed about anyone seeing my nose being snotty.  Its hard to tell when my sneezing is going to be messy, so I always use tissues or something if there is any chance anyone will see me.  I also am always wiping my nose just to make sure no one will be able to see anything being drippy.  I just don't understand how my nose can make so much snot!


Other Symptoms.  These can bother me to lesser or greater extents, but they tend not to be as big a deal unless my allergies are getting bad.

Itchy/Watery Eyes:  When my allergies get bad my eyes can water so much that it looks like I am constantly crying.   They also can get very itchy.  Sometimes, if they are very watery, itchy and swollen, it makes it harder to see details well, like in reading.  I try not to rub them because I know it can make them worse, but sometimes I just have to.  I have to be careful when I do rub them because if something I am allergic to is on my hand, it can make my eyes really puff up and swell up and look very bad. 

Itchy/Red Nose:  I HATE when my nose is all red!  Its another thing that embarrasses me a ton.  My nose is red very often though, just from all the sneezing and wiping and everything else.  Sometimes my nose gets very itchy but I usually am able to not rub it because rubbing my nose will be sure to throw me into a long sneezing fit. It can get very distracting though.

Clogged Ears:  When my allergies get really bad, my ears will feel all clogged.  Its like having cotton stuffed in my ears, and it makes things I hear sound like it too.  I think its this (or maybe sinus congestion too) that sometimes makes me feel a bit dizzy when my allergies are bad.


Different symptoms

I don't think these are direct symptoms of my allergies, but they happen because of my allergies. I feel tired a good deal of the time, it interferes with my sleeping, and I do sometimes get sad or angry about my allergies.  I know it affects my moods.  Sometimes that can really suck.  I think I get overly sensitive emotionally at times because of my allergies.

There are a few other random things, but I will bring them up in other posts if/when I remember them.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

What I am Allergic To

I realized I never talked about all the things that I am allergic to.  This is a list of what I am currently allergic to, with a few notes on each.

Pollens:  This is a major one.  Trees, grasses, weeds, flowers.  I am very allergic to every pollen I have been tested for and every one I have run across in my life.  Some of the worst ones are sage, ragweed, juniper, elm, birch, oak, lilacs, lilies, daises, timothy grass, and Kentucky grass.  Pretty much any pollen is really bad for me though.

Animal Dander:  This is another major one.  Especially cats, dogs, horses, and ferrets.  If I am anywhere near them or where they used to be, my allergies start getting worse.  Other animals I can be around for at least a little bit before things act up too badly.

Dust: I am very allergic to dust.  It makes cleaning my room take a very long time.  I can usually tell when its dust that is bothering me because it starts by making my eyes all itchy and most other things I am allergic to do not start by affecting my eyes.

Molds:  Anything musty, moldy, mildewy, etc.  I find unlike pollen counts, mold counts are pretty useless in helping me figure out how bad of a day it might be.

Feathers:  On or off a bird, they seem to bother me.  Worst seems to be pillows and comforters filled with feathers.

Smoke:  Most kinds of smoke irritate my nose and eyes.  Mainly it makes my nose and eyes very very itchy and watery/runny.  Makes me sneeze some too.

Perfumes and Scents:  Not all do, but many do and its hard to keep track of what does and what doesn't.  This makes it hard sometimes to be in the mall or in some stores.  The main thing these do to me is make me sneeze alot and my nose to be stuffy yet runny.  The worst part is, if I am all stuffed up, I can't tell if its a scent that is bothering me.

Detergents:  Some laundry detergents, and all fabric softeners, bother my allergies.  The biggest problem is that they give me an allergic rash that gets red and puffy and itchy.  Some detergents do this to me all the time, and others I can use for a while until they start to bother me.  What I do is cycle between a few detergents that take a few weeks to start to bother me.

Paper Products:  Yea, this is a weird one.  I bet its what gets added into them, or what is used to process them, that bothers me.  I get get affected by older books, newspapers, and magazines.  They mainly kick up my allergies a bit with sneezing, runny nose, etc.  I also can't use any scented or lotion tissues.  They can give me a rash on my nose and WOW that can be annoying!

Dairy:  More than just a little bothers me.  It ends up either making my stomach feel icky, or makes me very wheezy and short of breath.

I think these are all the things I am allergic to.  I might have forgotten some, but they would be things I usually don't come across much.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Making a New Friend

I spent the next couple of years feeling pretty sorry for myself.  My allergies were making me miserable most of the time.  I was on a bunch of different meds that didn't really seem to help too much.  I felt isolated because there were many things I wanted to do but couldn't anymore, and because of that I wasn't spending as much time with friends and being social like I would have liked to.  Like I mentioned before, people can really be mean and rude and non-understanding about allergies.  Maybe I will make a post about all the crazy things people have said/done to me because of my allergies.

