Since its still winter, I wanted to talk about something that happens to me in the colder months. Sometimes people think I have a cold instead of allergies. Most of the time people will say 'oh, you have a cold?' or 'are you sick?' and I tell them no, I have allergies and that's it. Sometimes though a person will tell me that I'm wrong cause I can't have allergies in the winter And sometimes I get someone who is really scared of germs and will think I'm lying and will get really annoying about me 'spreading germs everywhere' and things like that. Those people are very frustrating!
Ok, I just needed to vent on that a bit. I have some Q+A that I'll try to answer as best I can.
Q:Did you attend traditional undergraduate college? How did you deal with that? Roommates? Lecture halls?
A: Yes. It was hard at times. Lectures I would sit where it was easy to leave and if my allergies got bad I'd run out to the bathroom. Some days my allergies were (are) so bad that I'd have to skip class. Labs were usually similar but sometimes problematic, especially when I was having bad allergies and it was testing time. I struggled through though. Some professors were pretty understanding, and a few weren't. Roommates were all over the board. Some were totally understanding and one was super-helpful. One i remember tried to be helpful but failed miserably. I wanted to be upset at her, but it was hard to when she was trying so much. A few didn't really care and didn't go out of there way to be helpful, but none were downright mean or nasty luckily. It would have been easy for a roommate to make my life constantly miserable!
Q: One question based on your comment in the opening that you need to be able to get as much work done as you can in the window when your allergies are less bad; what are you able to do to manage your time so that you are able to function with your allergies? Like would you be able to schedule work into times during the day, or even during the month/year when things are less bad. There must be times they have a real impact on day to day life.
A: I know all the work that needs to be done for all my classes each semester, so I try to get as much of it done and as much studying ahead that I can during the times my allergies aren't too bad. For lab work and teaching assisting, it was very difficult, but my mentor professor was very cool and helped me get an altered workload so I can do the usual things times when my allergies aren't too bad, and when they are bad, I can do different work that i can do on my own. I do have to miss classes or things at times, but once again, this professor has helped me out. Its gonna take me longer than it should to graduate, but i can do it. Yes sometimes my allergies have a major impact on my daily life, but luckily sometimes it has very little.
I feel like I might not have answered the questions fully. I could go on and on but I wanted to keep my answers short and coherent. If you need clarification, or more of an answer, just ask me some more.
As usual, feel free to ask me more questions, please make comments, and drop me a line if you'd like!
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Just Q+A today
I am trying to keep up with my 1/week posts, and I am glad I got some Q+A because I can't think of much else to write about right now!
I am fully recovered from being sick. The biggest drawback being that I lost like 2 weeks of being able to get work done and I need to get lot of work done when I am able to.
Just 2 for Q+A today:
Q:What month is generally worst for you, allergy wise?
A: I would have to say September. As the spring then summer goes on, all the pollens make me more and more sensitive to everything I am allergic to, then I get hit with ragweed. Ragweed is one of my worst allergies, and it makes me pretty much useless when its out and even after, especially through September. In Oct things stat to improve.
Q:What was one of the most uncomfortable situations in which you had to deal with your allergies? Like somewhere you had to remain despite obvious sneezing, etc??
A: I have had many of those kinds of situations. I blogged all about one back on 9/12/10. I'll tell another one here though. In undergrad, I was in a group for a big class project and 10 of us were meeting at someones apartment and we were mainly going through everything I put together for my part of the project. Pretty soon after I got there my allergies started to act up and they got worse and worse. I wasn't really able to run off cause I was important to that meeting and I had to wait for my ride anyway. It was very uncomfortable and embarrassing to have to do that while my allergies were making me such a mess and I wasn't able to run off much at all. So not only did I have to stay, but I was the main focus and had to do stuff. Ugh I hated that so much, it was torturous.
Please keep up the questions so I don't have to think of much else to write about! If I am on, drop me a line on yahoo and say hi if you'd like.
I am fully recovered from being sick. The biggest drawback being that I lost like 2 weeks of being able to get work done and I need to get lot of work done when I am able to.
Just 2 for Q+A today:
Q:What month is generally worst for you, allergy wise?
