Saturday, November 30, 2013

Service animals

(I meant to post this back in October, but I just recently discovered I never hit the 'post' button!)

I'm very allergic to dogs, and other animals in general (cats are my worst).  Over the years, there have seen more and more service dogs around.  It hasn't been an issue for me until recently.  I have seen some around at the school, but I never needed to have much interaction with people with service dogs.  I have been running into some problems now though because there are service dogs in some of my classes.  One class is a pretty small class, and it gets bad for me pretty quick, so I sometimes have been skipping classes and gettign notes from people and/or looking at material on-line. 

I kind of worry that dander for the service dogs will stay around in the classrooms (I doubt they clean classrooms that well!) and cause me more problems even when the dogs aren't around.

Thats whats been on my mind allergy-wise lately.  Please make comments, and please give me some questions to use in a Q+A.  I am going to make an effort to post more by talking about any allergy-related things that happen to me, but I might forget or put it off too long if they aren't that major.

Monday, November 25, 2013

Catching up with a short post and Q+A

Ok, I know I have been bad and not posted in a very long time.  I had been really busy and I kept putting it off.  I finally got a bit of motivation to make a post.

Now that pollen is gone, my allergies aren't as bad.  I do have to deal a bit with dust and stuff moving around for heating systems coming back on on the dryness that it can create, but its not as bad as dealing with pollen.

I am not sure what other update to give right now, so i will go into 2 questions I got:

Q:Have you ever considered moving to a different climate? For example I'm in Seattle and I know of someone who moved from here to Medford, OR for relief from sinus issues. Would a drier, desert-like climate help? Would there be less triggers? Or would the air conditioning bother your allergies? 
A: I have looked into that and I have been told that it doesn't really work, and if it does it would only be for a short time, as new triggers would start to bother me.  I have moved from the northwest to the northeast and i didn't see any difference.  A/C I don't think bothers my allergies in and of itself, but they are prone to mold and I am pretty allergic to mold.  I once stayed somewhere and my allergies we going really bad and it took us a while to realize it was a very old A/C unit that hadn't been kept up that well that was causing much of my problems.

Q:One of the things I find most awkward about sneezing repeatedly is how people feel the need to say 'bless you'. I wish that courtesy did not even exist, I wish sneezing was like coughing. When people bless me I feel like I can't even say thank you in between sneezes and it's even more awkward when they keep saying it after every few sneezes, and even more awkward when they finally give up and I'm still sneezing! It just makes me more embarrassed than I already am. Do you like people to acknowledge your sneezes with a 'bless you'? 
A:  I hate the bless you thing so much!  It just draws more attention to all my sneezing, and I end up feeling bad because most people just eventually give up blessing me in the middle of my fits.  Whats worse is when they switch from blessing to things like 'wow are you ever gonna stop'  or 'I blessed you enough, you can stop now' or 'I can't bless you that much', and other weird or annoying things.

I know I have posted about this before, but answering the last question reminds me of all the crazy things people say to me.  Some makes me feel really embarrassed, some upset me, some make me feel mad.  Some people are actually pretty nice and helpful but sometimes they are the total opposite, either on accident or on purpose. Some of the worst stuff I have heard it people telling me: I am doing it just to get attention; my allergies ruin my looks; and even a few times people have gotten upset that they were trying to have a conversation with me when my allergies were really bad and I wasn't answering them.

Ok, I didn't want to leave off on a depressing note!  So, I'll say my allergies are being a bit better because of the season, and in a few days I will have a few days off :)

As usual, please read and share and ask me more questions and feel free to contact me to chat if you want to!  Happy TG!

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Been a bit Q+A

Sorry everyone for such a long time between posts.  I have been busy and having many problems with my allergies.  I do have a few questions now to answer, so here we go:

Q:You have mentioned a couple times that your sneezes are weak. Have you tried to do more forceful sneezes so that the fits are shorter? 
A: I haven't been able to figure out any way to make my sneezes be more forceful.  I think its just how I sneeze, and there isn't much I can do to change it.






