Hi everyone. I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays.
As I mentioned in my quick note, I was planning on making a post, but I was sick with a bad cold all last week, so that really sucked. This week I have been busy with the start of the semester. Of course once I post that I probably won't have time to post, I find some time to post!
I did have a dream involving my allergies a few weeks ago, but I can't remember it now. Something about my allergies being bad but people were all wanting to look closely at my nose.
I do have many questions now to answer. Its only about 5 or 6 people, but one person had many questions.
Q: Have you ever considered moving to live somewhere where the winters are longer/the pollen season is shorter, or to somewhere with less allergenic plant life? Living by the sea is also supposed to be better for people with hayfever, I believe. I realize that moving isn't something that's easily done, but if it was a possibility for you, do you think it would be worth trying?
A: I have thought about it and looked into it years ago, but it doesn't help. It might help for a short time, but the allergies come back. Also, moving from the northwest to the northeast didn't make any difference for me.
Q: How does your family do in terms of your allergies? Are they accommodating or do they inadvertently do things that set them off sometimes?
A: They are good about it. back when I first got allergies, they were better about it than I was. Back then I never avoided anything because I hoped I would get over them or fight through them. They are also pretty good now at ignoring my sneezing fits and other allergy stuff, which is good.
Q: At this time are you still seeing an allergist? If so how are they trying to treat or help you and is it working?
A: Yes. Been seeing allergists since I got allergies. They are always amazed at how bad my allergies are. I am on a number of different things, but they don't help much. We occasionally switch things to see if something will help more.
Q: So, how many sneezing fits did you have on the plane?
A: I didn't keep count, but certainly more than one. They are very annoying on the plane too. All the pressure in my sinuses and ears makes the sneezes a bit painful at times. It also makes it feel like I can't sneeze but will sneeze at the same time.
Q: You mentioned in some earlier posts that you can't blow your nose, and it got me to thinking (and this is merely a suggestion): I work at a preschool, and since babies/toddlers often can't blow their nose, we use a bulb syringe or some other suction device to literally suck the snot out. I was wondering, would suction work for you?
A: There are versions of those thing adults can use and I have tried them. I find them a bit of a hassle to use, and they don't seem to work that well. I am not sure if its just me, or them in general.
Q: You said that generally you cannot blow your nose because it's so congested. When there are days on which you can blow your nose, how often do you blow it? And are you sniffling then?
A: Days when I can blow my nose are pretty rare, but the days I can, my allergies aren't bad enough for me to need to blow constantly. Maybe a few times a day, as I do find it kind of annoying to my nose even then. If it didn't annoy my nose, I'd probably do it a lot more often. I do try to sniffle a lot on those days, but I'd need to sniffle really hard to have much of an effect, and I don't want to be that loud so I will sniffle softly for a while, it won't do much, so I'll give up.
Q: When your allergies are bad, how much tissues do you spend a day for wiping your nose? You wrote that sometimes you carry a whole box with you, how many tissues are contained in such a box?
A: I never kept track, but I can easily go through a big box on those days. A bit over 200 in the big boxes that I get.
Q: You wrote that you sang in a choir before your allergies got worse. Do or did you play a musical instrument? Is it / would it be possible for you to play a musical instrument in a useful way concerning all your allergy hassles, especially the constant szeening and nose wiping?
A: I never had much of an interest in musical instruments. I haven't tried any other. If I did try, I'd think something that I didn't have to blow into would be easier for me to play.
Q: You wrote that sometimes you don't drive because of your allergies. What about riding a bicycle? Are there days on which biking is impossible for you too?
A: Its the same kind of thing, although in some ways biking is better cause its easier to start and stop and its at much lower speeds. It can be worse though in that I am more directly exposed to pollen and stuff on a bike.
Q: Do you do some sports, i.e. jogging or running? If yes, how easy or difficult is this concerning your allergies?
A: The ones I like the best are soccer, volleyball, and swimming. I had to give up competing in them because my allergies got too bad, especially with soccer. I still play volleyball for fun when I can, and I swim a bit, but at pools the chlorine bothers me, and when I am underwater I feel the pressure in my head.
