Q+A for end of Oct

Sorry, no ideas that fit into a Halloween theme. 

Ragweed season is finally slowing down, so my allergies are starting to lighten up a bit.  Still will take a while for them to settle down though.

Sorry its been a while since my last post.  As usual, its hard for me to think of what to write.

Since I don't have much else to say, lets go to the Q+A:

Q: What kind of mean comments? People are so rude.
A: Yup, they can be.  I think I have answered this before in the past, but a few examples:  "Can't you control that?", "You are being disruptive", "That sounds pretty gross", "can't you stop sneezing?", etc.

Q: Could you please upload a few seconds of you so we know what you sound like? Will help to relate better to you and what you are writing. You could do an entry by video (without pics if youd prefer), just what you say, instead of typing out the entry and it would be more personal and interesting.
A:  Nope, I'm not going to do that, sorry.  the benefit of being online is that People can't hear/see me when my allergies are acting up.

Q: You often say that you get mean comments- can you be more specific and tell us specifically people say and have said? Do they say it directly to you and how have you responded?
A: Like I said in the first question, I have talked about it before.  I usually don't respond - because my allergies are too bad, or I'm too embarrassed.

Q: High school sounds like it was tough with some mean people- did teachers ever notice and stand up for you or say something? 
A: Not usually.  Most weren't that understanding.  A really good thing about college was that I could leave the rom anytime I wanted instead of sometimes having to stay in the room as I was sneezing like crazy.

Q: When things are getting heated with your SO, do you ever have to stop because of sneezing or dripping or something? Does it happen often and what exactly happens and how does she deal with it?
A: Yes, my allergies make us have to stop often.  Allison is very understanding about it.  She is very patient and caring.  Definitely the best GF I have ever had :)

Q: Are you able to stifle your sneezes? And if yes, do you do it, e.g. when you're among others?
A:  I seem to be starting to get questions I already answered :)  I usually can't.  I have figured out a way to, but it makes me constantly have to stifle, so its pretty obvious and it won't let up til I let myself have a regular fit.  Because of that, and because it tends to hurt my sinuses, I don't do it.

Q: When your eyes are watery, do you always wipe the tears away or does it happen that you let them run down your face?
A: Depends on how bad my allergies are.  I usually will wipe them away, but if its bad and I'm really worn out, I wont as it becomes too much hassle or I'm too wiped out to keep up.

Q: You wrote that sometimes you get dizzy when your allergies are bad. How bad can this dizziness get? Does it happen that it's difficult for you to walk or ride a bike because of the dizziness?
A: It can be pretty bad when my allergies are bad.  Luckily the dizziness doesn't happen much if my allergies aren't really bad.  When it does happen, I try to keep my head as still as possible.  Turning my head or my body will make it worse at those times, so walking can get a bit difficult, and riding a bike is too hard when my allergies are bad, or a number of reasons.

Q: You wrote that your hearing can be affected when your allergies are bad. Does it happen that you don't understand what others say or have to turn the TV louder because of affected hearing?
A: It feels like my ears are stuffed with cotton so everything sounds muted.  I can usually still make out what people are saying, but sometimes I do have to ask again and I probably make the TV a bit louder.

Q: Which allergy-related websites do you visit or look for?
A:  I used to look for allergy support groups, but everything online is for food-related allergies.  I don't really look around anymore.  I do sometimes look at sites for pollen or mold levels.  Some allergy-site and weather sites.  They all tend to be a bit different so I will try to look at more than one.

Catching up with a short post and Q+A

Ok, I know I have been bad and not posted in a very long time.  I had been really busy and I kept putting it off.  I finally got a bit of motivation to make a post.

Now that pollen is gone, my allergies aren't as bad.  I do have to deal a bit with dust and stuff moving around for heating systems coming back on on the dryness that it can create, but its not as bad as dealing with pollen.