A: I would have to say September. As the spring then summer goes on, all the pollens make me more and more sensitive to everything I am allergic to, then I get hit with ragweed. Ragweed is one of my worst allergies, and it makes me pretty much useless when its out and even after, especially through September. In Oct things stat to improve.
Q:What was one of the most uncomfortable situations in which you had to deal with your allergies? Like somewhere you had to remain despite obvious sneezing, etc??
A: I have had many of those kinds of situations. I blogged all about one back on 9/12/10. I'll tell another one here though. In undergrad, I was in a group for a big class project and 10 of us were meeting at someones apartment and we were mainly going through everything I put together for my part of the project. Pretty soon after I got there my allergies started to act up and they got worse and worse. I wasn't really able to run off cause I was important to that meeting and I had to wait for my ride anyway. It was very uncomfortable and embarrassing to have to do that while my allergies were making me such a mess and I wasn't able to run off much at all. So not only did I have to stay, but I was the main focus and had to do stuff. Ugh I hated that so much, it was torturous.
Please keep up the questions so I don't have to think of much else to write about! If I am on, drop me a line on yahoo and say hi if you'd like.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Quick post and one Q+A
Sorry its been a bit since I posted. I was planning on posting about once/week, but I got really sick with pneumonia and I just am getting over it now.
My allergies haven't been bothering me too much lately. Through Jan and usually most of Feb I usually do better since there isn't pollen to deal with, the heating systems no long have a bunch of dust sitting in them to get stirred up, and all the holiday scents and such are gone. As long as I can avoid the other allergens that randomly pop up, I do ok for this time of year compared to the rest.
I just have one question to answer today:
Q: What symptom of your allergies do you find most difficult to deal with?
A: Sneezing is usually the worst. Its the one that is the most obvious to people. If I didn't sneeze all the time, it would be easier to deal with my allergies, and to hide it from others. Its very interruptive and it can be really embarrassing at times, and it can get pretty tiring.
Thats it for today. Please leave me comments and/or questions, and feel free to say hi on yahoo chat if I am on.
My allergies haven't been bothering me too much lately. Through Jan and usually most of Feb I usually do better since there isn't pollen to deal with, the heating systems no long have a bunch of dust sitting in them to get stirred up, and all the holiday scents and such are gone. As long as I can avoid the other allergens that randomly pop up, I do ok for this time of year compared to the rest.
I just have one question to answer today:
Q: What symptom of your allergies do you find most difficult to deal with?
A: Sneezing is usually the worst. Its the one that is the most obvious to people. If I didn't sneeze all the time, it would be easier to deal with my allergies, and to hide it from others. Its very interruptive and it can be really embarrassing at times, and it can get pretty tiring.
Thats it for today. Please leave me comments and/or questions, and feel free to say hi on yahoo chat if I am on.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Results and Q+A
Doing a quick post today so sorry if the answers are shorter than usual. If anyone was curious about the flowers, it turns out carnations and tulips don't seem to cause me much of a reaction. Thats good because Allison really like tulips :)
Q+A:
Q: How many times would you say you sneeze in a day? For example, is a sneezing fit 5 or 6 sneezes or non-stop sneezes for twenty minutes?
A: I sneeze too much to keep count most days. I can get both fits and non-stop sneezing. My fits are usually a bit more than 6 though. I can have non-stop sneezing last twenty minutes or more.
Q: Are you ever not able to drive due to sneezing?
A: Yes. Some days if my allergies are really bad I won't even try to drive. I will aos pull over while driving if a bad allergy attack starts to come on. Other than wintertime, I usually try to get others to do the driving so I don't have to worry about it.
Q: Do you find, if you are already suffering from allergies that certain stimuli will make them worse, or once your allergies have started to affect you is it generally a similar level of intensity?
A: If my allergies are already acting up, being exposed to something else will always make them worse. The more my allergies act up, the more sensitive my nose gets to everything.
I still really like the Q+A format so keep the questions coming, and I can always use ideas of what to post about. Be sure to comment!
Q+A:
Q: How many times would you say you sneeze in a day? For example, is a sneezing fit 5 or 6 sneezes or non-stop sneezes for twenty minutes?