Anyway, I tried to have a good attitude, and often I did, but sometimes things would just really get to me and I didn't feel very close to anyone anymore.  I was also just more and more embarrassed over time about my allergies.  I hated people seeing me sneezing or seeing my face when I looked all allergic, and I didn't like people hearing my voice being all stuffy.  I didn't even like going to see the doctors, especially the ENT because he did these treatments for my sinuses that I guess was helpful a bit but I would be really snotty in the process and I hated him (or anyone) seeing that.  Looking back, I think a big problem I was having is that I didn't feel like I could confide in anyone about what I was feeling.  Most people thought I was over-reacting, or that allergies just can't be that bad.

The one big good thing from having allergies is that I met my best friend Jessie because of them.  During my junior year in high school, one day I was in the bathroom alone recovering from a really bad sneezing fit and she came in having a sneezing fit.  We kind of looked at each other and we just started talking.  We had never met before, and she was a year behind me in school.  For me, it just felt like I could talk to her, even though I usually don't talk about my allergies to anyone. 

She has what most people would think of as 'bad' allergies to a bunch of different pollens.  We just seemed to click really well, and it turned out we had some similar experiences, and we like alot of the same stuff.  She is the person I feel most comfortable with.  She is also very kind.  Once we became friends, we would hang out very often.  She also knew that if her allergies were bad, mine must be even worse so she would sometimes come over to keep me company if she figured I was suffering pretty bad.  We are still best friends to this day.  She is the one person who has been a big help for me.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Getting Worse

By the end of the summer when I was 14, my allergies were getting really bad.  I'd wake up sneezing many mornings, my eyes were itchy, and I'd need alot of tissues for my nose.  There would be a few nights where I couldn't really sleep because my allergies would bother me so much.  My allergist game me more meds, suggested I also use over-the-counter meds, and wanted to start me on allergy shots.  Some days I would feel really worn out all day long and not having the energy to go out sometimes.  I was starting to feel pretty down and I was discovering most of my friends really didn't care to come and visit me/hang out at my place instead of going to the mall or the lake or whatever.  I was getting told that I was making a big deal out of nothing, and that it really couldn't be that bad.

In the fall, with school starting, I was very embarrassed for people to see me with red eyes and nose and sneezing so much.  I stayed home on days I looked really bad.  I kept trying to get away from people or run off to the bathroom when my fits of sneezing would start up.  I also started having huge amounts of congestion almost all the time.  My nose would be all stuffed up and I couldn't smell very well and I couldn't sniffle or blow my nose very well most of the time.  I was feeling sinus pressure when I would bend over or move my head down.  My allergist sent me to start seeing an ENT too.  I ended up having to quit soccer because being out on the grass for so long was making my allergies too bad for me to play.

This kept up into the winter, which seemed to me to only be mildly better than the fall.  In spring things got even worse.  My allergist did allergy tests again and I was testing positive to almost everything!  I was asking why it was getting worse since I was taking allergy shots and he told me they can take a while to start working so I stayed taking them.  During this time, the ENT was really unsure why I kept getting worse so he did all kinds of tests and had the allergist do some too.  The things they found were that my blood levels of certain things having to do with allergies were very high (eosinophils, basophils and IgE) but they didn't know why.  Also, my ENT told me that my nasal and sinus passages are smaller than they should be, and also that my sneezes aren't very forceful.  He said that maybe because of that, I was getting congested easily and once allergens get up there the congestion and the lack of force in my sneezes makes them stay up there longer, making my allergies worse.  He said that was just a guess though.

Because I was very congested all the time, my singing voice just wasn't sounding good, so I quit singing.  I also wasn't swimming as much because being under water was bothering my sinuses, and I think I was starting to react to chlorine.  At the same time, my allergist was pestering me about my cats (my cat allergy was getting much worse by that time).  Because I was giving up so much, I really didn't want to give up my cats too, so I told him it wasn't that bad and I was keeping my cats for now.  In school I was getting really shy because of my allergies and because I was giving up so much stuff in my life that i liked.  I was feeling pretty sad some of the time.  Some of my friends were being pretty supportive, but alot of people wouldn't take my allergies into consideration when they went out or planned things.  Many times I ended up having to go home early because something was bothering my allergies so much I couldn't really do anything.  I was also starting to get comments like "hey aren't really that bad", "You should be able to control that better", "your sneezing is getting annoying", etc.  I really didn't know what to do, and I totally didn't want to talk to anyone about my allergies.  I was trying to hide them as much as I could.

During the spring and summer, I kept wondering what I could do to make them go away.  I even though maybe I just needed to get used to them, so I spent time trying to be around things I was very allergic to, but that obviously didn't work.  My nose was also starting to be very runny pretty often.  I still don't understand how I could be so congested yet so runny all the time.  I was getting really worried over people seeing my nose being drippy or people seeing my sneezes being really messy.  I started using my tissues even more to wipe my nose very often and using tissues all the time when I sneezed if people might be around.

Fall that year I ended up admitting that I had to get rid of my cats.  I couldn't be anywhere near them without my allergies going crazy for a long time.  I was very sad about having to do that.  We gave them to a friend and for the next few years, I would still visit them when I could, even though I could barely function around them from my allergic reactions.