I am not sure what other update to give right now, so i will go into 2 questions I got:

Q:Have you ever considered moving to a different climate? For example I'm in Seattle and I know of someone who moved from here to Medford, OR for relief from sinus issues. Would a drier, desert-like climate help? Would there be less triggers? Or would the air conditioning bother your allergies? 
A: I have looked into that and I have been told that it doesn't really work, and if it does it would only be for a short time, as new triggers would start to bother me.  I have moved from the northwest to the northeast and i didn't see any difference.  A/C I don't think bothers my allergies in and of itself, but they are prone to mold and I am pretty allergic to mold.  I once stayed somewhere and my allergies we going really bad and it took us a while to realize it was a very old A/C unit that hadn't been kept up that well that was causing much of my problems.

Q:One of the things I find most awkward about sneezing repeatedly is how people feel the need to say 'bless you'. I wish that courtesy did not even exist, I wish sneezing was like coughing. When people bless me I feel like I can't even say thank you in between sneezes and it's even more awkward when they keep saying it after every few sneezes, and even more awkward when they finally give up and I'm still sneezing! It just makes me more embarrassed than I already am. Do you like people to acknowledge your sneezes with a 'bless you'? 
A:  I hate the bless you thing so much!  It just draws more attention to all my sneezing, and I end up feeling bad because most people just eventually give up blessing me in the middle of my fits.  Whats worse is when they switch from blessing to things like 'wow are you ever gonna stop'  or 'I blessed you enough, you can stop now' or 'I can't bless you that much', and other weird or annoying things.

I know I have posted about this before, but answering the last question reminds me of all the crazy things people say to me.  Some makes me feel really embarrassed, some upset me, some make me feel mad.  Some people are actually pretty nice and helpful but sometimes they are the total opposite, either on accident or on purpose. Some of the worst stuff I have heard it people telling me: I am doing it just to get attention; my allergies ruin my looks; and even a few times people have gotten upset that they were trying to have a conversation with me when my allergies were really bad and I wasn't answering them.

Ok, I didn't want to leave off on a depressing note!  So, I'll say my allergies are being a bit better because of the season, and in a few days I will have a few days off :)

As usual, please read and share and ask me more questions and feel free to contact me to chat if you want to!  Happy TG!

Too long without posting

I feel so bad that its been over a month since my last post.  Sorry everyone!  I have been so busy trying to get work done, and being wiped out from my allergies that every time I go to blog I think 'ugh, I can't do this now, maybe tomorrow'.  Today I am making it happen though!

I can't think of too much I can bring up right now, because of the above, so right to a few Q+A that have been sitting around:

Q:Do you find that when you are very congested because of your allergies, like when one has a cold you lose your sense of taste? I know it must be really difficult to eat and drink when you are having sneezing fits and are really congested, but even when you can, can you taste food or is it a bit like a cold when it's just sustenance? 
A: I have nasal congestion most of the time, so I often don't really have a sense of smell, and that of course impacts my ability to taste.  I usually don't taste too much when I eat food when I am congested like that.  And yes, with lots of sneezing and congestion, it is hard to eat and drink.  I will tend to mainly sip water often when I am like that.

Q:How are things going for you? The pollen counts are at severe here where I am and I've DEFINITELY noticed. I can only imagine you're not doing too great <3 Hope you are getting SOME relief anyway! 
A:  (ok, maybe not really a question that needs answering here, but I need something to write about!).  Yea, its been pretty bad for me so far, and not much relief.  The most annoying part is that the more I am exposed to pollen (or anything else I am allergic to), the more sensitive my nose gets and the more I react to things.

Q:You mentioned at worst you sneezed a "few thousand" times a day??? I mean, assuming 16 hours of being awake, 2000 sneezes means an average of over 2 sneezes a minute, all day long??? How are these spaced out? I mean, how many sneezes in a "long fit", and how long does that take?
A: Yes, its pretty crazy isn't it?  I almost always sneeze in long fits, almost never less than around 10, and not usually more than around 30, although there have been a few times where I just couldn't stop sneezing for a long time, gets really exhausting and kinda freaky.  I never really broke down the timing of it all, but lets say an average of a 20 sneeze fit, and it takes maybe a minute or less usually?  My sneezes often come very quickly after each other, although occasionally there are gaps and time for the sneezes to come.

I hope I answered all the questions well.  Please keep them coming because I am having a hard time thinking about what to write.  I am going to keep making the effort to post about weekly.  Feel free to comment or contact me directly!