Thursday, October 11, 2012

Clogged ears and Q+A

My ears get clogged when my allergies are really bad.  It feels kind of like they are stuffed with cotton and it feels like it muffles sound.  It also can make me feel a bit off balance sometimes.  Since ragweed season started, my ears have felt clogged up all the time.  I recently saw my ENT and when I told him about it he said that considering how constantly congested my nose and sinuses he was surprised my ears haven't also been constantly congested up until now.

So it seems I can add ear congestion to my list of things that are always congested.

I have also been given a more questions to answer, and that's my favorite part of these posts:

Q: I can't imagine sneezing as much as you say you do! Do you tend to basically have to sneeze full-out, or is it more rapid, weaker sneezing for prolonged periods? Either way, I imagine it's exhausting.
A: I get both.  I usually have to sneeze full-out though.  When I get really bad I have much more of those rapid weaker ones that go on and on without me being able to take a breath.  I really hate the rapid ones because of that.  It really is exhausting sneezing so much.  I leaves me worn out and tired much of the time when my allergies are bad.
 
Q: And what kind of precautions do you try to take at home? Do you have air filters, etc??
A:  The basic of course is tissues everywhere, lol.  HEPA filters of course, especially in my bedroom.  I don't keep any plants in my house, not just in case of plant allergies, but also to avoid mold that can grow in soil.  I try to usually keep my mattress and pillows in plastic cases, with sheets and pillowcases over them, but it can be a bit uncomfortable to sleep on.  I think there might be more comfy forms of dustmite coves, but I haven't looked for them yet.  I use blinds, but not curtains.  I don't have much stuff hanging on the walls or nick-knacks because of dust.  I should have wood floors instead of carpets, but I don't have the $ to do anything about that right now.  I should also be cleaning very often, but it bothers my allergies so I tend to put it off too long and of course it makes the cleaning worse.  We remove our shoes at the door so we don't track in more stuff.  We make sure the bathroom dosen't get moldy or mildewy or musty..keep it ventilated and no standing water.  I think that's it.  There might be more but its so routine that I probably don't think about it.

Q:If you were visiting a friend and they said "tell me what I can do to make things better for you while you're visiting", what action or actions would help the most make things more bearable with your allergies?
A: 'let me go home' is the first thing I can think of, lol.  Seriously though, I can't think of anything someone can do that would be super-helpful in the moment.  If I had to come up with something, I'd say to move any flowers, etc out of the room(s) we are in, try not to use anything scented at all, and don't vacuum/dust when I am there (that's best done a bit b4 I show up so that dust and such will settle down).  I would also ask for them to not bless me all the time and to act like nothing is wrong.  The less attention I get about it, the better.  Unless it was a really good friend however, I think I'd feel too embarrassed to really say anything.

Thanks for letting me answer questions, it makes posting easier.  Keep them coming!