Q:Also, when you are in a situation where sneezing would disrupt a class or movie or something, do you ever stifle your sneezes?
A: For the longest time I hadn't been able to stifle sneezes at all.  I recently have been able to, but what happens is a stifle makes me immediately need to sneeze again, so I can keep stifling only for a short time, then I'm sneezing.  Also, stifling tends to make me have to sneeze more, and tends to bother my sinuses.  When my allergies start to disrupt a class or movie, I'll usually leave and go to a bathroom or something.

I was glad to see in my last post, a few people commented that they read my blog.  Thanks!  I'm just surprised at how many of them are anonymous.  I always imagined dozens of people would want to read my blog, so I guess I was a bit disappointed when I started this and it seemed like only one or 2 people were reading.  

I still have problems thinking of topics to write about, so please keep the questions coming.  I haven't been on-line as much lately, but still please feel free to drop me and e-mail or a message if you want, and even if I am not around, I will be sure to reply when I can.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Not much to post/dream bits

Its been so long since I posted.  I don't know if many people read this anymore since I haven't been getting many comments or questions lately.

Ragweed has been starting up around here and I am severely allergic to it, so its making me pretty miserable

I recently had 2 bits of dreams that had to do with my allergies.

In one dream, people were trying to figure something out that was very important.  I figured it out but every time I tried to tell anyone I would start having a huge allergy attack and I was unable to communicate.  Once I would give up, the attack would stop, only to start up again if I tried telling someone what I knew.

In another, during part of a dream I was in a house and I was sneezing non-stop, and when I would go outside the sneezing would stop but my nose would start running/gushing like crazy.  If I went back in, the running would stop and the sneezing would start again.

That is all I have for today.  Let me know if you have any questions, and feel free to comment or drop me a line.

Monday, July 22, 2013

Quick Q+A again

I am happy I keep getting questions because I want to keep making posts, but its hard for me to think of what to write!

Q: Do you have a favorite product or trick that gives you any relief?
A: I can't really think of anything that helps like that.  If anyone has any ideas, please let me know, I'd love to find something!  The product I use a ton of is the basic Kleenex tissues.  Benadryl works for me, but I don't use it much because it knocks me out so bad, I am all groggy the next day, and I am afraid of my body getting used to it so I only use it when my allergies have been keeping me from being able to sleep for a while.

Q: Do you have a guilty pleasure that causes you allergies but you still indulge in once and a while and just deal with the consequences? (i.e. I know someone who has a not terribly but still real allergy to chocolate who will have a small piece every so often even though she'll end up itchy and uncomfortable for while after). 

A: Yes, that would be playing with cats.  I have always loved cats, and I miss being able to have any.  Every once in a while I'll go to my friend's house and play with her cat for a short time. Yea, I really suffer for it afterwards!

Please keep asking questions and giving me feedback. :)

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Eating and drinking with allergies and Q+A

Someone was asking me about difficulties with eating when my allergies are bad so I though I would mention a quick bit about it.

Eating can be difficult when my allergies are bad.  I'm too congested to breathe through my nose so I have to keep opening my mouth to breathe.  I have also had a number of times where a sneezing fit started when I had a mouthful of food.  I end up sneezing out the food :(  Luckily that has only happened when I was alone or with my family.  I learned to take really small bites.  makes it easier for breathing and for avoiding sneezing fits during chewing.  Avoiding sneezing or dripping all over food takes a bit of effort too.

Drinking is a bit easier by just taking small sips often.  I will tend to have a good amount of water throughout the day just by sipping little bits often.

When my allergies are bad, I am often not hungry anyway so I stick with mostly water.  Soup is sometimes good too.

Two for Q+A:

Q:You're learning about others who have awful full-time allergies. What are some questions you would ask them, to learn how they are managing to cope?
A: I never though much about that.  I can give general answers at least.  I would ask what exactly they are allergic to, what symptoms do they get, what things work for them with avoiding what they are allergic to, and if they found anything that works for them with dealing with symptoms and other issues.

Q:You say that your allergies cause you problems with your sleeping patterns. How do you deal with that? Are you able to catnap and get enough sleep that way or do you find that you are always tired during allergy season? 
A: I am often tired during allergy season, from lack of sleep and from the allergies wearing me out.  I will sometimes just doze off randomly if I am sitting around, and that helps a bit.  During allergy season, I will often try to take naps and see if I can sleep.  Many times I will doze off randomly and get wakened by a sneezing fit.