A: I sneeze too much to keep count most days. I can get both fits and non-stop sneezing. My fits are usually a bit more than 6 though. I can have non-stop sneezing last twenty minutes or more.
Q: Are you ever not able to drive due to sneezing?
A: Yes. Some days if my allergies are really bad I won't even try to drive. I will aos pull over while driving if a bad allergy attack starts to come on. Other than wintertime, I usually try to get others to do the driving so I don't have to worry about it.
Q: Do you find, if you are already suffering from allergies that certain stimuli will make them worse, or once your allergies have started to affect you is it generally a similar level of intensity?
A: If my allergies are already acting up, being exposed to something else will always make them worse. The more my allergies act up, the more sensitive my nose gets to everything.
I still really like the Q+A format so keep the questions coming, and I can always use ideas of what to post about. Be sure to comment!
Friday, January 11, 2013
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.
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.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Short post and Q+A
Sorry I have been so busy lately I haven't been able to post. I am also not sure what to post about so I will post about a weird allergy dream I had and then some Q+A.
I dreamed I went to my allergist and told him the inside of my nose felt weird. He examined and looked inside and told me that a patch of very tiny flowers were starting to grown in each nostril. I asked him to take them out and he told me its impossible to remove them. I asked how this could happen and why I never heard of it before. He said that its a rare thing that sometimes happens and no-one knows why. I left and was freaking out about it and what would happen when they started pollinating. Everyone I talked to just said 'oh well', like it was no big deal. After that I woke up.
Q+A:
Q: Out of all the things that you're allergic to, is there one allergen you react most severely to?
A: I react severely to most of the things I am allergic to. There are 3 things that are the worst, but its hard to say if one is worse than the other 2. Its cat dander, ragweed pollen, and sage pollen. With those I don't get a build-up of symptoms, it all just comes on really quickly and gets worse from there. The effects last a long time after I am no longer exposed to them.
Q:How do you deal with air travel?
A: I try to avoid it as much as possible. It makes my head and ears hurt really bad with pressure and congestion. It takes a day or so for the horrible headache to go away so the 1st day I go somewhere I can't do anything.
Q: Are you allergic to perfumes/scents and has that caused issues in public transit?
A: Yes I am, and it has. When my allergies act up I usually try to run off but in public transit I am pretty much stuck and really close to what is bothering my nose. I get many weird looks and its pretty embarrassing.
Not sure if I will be able to post again before the end of the year but I'd like to. Give me some ideas, some feedback on my posts, and I am always happy to keep doing Q+A. Feel free to contact me on e-mail or yahoo messenger too if you want to chat.
Happy Holidays!
I dreamed I went to my allergist and told him the inside of my nose felt weird. He examined and looked inside and told me that a patch of very tiny flowers were starting to grown in each nostril. I asked him to take them out and he told me its impossible to remove them. I asked how this could happen and why I never heard of it before. He said that its a rare thing that sometimes happens and no-one knows why. I left and was freaking out about it and what would happen when they started pollinating. Everyone I talked to just said 'oh well', like it was no big deal. After that I woke up.
Q+A:
Q: Out of all the things that you're allergic to, is there one allergen you react most severely to?
A: I react severely to most of the things I am allergic to. There are 3 things that are the worst, but its hard to say if one is worse than the other 2. Its cat dander, ragweed pollen, and sage pollen. With those I don't get a build-up of symptoms, it all just comes on really quickly and gets worse from there. The effects last a long time after I am no longer exposed to them.
Q:How do you deal with air travel?
A: I try to avoid it as much as possible. It makes my head and ears hurt really bad with pressure and congestion. It takes a day or so for the horrible headache to go away so the 1st day I go somewhere I can't do anything.
Q: Are you allergic to perfumes/scents and has that caused issues in public transit?
A: Yes I am, and it has. When my allergies act up I usually try to run off but in public transit I am pretty much stuck and really close to what is bothering my nose. I get many weird looks and its pretty embarrassing.
