Monday, December 22, 2014

Flying, new sneezing, and Q+A

(sorry!  I thought I posted this on Sat, but I discovered tonight that I forgot!)

Yay, I am posting for the second time this month!

Monday early morning I am flying back to Seattle for a week to be with my family.  The sucky part is that flying really messes with me cause of my congestion.  I get horrible sinus pain and pressure.  It takes about a day to recover from it.  It hurts as much as having a migraine, and makes me feel nauseous too.  It also makes my ears hurt a lot, and for a day or two I feel off-balance and like my ears are stuffed with cotton. 

Yesterday I discovered a new way of sneezing, lol.  I felt a sneeze fit coming and I was trying to hold back sneezing til I could get to my tissues, and I suddenly started sneezing these really quiet high-pitched sneezes.  I found I could make them happen when I need to sneeze.  The good thing is that they are quiet and they are not snotty at all.  The bad thing is that they just keep going with no stop to them until I let myself sneeze regularly


And I already have two questions, so here we go:

Q: What would you say your worst allergy symptom is...the congestion, sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes etc..?
A: It would have to be the sneezing.  Its just crazy how much sneezing I do, its what draws the most attention to my allergies and is the most disruptive, both to me trying to do stuff, and to other people.  It can be really tiring too.

Q: I am sure you have had many terrible allergy days but can you pin point one that was worse than all the rest, and can you tell us about it?
A: I can't think of one that was the worst vs. another very bad allergy day. I'd probably need a bit of prodding and real-time questioning to get that exact, but I can talk a bit about a bad day in general.  When I have a very bad allergy day, I wake up with a long sneezing fit and my eyes are all goopy.  I am just really out of it all day.  Its hard to focus, and I have so many long sneezing fits I am wiped out.  My congestion is really bad and I feel the pressure in my nose and all in my sinuses.  My ears can also feel clogged, and my nose is constantly runny and snotty.  My nose and eyes are all itchy and red, and my eyes r swollen and watery, and I just don't have the energy or ability to do really do anything.  Sorry if I am kinda vague, let me know if you have any follow-up questions.


Be sure to comment and ask questions and feel free to message or e-mail me!  Enjoy the holidays!

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Mid Dec. Q+A

I am still so far away from getting to the point where I post once a week.  I think I am lucky to post once/month!

Its wintertime, so my allergies are generally improved, but I still get some bad times/days from random things.  Also, some holiday time things like scents, some trees, etc can give me problems.  Its not usually as bad as other seasons though.  My allergies haven't been too bad lately, but for some reason today they are acting up really badly.

Here are some Qs for me to A:

Q: What do your sneezes sound like? Have you ever considered recording a sneezing fit, for umm.... science?
A: I guess they sound normal?  I am unsure how to describe them.  They are usually a bit on the quiet side, but still loud enough for people to notice.  I have been told my sneezes are 'kinda cute', but they can get intense when I am having a really bad sneezing fit. 

OMG no way would I ever record them!  Its too embarrassing to even just sneeze in front of people.  To have it recorded and around all the time would be bad!

Q: Over the years what tips/tricks have you developed to help deal with your allergies?
A:  I don't really have anything that is an amazing help, other than being able to avoid what I am allergic to, but there are many things that I think help slightly.  Washing clothes often, tying my hair back when I can, avoiding going out at times of day/days when pollen count is high, washing my hair often, I usually use pillow and mattress covers, I usually try to get someone else to do the cleaning, but since Allison is also allergic to dust, we trade off.  I have hepa filters too.

I do other stuff too, but this is what I can think of off the to of my head.  I know I have also tried lots of other things that haven't helped, but I'd really have to try to remember them.  Nothing helps that greatly, but every little bit counts.

Q: Now that winter is starting do you find yourself with less allergy symptoms or does winter bring about new challenges?
A:  Winter is the least worst of the seasons for me, as there isn't any pollen to deal with.  I am still allergic to so many other things, so I still have some allergy problems but not usually as bad as the rest of the year.  I guess the big challenges in the winter is dust tends to get stirred up when all the heating systems come on, so that flares up my allergies at that time.  Also, during the holiday season there are things that I am allergic to: scents, dusty fake trees, possibly mold on real trees, etc. 


I'd love to be able to make another post before the  end of the year, but I can't promise anything.  As usual, feel free to comment and ask questions here and contact me directly too.  The more ideas I get, the easier it is for me to post.

If I do not post again this month, have a great holiday!