Thanks or reading everyone! Keep questions coming and feel free to say hi to me.

Never buy cheap Q-tips!

I am sorry I haven't posted in a while, so I will even have 2 posts today!  This one is the explanation of why I haven't posted in a while

Since I am usually unable to blow my nose, I try to clean out the front of my nostrils a bit so I am not constantly dripping all over the place.  If I stick a tissue up there it makes me sneeze like crazy so I use a q-tip just in the front area of my nostrils to gently get as much as I can.  Now this last time we got q-tips we were trying to be cheap so we bought dollar-store q-tips instead of the real ones.  When I used one, the cotton tip slipped off and I couldn't get it out of my nostril.  Allison also tried but it got more stuck, and of course it was irritating my nose like crazy and got kinda messy.  We ended up having to go to the hospital to get it taken out, and when they were taking it out they told me some small blood vessels were broken and they wanted to fix them (and that explained all the nosebleeds I had been getting recently).

The problem was they wanted to do some tests, and then that ended up creating days of problems.  With all the problems doing the tests and the weird results that show up for me, they all wanted everyone to come and see me, doctors, residents, med students, etc.  I always hate that, and there was always new people coming in, asking me all the same stuff as the others, looking in my nose, seeing me all allergic, etc.  Most of them weren't very nice either.  They also didn't believe me when I told them things and then after all kinds of tests and stuff, they tell me what I told them before like it was their discovery!  And of course people wanted to do surgeries, and one doctor swore up and down I had a huge infection.  After a few days, he finally realized I didn't have one.

From all that, at least they fixed the blood vessels.  I haven't had any more nosebleeds at least.  I also found out I have more things I am allergic to than I thought:  wood pulp, saw dust, some things used in making some fabrics and rugs, and all kinds of food.  The food thing is weird.  I have known for a long time I am allergic to dairy because it gives me asthma attacks.  They also told me I am allergic to most fruits, nuts, wheat, some veggies and I think a few kinds of beans.  That is weird to me because I have never noticed any allergic reactions to any foods other than dairy.  One research doctor that saw me asked me to be in 2 studies, one testing out a drug, but I declined that because I usually don't have good reactions, and I don't want to be the first to test one.  The other has to do with testing nasal secretions that I might do, since it pays a bit of $.


Ok, well that is my crazy adventure from last week...ugh!  My nose is still sore (and maybe swollen a bit) from all the exams!  I am going to make a regular post soon today to make up for the missing time and because I might be busy trying to catch up on things this week.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Too long without posting

I feel so bad that its been over a month since my last post.  Sorry everyone!  I have been so busy trying to get work done, and being wiped out from my allergies that every time I go to blog I think 'ugh, I can't do this now, maybe tomorrow'.  Today I am making it happen though!

I can't think of too much I can bring up right now, because of the above, so right to a few Q+A that have been sitting around:

Q:Do you find that when you are very congested because of your allergies, like when one has a cold you lose your sense of taste? I know it must be really difficult to eat and drink when you are having sneezing fits and are really congested, but even when you can, can you taste food or is it a bit like a cold when it's just sustenance? 
A: I have nasal congestion most of the time, so I often don't really have a sense of smell, and that of course impacts my ability to taste.  I usually don't taste too much when I eat food when I am congested like that.  And yes, with lots of sneezing and congestion, it is hard to eat and drink.  I will tend to mainly sip water often when I am like that.

Q:How are things going for you? The pollen counts are at severe here where I am and I've DEFINITELY noticed. I can only imagine you're not doing too great <3 Hope you are getting SOME relief anyway! 
A:  (ok, maybe not really a question that needs answering here, but I need something to write about!).  Yea, its been pretty bad for me so far, and not much relief.  The most annoying part is that the more I am exposed to pollen (or anything else I am allergic to), the more sensitive my nose gets and the more I react to things.

