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.