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.