Q:You mentioned at worst you sneezed a "few thousand" times a day??? I mean, assuming 16 hours of being awake, 2000 sneezes means an average of over 2 sneezes a minute, all day long??? How are these spaced out? I mean, how many sneezes in a "long fit", and how long does that take?
A: Yes, its pretty crazy isn't it?  I almost always sneeze in long fits, almost never less than around 10, and not usually more than around 30, although there have been a few times where I just couldn't stop sneezing for a long time, gets really exhausting and kinda freaky.  I never really broke down the timing of it all, but lets say an average of a 20 sneeze fit, and it takes maybe a minute or less usually?  My sneezes often come very quickly after each other, although occasionally there are gaps and time for the sneezes to come.

I hope I answered all the questions well.  Please keep them coming because I am having a hard time thinking about what to write.  I am going to keep making the effort to post about weekly.  Feel free to comment or contact me directly!




Saturday, May 11, 2013

May Q+A

Sorry that its been longer than I wanted to wait between posts again.  I am happy that new people seem to be asking questions though!

Q: If someone asked you "What's it like to have hayfever?" and you had only 15 seconds to answer, what would you say?
A: Its a bit hard to keep it that short.  I would say something like "Its like having a cold but a bit different.  You get congestion and runny nose and sneezing like in a cold, but the sneezing is more.  Eyes get watery and itchy and  the inside of your nose can really tickle/tingle.Unlike a cold, it also lasts much longer."

Q: How many times would you see that you sneezed in a typical day .?>  does it affect your sleeping patterns too?
A: It varies greatly.  It can be a couple of hundred times a day to probably a few thousand times per day.  I usually sneeze in long fits and when things are really bad I might not have much time at all between fits.  It really does affect my sleeping.  Its hard to lay down when I am sneezing so much, and laying down is tough when you are very congested.  Besides the sneezing, a runny nose, or an itchy nose or itchy eyes can be very distracting when trying to sleep.

Q: I know you prefer written to spoken communications, but what is your method of handling phone conversations when you're having an allergy attack, and can you give a recent example?
A: If its not too bad, I'll ask them to hold on for a min.  Sometimes I'll try to wrap up the conversation real fast if thats possible   Otherwise I'll tell them that I have to call them back later, or to send me an e-mail or something.  I can't think of a recent example because when it a bad time of year I will avoid answering the phone and send a text message if someone tried to call me.  

Let me know if those were good answers.  Welcome again to the couple of new people reading and asking :)  Feel free to comment, ask more stuff, or send me a message!


Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Q+A for end of April

The pollens are still making my allergies really bad.  I'm a total mess.  I have questions to answer so at least I don't have to think things up to write about!

Q: Are you on the east or west coast now? New England is just starting to get hit with pollen misery.
A: East coast.  Yea, its pretty bad now.

Q: How is social life for you? Is it difficult to go out to bars/restaurants with friends or co-workers? Or is it easier to host people at your place because you have more control over the environment? 

A: Social life is hard sometimes.  Many times I have to cancel plans or leave places early.  I will also tend to push myself too much:  go out when I'm feeling too bad, or go places that I probably shouldn't, and I often end up feeling more miserable.  Its nice to be able to have more control over the environment at home, but the big disadvantage is that I don't really have anywhere to run off to.  If I am somewhere else, i can always leave or have someone help me leave.  If its at my own place, there is no where to go, I have to stay with everyone there.

Q: I'd guess all the sneezing must make it quite diffcult to type as well, which makes even e-mails etc. difficult? Is it difficult to do your schoolwork when things are like this? 
A: Lots of sneezing fits does make it harder to type, but its MUCH easier than talking!  Yes, its pretty hard to get schoolwork done.  It ends up taking me a long time.  Besides just interrupting me, my allergies makes it hard to focus, and have the energy to do everything.

Q: I might have missed your post somewhere, have u taken any allergy test to confirm your allergens?
A: Yes, I wrote about it in my 1st few posts.  To keep it simple, I had positive tests to almost any environmental allergy that can be tested.

