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.

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!

Early Dec update

Allergies been acting a bit weird lately.  When I wake up, my eyes are usually kinda goopy from allergies.  lately though they have been VERY goopy.  So much that some days my eyes are stuck closed because the goop kinda dries on my lashes and glues my eyelashes together I guess.  It makes dealing with my allergies when I wake up even more of a hassle. 

Another thing is my sneezing has been a bit different.  Instead of longer fits with breaks in between, lately alot of times I have been getting only a few sneezes but then maybe 1 min tops before sneezing again, and the whole time in between I feel right on the verge of sneezing.  This can go on for a long time.  I do get that sometimes but it's been happening alot lately.