Sorry if the answers are kinda short. I guess with so many I might have made my answers quick. Let me know if you want expansion or clarification on anything.
I do have a request: If you make replies to my blog posts, can you log-in (if you have an account)? Almost everything is from 'anonymous', so I have no idea how many people are communicating.
As usual, please make comments and feel free to contact me and say hi. I always need ideas!
Showing posts with label blowing nose. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blowing nose. Show all posts
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Monday, September 24, 2012
Something people don't get, and some Q+A
Whenever the pollen count starts to go low, I always get people saying to me 'Oh you must be fine now that the pollen count is down' or 'why are your allergies still so bad? The pollen count went down' It gets kind of annoying after a while. There are a number of reasons why my allergies don't go down the day the pollen count does.
1. I react very strongly to many kinds of pollen. So even if the count is low and most people don't react, I still do.
2. The more I am exposed to something I am allergic to, the more over-sensitive all my allergies get. Like right now since this ragweed season has been going on for a while, everything is setting me off really intensely. (since I started making this post a few weeks ago, now things have been low enough for long enough that things are starting to lessen for me)
3. As I talked about before in this blog, things bother me for longer than they usually should. So even after I am away from what is setting off my allergies, its still going to affect me for a longer time. Some people are fine after a few minutes of being away or maybe a few hours. for me its anywhere from hours to days unless I am exposed for just a moment.
4. I am allergic to many other things. People seem to think its only possible to be allergic to pollen! I have so many other allergies that at least one thing is going to be bothering me most of the time.
I have gotten two questions for the Q+A.
Q: What are some of the everyday tasks that are hard to do when your allergies are really bad?
A: Eating, drinking, sleeping, shopping, reading, and really any other activity that needs focus or extended effort. My allergies do interfere all the time, but the above can become almost impossible when my allergies are really bad. Eating and drinking is hard to do when I am all stuffed up so can't breathe out of my nose because I can't chew for long without needing to breathe. Sneezing lots also makes it difficult because having a sneezing fit when you have a mouthful of food or liquid is not good! I have to take little nibbles and little sips, and I tend to lose my appetite anyway when my allergies are bad. Sleeping is hard cause all the sneezing makes it hard to fall asleep, and my nose and sinuses bother me when I'm all stuffed up and my head is lying down. Also, a very runny nose is annoying when trying to sleep. Reading gets hard because all my symptoms bother my ability to stay focused. A constant drippy/runny nose is hard when leaning over reading. Also, when my allergies are bad, my eyes are all watery and itchy and stuff so it makes it hard to actually read the words at times. Getting intimate is hard because of the congestion/breathing and needing to sneeze when kissing, etc issues. Shopping is hard more because of the potential of getting exposed to things I am allergic to without realizing it. All those scented things, detergent and laundry isles, flowers and such. Some stores I just can't go into. For some reason all Macy's and JC Penny's I have been to really sets off my allergies and I have no idea why. It makes no difference what part of the store I go into, or where the store is. Shopping with Allison is a help because she usually has a great sense of smell and can sometimes be able to let me know if something is starting to be around that i will react badly too before it gets too bad.
Q: What is the worst thing people have said to you about your allergies?
A: I don't think these are the worst, but 2 things have been on my mind lately. The first is some variation of: "You would be gorgeous if it wasn't for your allergies". I have been hearing that on and off for a number of years. Often times its not right to my face (occasionally someone has said it to me, either being clueless or thinking they were being complimentary, something like 'without your allergies you can be really hot'), but I overhear it, or someone tells me they heard someone say it. It can be upsetting because I do think that my allergies ruin how I look. Its been on my mind because recently a guy gave me his card and said something like 'Contact me if you can get your allergies under control. Then I think I can make you a model'. The other one that bothers me is people telling me to blow my nose. I get told these things so many times: "you sound like you need to blow your nose", "You should blow your nose", "If you blow your nose, it will make your allergies better", "you wouldn't sneeze so much if you blow your nose" Then most people just don't get the idea that I can't blow my nose. When I try to explain, I get "you must be doing it wrong", "you need to try more", or "you just don't want to blow your nose" Its like blowing my nose would be some magical thing and I just refuse to do it. Believe me, if I could blow my nose I would do it!