As usual, please comment and give me feedback.  Ask more questions, and feel free to contact me if I am online; it usually means I am feeling icky or bored and could use the company.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Allergies are Bad, and Menstrual Cycle Connections

I get PMS the week before my period and I have found that my PMS and my allergies play off each other.  Each one makes the other one worse.  All the sneezing seems to make my cramps feel worse and my breasts feel more ouchy.  And just for that week before my period, my allergy symptoms just seem worse than other times.  And they both tire me out!

I also wanted to note that my allergies have been horrible over this last week!  I feel like my nose and sinuses are full of pollen!  Been really hard to get anything done lately.  So much sneezing that its interrupting everything, and people have a hard time understanding me through my stuffiness.

No questions to answer, and I can't think of much else to say right now so thats it today.  Please comment and give me feedback and more topics to talk about!

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Allergies Today and More Q+A

Tree pollen has been getting high lately and its been driving my allergies nuts the last few days.  Been pretty miserable with my nose and sinuses and eyes going nuts.  I have found that the pollen season starts a few weeks later than in Seattle but it ramps up much faster.  I used to go through this worsening of my allergies over a few weeks, but here it seems to happen over a few days.

Today is one of those days where I probably won't be able to get much done.  I do have a good number of questions to answer, so that is easier than having to think up my own post in this condition.

Q: Have you ever considered any kind of sinus surgery? I would think there'd have to be some thing out there that could help you in some way...??
A: I have been asked that many times over the years.  The short answer is that it wont help.  I had looked into it before and I was told that it MIGHT be helpful for a short time, maybe a year or 2 even, but with my allergies being so bad, and my nose and sinuses being so sensitive, any benefit would eventually go away.  Earlier in this blog I also wrote about how narrow the inside my passages are, etc, and there just isn't the space in there to do anything about it.  

Q:Given how bad things can get, I'd imagine that you prefer to just use a tissue then get rid of it?! If you are going out in full season, how do you deal with it. Would you just carry a lot of tissues with you?
A: Yes, I always carry alot of tissues with me.  If I have a bag or backpack big enough, I'll actually carry around a whole box, and I like to have some in every room where I live.  If I have any pockets, I keep some in most pockets.  And yes, I like to use a tissue as much as I can, then just get rid of it.  makes things easier that way.

Q:Who, besides your girlfriend, are you most comfortable having a sneezing attack around? And why?
A: My best friend Jessie.  I made a post about how we met and became friends early on in this blog.  The why is because her allergies are also very bad (though not as bad as mine).  I haven't seen her as often since I moved to the east coast, but we still stay in touch and I visit her when I can.

Q:How do you decide, on a bad allergy day, to stop fighting it and give up trying to have a normal, productive day?
A: Its hard to say exactly, other than just how crappy I am feeling.  How worn down and how bad my allergies are being really determines it.  Some days like that I wake up and know I just can't function that day, sometimes I have to stop part-way through the day.

Q:With everything you've written about snotty sneezes and runny noses, do you enjoy sneezing in the shower, because tissues are redundant?
A: 'Enjoy' is way too strong a word.  I feel like I am very messy when I am in the shower so I don't like that.  The sneezes and the snot can come much more in the shower so that makes me feel more messy and kind of overwhelmed.  On the good side, its easy to clean up and there is no one else around.


Thanks everyone for all the questions.  It makes it easier to post.  My next post topic might not be as interesting to some people, so if you ask me more questions, I can answer them too.  As usual, feel free to comment, e-mail, or chat with me if you'd like!.



Thursday, March 28, 2013

Seeing snot

Since I don't have any questions to answer, and I have been kinda busy lately, I am just going to post something quickly.

I can get pretty paranoid about people seeing my nose being snotty.  I make a large effort effort when I am around others, or if others can possibly see me, in hiding any snottiness.  When I am alone, its not much of a big deal to me, but I hate for anyone else to see it.  I am usually not able to blow my nose so my sneezes can get pretty snotty and sometimes my nose can run really badly.

I always use tissues when I sneeze because of that and I often wipe my nose and I often check in a mirror to make sure nothing can be seen.  I have been told that using a hankie would be better, but i don't see how it would be.  I use a tissue and when its used, I can grab others.  With a hankie, I think I'd snot it up kinda quickly, then it wouldn't be of any more help.