Not sure if I will be able to post again before the end of the year but I'd like to. Give me some ideas, some feedback on my posts, and I am always happy to keep doing Q+A. Feel free to contact me on e-mail or yahoo messenger too if you want to chat.
Happy Holidays!
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Looking for allergy suggestions and more Q+A
I hope everyone is ok from the storm. I was going to post this last week, but the storm happened, and we had no power or internet for some time. All is ok now and pretty much back to normal.
Allison has been so understanding and helpful with my allergies. Most other people I have dated ranged from tolerating it to getting annoyed or mad at me about them. Allison bends over backwards to do all she can to be helpful. I feel kinda bad that she is doing so much for me.
One of her favorite things in the world is flowers, and when we started dating she got rid of all of them and never got any more. All she has now is some pictures of flowers. I feel like I want to help her out a bit and have her able to have some flowers again. I always say that I am allergic to all flowers, but thats not exactly true. I have had allergic reactions to flowers I have come in contact to in the past, and I just assumed I am allergic to all types just to make things easy if people ask. I figure there must be a few flowers I am not allergic to, and I'd like to be able to let Allison enjoy something she really likes.
What I want to do is see if there are any kinds of flowers I am not allergic to. I want to wait til Jan or so to try it out, when I have the least number of things bothering my nose. The best idea I could come up with is to have a flower near me and have a fan making a slight breeze and seeing if I start to have a reaction. I think thats the closest to how I would be exposed to a flower that is in a place I am in. I would usually avoid sniffing a flower or brushing myself against one so I dont want to test it that way.
I want a few opinions on this. Is this a silly idea, or would it work ok? Would there be a better way to do it? Thank you for any ideas.
And here is a bit more of Q+A
Q: You said 'we' when you talked about precautions you take at home....does this mean you have roommates? Is it hard to get them to understand/help your allergies?
A: I mainly stay with Allison at her place so she is the one I was talking about. I have had roomies during my life that kind of run the whole range. Some understood pretty well, some didn't care much to understand, some were just clueless, and some would try to understand but just not get it. Luckily I usually had ones that were understanding to some level, or at least tried. The hardest one to deal with though was one who was trying to be nice and understanding but just really failing at it. Made it hard for me to say anything to her because she was trying so hard.
Like I always say, keep the questions coming. It gives me ideas on what to write about!
Allison has been so understanding and helpful with my allergies. Most other people I have dated ranged from tolerating it to getting annoyed or mad at me about them. Allison bends over backwards to do all she can to be helpful. I feel kinda bad that she is doing so much for me.
One of her favorite things in the world is flowers, and when we started dating she got rid of all of them and never got any more. All she has now is some pictures of flowers. I feel like I want to help her out a bit and have her able to have some flowers again. I always say that I am allergic to all flowers, but thats not exactly true. I have had allergic reactions to flowers I have come in contact to in the past, and I just assumed I am allergic to all types just to make things easy if people ask. I figure there must be a few flowers I am not allergic to, and I'd like to be able to let Allison enjoy something she really likes.
What I want to do is see if there are any kinds of flowers I am not allergic to. I want to wait til Jan or so to try it out, when I have the least number of things bothering my nose. The best idea I could come up with is to have a flower near me and have a fan making a slight breeze and seeing if I start to have a reaction. I think thats the closest to how I would be exposed to a flower that is in a place I am in. I would usually avoid sniffing a flower or brushing myself against one so I dont want to test it that way.
I want a few opinions on this. Is this a silly idea, or would it work ok? Would there be a better way to do it? Thank you for any ideas.
And here is a bit more of Q+A
Q: You said 'we' when you talked about precautions you take at home....does this mean you have roommates? Is it hard to get them to understand/help your allergies?
A: I mainly stay with Allison at her place so she is the one I was talking about. I have had roomies during my life that kind of run the whole range. Some understood pretty well, some didn't care much to understand, some were just clueless, and some would try to understand but just not get it. Luckily I usually had ones that were understanding to some level, or at least tried. The hardest one to deal with though was one who was trying to be nice and understanding but just really failing at it. Made it hard for me to say anything to her because she was trying so hard.
Like I always say, keep the questions coming. It gives me ideas on what to write about!
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