By that fall, my allergies were about as bad as they are now.  My nose and sinuses seemed to react to everything possible.  I was completely congested all the time, I had to carry lots of tissues with me and have some everywhere I went.  My nose felt itchy inside all the time and my eyes always felt at least a little weird.  I would have lots of these really long sneezing fits many times each day.  I felt sinus congestion and pressure most of the time too.  I wasn't going out or doing nearly as much as I used to and I was discovering that many people could be really mean to me.

Mornings by this time were the worst.  They still are.  I stared having to set aside at least 20mins when I woke up.  I wake up sneezing and I just have to let it keep going until I get a break to grab tissues to clean up my nose and any runniness that would happen in the night.  I'd have to wipe my eyes too.  After all that, with a few sneezing fits in the process, then I shower.  During the shower I usually sneeze a ton and my nose runs like crazy the whole time.  I tend to feel a little better after, so that is one good thing.

Monday, August 16, 2010

How My Allergies Started

My allergies started when I was 13.  Before that, I never had any allergies that I knew about, no-one in my immediate family had allergies, and in the rest of my family, only one aunt had hay fever and it was always very mild. 

I was a pretty popular and athletic kid growing up.  I had lots of friends, everyone wanted to hang out with me and I played soccer, volleyball, and I swam.  I also sang in choir and solo.  I think I was generally a nice person, although I did tend to be a little self-centered and catty.  I don't think any more-so than most girls my age.  I am an only child, both my parents are together, and I had a pretty good childhood.  My parents were generally good to me.  My dad worked as a factory supervisor.  My mom worked on and off as an administrative assistant once I got to be about 10 or so.  I had 2 cats I totally loved, I called Ruff and Tumble (they were brother and sister).

In the spring when I was 13 I seemed to get alot of colds.  I would have sneezing and sniffling for a few days, then it would go away for a few days, then come back, etc.  By the beginning of the summer it wasn't going away.  My parents brought me to my doctor and he thought it was allergies.  He sent me to an allergist and I tested positive for some pollens and slightly positive for cats and dogs.  They gave me an antihistamine and some pointers on avoiding pollen and stuff.  I really loved my cats and since I only had a mild allergy to them, we figured it would be ok to try keeping them. 

Through the summer and fall, the meds seemed to work ok.  I was still pretty sniffly and my nose would itch some and I would sneeze some each day, but not too bad.  Winter was a bit better.  During that time, I pretty much went about life as usual.  In the mornings I would sneeze a bit and have to blow my nose.  Other than that, it didn't have much of an impact.  I did get poked fun at a bit for being so sniffly, but it wasn't a big deal.

Things really started to change after the winter.  Where I lived, spring (and tree pollen) often comes early in the year.  I didn't follow all the recommendations of my doctor that well.  I did take my meds pretty much when I should but I did things like leave windows open since we didn't have AC and sometimes let my cats in my room.  Near the end of Feb, one day I woke up feeling pretty miserable.  I woke sneezing and I felt some congestion in my nose and sinuses and I was very runny.  My eyes and nose itched really badly too.  After feeling pretty awful for a few days, I went back to my allergist and he gave me more meds, told me to watch out for pollen, told me about pollen counts and talked about how some years for pollen is worse than others, and information like that. 

Through that spring, my allergies would fluctuate back and forth between being worse like that and better like they used to be.  I noticed they were starting to affect my life.  Sometimes it was harder to focus playing sports, I noticed some places would affect my allergies more than others, sometimes when I was congested my voice wouldn't sound as good when singing, and some of my friends were making fun of my allergies and some were getting kind of annoyed at me for some reason.  I was pretty self-conscious about it, so I tried to run off to the bathroom when I could and also tried to downplay my allergies as much as possible.

Next post I will pick up where I left off here.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Introduction

Hi everyone.  This first post it just to let everyone know what I want to do with this blog.  I have had very bad allergies for about 9 years now.  I know most people think 'bad allergies' aren't that bad, but believe me, mine are.  My doctors tell me mine are the worst they have seen, and they are worse than anyone else I have met or heard about.

I have discovered that I have not come to terms with my allergies at all.  I am terribly embarrassed by them, they greatly impact my life, and I change how I live because of them.  I hate talking about them with anyone in real life, and I end up 'hiding' alot in my life.  I am hoping that by making this blog, I will learn to be a bit more open, to be less embarrassed, and to be more comfortable with who I am.

My plan is to start by making posts about my history with allergies.  How they started, how they impacted me, etc.  I will be throwing in some posts about specific instance of my allergies and perhaps some tangents about allergies.  I will also be making posts about how I am feeling, what struggles I may be having with my allergies, and how they are affecting me presently.  I will eventually start keeping track of my allergies on a regular basis.  Daily would be great, but I think weekly is more realistic.

I want to make this blog social because the social aspect is one major area that my allergies have impacted.  Please feel free to comment often, give suggestions, commiserate, share your own stories, etc.  I am also happy to talk via e-mail or IM.

Thanks everyone for helping me on this journey.