Trees have started pollinating and I'm certainly feeling it.  Allergies have been starting to get bad.

Give me some stuff to answer or at least make some comments please!


PS.  Nothing to do with allergies, but its something I just thought about recently.  In cartoons, many female superheroes or with powers that can fly tend to wear skirts.  That makes no sense to me.  Its a pretty silly idea to wear a skirt when you can fly!

Saturday, March 2, 2013

No, I don't have a cold!

Since its still winter, I wanted to talk about something that happens to me in the colder months.  Sometimes people think I have a cold instead of allergies.  Most of the time people will say 'oh, you have a cold?'  or 'are you sick?'  and I tell them no, I have allergies and that's it.  Sometimes though a person will tell me that I'm wrong cause I can't have allergies in the winter   And sometimes I get someone who is really scared of germs and will think I'm lying and will get really annoying about me 'spreading germs everywhere' and things like that.  Those people are very frustrating!

Ok, I just needed to vent on that a bit.  I have some Q+A that I'll try to answer as best I can.

Q:Did you attend traditional undergraduate college? How did you deal with that? Roommates? Lecture halls?
A: Yes.  It was hard at times.  Lectures I would sit where it was easy to leave and if my allergies got bad I'd run out to the bathroom.  Some days my allergies were (are) so bad that I'd have to skip class.  Labs were usually similar but sometimes problematic, especially when I was having bad allergies and it was testing time. I struggled through though.  Some professors were pretty understanding, and a few weren't.  Roommates were all over the board.  Some were totally understanding and one was super-helpful.  One i remember tried to be helpful but failed miserably.  I wanted to be upset at her, but it was hard to when she was trying so much.  A few didn't really care and didn't go out of there way to be helpful, but none were downright mean or nasty luckily.  It would have been easy for a roommate to make my life constantly miserable!

Q: One question based on your comment in the opening that you need to be able to get as much work done as you can in the window when your allergies are less bad; what are you able to do to manage your time so that you are able to function with your allergies? Like would you be able to schedule work into times during the day, or even during the month/year when things are less bad. There must be times they have a real impact on day to day life.
A: I know all the work that needs to be done for all my classes each semester, so I try to get as much of it done and as much studying ahead that I can during the times my allergies aren't too bad.  For lab work and teaching assisting, it was very difficult, but my mentor professor was very cool and helped me get an altered workload so I can do the usual things times when my allergies aren't too bad, and when they are bad, I can do different work that i can do on my own.  I do have to miss classes or things at times, but once again, this professor has helped me out.  Its gonna take me longer than it should to graduate, but i can do it.  Yes sometimes my allergies have a major impact on my daily life, but luckily sometimes it has very little.

I feel like I might not have answered the questions fully.  I could go on and on but I wanted to keep my answers short and coherent.  If you need clarification, or more of an answer, just ask me some more.

As usual, feel free to ask me more questions, please make comments, and drop me a line if you'd like!

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Just Q+A today

I am trying to keep up with my 1/week posts, and I am glad I got some Q+A because I can't think of much else to write about right now!

I am fully recovered from being sick.  The biggest drawback being that I lost like 2 weeks of being able to get work done and I need to get lot of work done when I am able to.

Just 2 for Q+A today:

Q:What month is generally worst for you, allergy wise?
A: I would have to say September.  As the spring then summer goes on, all the pollens make me more and more sensitive to everything I am allergic to, then I get hit with ragweed.  Ragweed is one of my worst allergies, and it makes me pretty much useless when its out and even after, especially through September.  In Oct things stat to improve. 

Q:What was one of the most uncomfortable situations in which you had to deal with your allergies? Like somewhere you had to remain despite obvious sneezing, etc??
A:  I have had many of those kinds of situations.  I blogged all about one back on 9/12/10.  I'll tell another one here though.  In undergrad, I was in a group for a big class project and 10 of us were meeting at someones apartment and we were mainly going through everything I put together for my part of the project. Pretty soon after I got there my allergies started to act up and they got worse and worse.  I wasn't really able to run off cause I was important to that meeting and I had to wait for my ride anyway.  It was very uncomfortable and embarrassing to have to do that while my allergies were making me such a mess and I wasn't able to run off much at all.  So not only did I have to stay, but I was the main focus and had to do stuff.  Ugh I hated that so much, it was torturous.