Thanks for listening to me rant again. Please feel free to post comments, or contact me if you want to chat. Please ask more questions so I have some Q+As to write!
1. I react very strongly to many kinds of pollen. So even if the count is low and most people don't react, I still do.
2. The more I am exposed to something I am allergic to, the more over-sensitive all my allergies get. Like right now since this ragweed season has been going on for a while, everything is setting me off really intensely. (since I started making this post a few weeks ago, now things have been low enough for long enough that things are starting to lessen for me)
3. As I talked about before in this blog, things bother me for longer than they usually should. So even after I am away from what is setting off my allergies, its still going to affect me for a longer time. Some people are fine after a few minutes of being away or maybe a few hours. for me its anywhere from hours to days unless I am exposed for just a moment.
4. I am allergic to many other things. People seem to think its only possible to be allergic to pollen! I have so many other allergies that at least one thing is going to be bothering me most of the time.
I have gotten two questions for the Q+A.
Q: What are some of the everyday tasks that are hard to do when your allergies are really bad?
A: Eating, drinking, sleeping, shopping, reading, and really any other activity that needs focus or extended effort. My allergies do interfere all the time, but the above can become almost impossible when my allergies are really bad. Eating and drinking is hard to do when I am all stuffed up so can't breathe out of my nose because I can't chew for long without needing to breathe. Sneezing lots also makes it difficult because having a sneezing fit when you have a mouthful of food or liquid is not good! I have to take little nibbles and little sips, and I tend to lose my appetite anyway when my allergies are bad. Sleeping is hard cause all the sneezing makes it hard to fall asleep, and my nose and sinuses bother me when I'm all stuffed up and my head is lying down. Also, a very runny nose is annoying when trying to sleep. Reading gets hard because all my symptoms bother my ability to stay focused. A constant drippy/runny nose is hard when leaning over reading. Also, when my allergies are bad, my eyes are all watery and itchy and stuff so it makes it hard to actually read the words at times. Getting intimate is hard because of the congestion/breathing and needing to sneeze when kissing, etc issues. Shopping is hard more because of the potential of getting exposed to things I am allergic to without realizing it. All those scented things, detergent and laundry isles, flowers and such. Some stores I just can't go into. For some reason all Macy's and JC Penny's I have been to really sets off my allergies and I have no idea why. It makes no difference what part of the store I go into, or where the store is. Shopping with Allison is a help because she usually has a great sense of smell and can sometimes be able to let me know if something is starting to be around that i will react badly too before it gets too bad.
Q: What is the worst thing people have said to you about your allergies?
A: I don't think these are the worst, but 2 things have been on my mind lately. The first is some variation of: "You would be gorgeous if it wasn't for your allergies". I have been hearing that on and off for a number of years. Often times its not right to my face (occasionally someone has said it to me, either being clueless or thinking they were being complimentary, something like 'without your allergies you can be really hot'), but I overhear it, or someone tells me they heard someone say it. It can be upsetting because I do think that my allergies ruin how I look. Its been on my mind because recently a guy gave me his card and said something like 'Contact me if you can get your allergies under control. Then I think I can make you a model'. The other one that bothers me is people telling me to blow my nose. I get told these things so many times: "you sound like you need to blow your nose", "You should blow your nose", "If you blow your nose, it will make your allergies better", "you wouldn't sneeze so much if you blow your nose" Then most people just don't get the idea that I can't blow my nose. When I try to explain, I get "you must be doing it wrong", "you need to try more", or "you just don't want to blow your nose" Its like blowing my nose would be some magical thing and I just refuse to do it. Believe me, if I could blow my nose I would do it!
Thanks for listening to me rant again. Please feel free to post comments, or contact me if you want to chat. Please ask more questions so I have some Q+As to write!
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