Please keep up the questions so I don't have to think of much else to write about!  If I am on, drop me a line on yahoo and say hi if you'd like.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Quick post and one Q+A

Sorry its been a bit since I posted.  I was planning on posting about once/week, but I got really sick with pneumonia and I just am getting over it now.

My allergies haven't been bothering me too much lately.  Through Jan and usually most of Feb I usually do better since there isn't pollen to deal with, the heating systems no long have a bunch of dust sitting in them to get stirred up, and all the holiday scents and such are gone.  As long as I can avoid the other allergens that randomly pop up, I do ok for this time of year compared to the rest.

I just have one question to answer today:

Q: What symptom of your allergies do you find most difficult to deal with?
A: Sneezing is usually the worst.  Its the one that is the most obvious to people.  If I didn't sneeze all the time, it would be easier to deal with my allergies, and to hide it from others.  Its very interruptive and it can be really embarrassing at times, and it can get pretty tiring.

Thats it for today.  Please leave me comments and/or questions, and feel free to say hi on yahoo chat if I am on.


Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Results and Q+A

Doing a quick post today so sorry if the answers are shorter than usual.  If anyone was curious about the flowers, it turns out carnations and tulips don't seem to cause me much of a reaction.  Thats good because Allison really like tulips :)

Q+A:

Q: How many times would you say you sneeze in a day? For example, is a sneezing fit 5 or 6 sneezes or non-stop sneezes for twenty minutes? 
A: I sneeze too much to keep count most days.  I can get both fits and non-stop sneezing.  My fits are usually a bit more than 6 though.  I can have non-stop sneezing last twenty minutes or more.  

Q: Are you ever not able to drive due to sneezing?
A: Yes.  Some days if my allergies are really bad I won't even try to drive.  I will aos pull over while driving if a bad allergy attack starts to come on.  Other than wintertime, I usually try to get others to do the driving so I don't have to worry about it. 

Q: Do you find, if you are already suffering from allergies that certain stimuli will make them worse, or once your allergies have started to affect you is it generally a similar level of intensity?
A: If my allergies are already acting up, being exposed to something else will always make them worse.  The more my allergies act up, the more sensitive my nose gets to everything.

I still really like the Q+A format so keep the questions coming, and I can always use ideas of what to post about.  Be sure to comment!

Friday, January 11, 2013

What my allergy attacks are like

I have been asked a number of times over the years what happens as a bad allergy attack comes on.  I never really was able to give a good answer in the moment like that because I am not being too self-reflecting when an allergy attack comes on, and I never thought much about it except in the moment someone asks me that question and I have nothing ready to say.  I figured here I can think about it and write it all out.

Often times I am experiencing allergies to one extent or another anyway but what I'm writing about is when I end up being around something that gives me bad allergy attacks, and my allergies haven't already bothering me that much. 

First I start to get this tingle/tickle deep in my nose, then I start to get a tickle in the back of my throat and my nose starts getting stuffy.  the tingling in my nose starts to spread and the stuffiness gets worse.  My nose and my eyes start to feel not itchy exactly but like they are going to be itchy.  The tingling/tickling and the stuffiness in my nose keeps getting worse and eventually I have my first sneezing fit.  Once I have my first sneezing fit, its like the floodgates open.  My nose starts to get runny, my sinuses start to get stuffy, my nose starts to get itchy, my eyes start to water and I have more sneezing fits.  If it keeps going, it all gets more and more and my eyes will also get itchy and red and my ears might start to clog up.

Ok, I think that's a pretty good explanation of what happens.  Let me know if that makes sense.

Weird Tangent:  I have recently read the The Hunger Games books, and although they were really cool, I just want to mention one thing that struck me as slightly weird.  In the 2nd book, at one point Katniss mentioned how she was crying and her nose was running and someone ripped some moss hanging off a tree to give her to blow her nose.  I read that and thought 'ewww!'  Can moss actually be used like that???

As usual, any questions for me to answer or if you want to chat, just message me.