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!

May Q+A

Sorry that its been longer than I wanted to wait between posts again.  I am happy that new people seem to be asking questions though!

Q: If someone asked you "What's it like to have hayfever?" and you had only 15 seconds to answer, what would you say?
A: Its a bit hard to keep it that short.  I would say something like "Its like having a cold but a bit different.  You get congestion and runny nose and sneezing like in a cold, but the sneezing is more.  Eyes get watery and itchy and  the inside of your nose can really tickle/tingle.Unlike a cold, it also lasts much longer."

Q: How many times would you see that you sneezed in a typical day .?>  does it affect your sleeping patterns too?
A: It varies greatly.  It can be a couple of hundred times a day to probably a few thousand times per day.  I usually sneeze in long fits and when things are really bad I might not have much time at all between fits.  It really does affect my sleeping.  Its hard to lay down when I am sneezing so much, and laying down is tough when you are very congested.  Besides the sneezing, a runny nose, or an itchy nose or itchy eyes can be very distracting when trying to sleep.

Q: I know you prefer written to spoken communications, but what is your method of handling phone conversations when you're having an allergy attack, and can you give a recent example?
A: If its not too bad, I'll ask them to hold on for a min.  Sometimes I'll try to wrap up the conversation real fast if thats possible   Otherwise I'll tell them that I have to call them back later, or to send me an e-mail or something.  I can't think of a recent example because when it a bad time of year I will avoid answering the phone and send a text message if someone tried to call me.  

Let me know if those were good answers.  Welcome again to the couple of new people reading and asking :)  Feel free to comment, ask more stuff, or send me a message!

Q+A for end of April

The pollens are still making my allergies really bad.  I'm a total mess.  I have questions to answer so at least I don't have to think things up to write about!

Q: Are you on the east or west coast now? New England is just starting to get hit with pollen misery.
A: East coast.  Yea, its pretty bad now.

Q: How is social life for you? Is it difficult to go out to bars/restaurants with friends or co-workers? Or is it easier to host people at your place because you have more control over the environment? 
A: Social life is hard sometimes.  Many times I have to cancel plans or leave places early.  I will also tend to push myself too much:  go out when I'm feeling too bad, or go places that I probably shouldn't, and I often end up feeling more miserable.  Its nice to be able to have more control over the environment at home, but the big disadvantage is that I don't really have anywhere to run off to.  If I am somewhere else, i can always leave or have someone help me leave.  If its at my own place, there is no where to go, I have to stay with everyone there.

Q: I'd guess all the sneezing must make it quite diffcult to type as well, which makes even e-mails etc. difficult? Is it difficult to do your schoolwork when things are like this? 
A: Lots of sneezing fits does make it harder to type, but its MUCH easier than talking!  Yes, its pretty hard to get schoolwork done.  It ends up taking me a long time.  Besides just interrupting me, my allergies makes it hard to focus, and have the energy to do everything.

Q: I might have missed your post somewhere, have u taken any allergy test to confirm your allergens?
A: Yes, I wrote about it in my 1st few posts.  To keep it simple, I had positive tests to almost any environmental allergy that can be tested.

As usual, please comment and give me feedback.  Ask more questions, and feel free to contact me if I am online; it usually means I am feeling icky or bored and could use the company.

Allergies are Bad, and Menstrual Cycle Connections

I get PMS the week before my period and I have found that my PMS and my allergies play off each other.  Each one makes the other one worse.  All the sneezing seems to make my cramps feel worse and my breasts feel more ouchy.  And just for that week before my period, my allergy symptoms just seem worse than other times.  And they both tire me out!

I also wanted to note that my allergies have been horrible over this last week!  I feel like my nose and sinuses are full of pollen!  Been really hard to get anything done lately.  So much sneezing that its interrupting everything, and people have a hard time understanding me through my stuffiness.

No questions to answer, and I can't think of much else to say right now so thats it today.  Please comment and give me feedback and more topics to talk about!

Allergies Today and More Q+A

Tree pollen has been getting high lately and its been driving my allergies nuts the last few days.  Been pretty miserable with my nose and sinuses and eyes going nuts.  I have found that the pollen season starts a few weeks later than in Seattle but it ramps up much faster.  I used to go through this worsening of my allergies over a few weeks, but here it seems to happen over a few days.

Today is one of those days where I probably won't be able to get much done.  I do have a good number of questions to answer, so that is easier than having to think up my own post in this condition.

Q: Have you ever considered any kind of sinus surgery? I would think there'd have to be some thing out there that could help you in some way...??
A: I have been asked that many times over the years.  The short answer is that it wont help.  I had looked into it before and I was told that it MIGHT be helpful for a short time, maybe a year or 2 even, but with my allergies being so bad, and my nose and sinuses being so sensitive, any benefit would eventually go away.  Earlier in this blog I also wrote about how narrow the inside my passages are, etc, and there just isn't the space in there to do anything about it.  

Q:Given how bad things can get, I'd imagine that you prefer to just use a tissue then get rid of it?! If you are going out in full season, how do you deal with it. Would you just carry a lot of tissues with you?
A: Yes, I always carry alot of tissues with me.  If I have a bag or backpack big enough, I'll actually carry around a whole box, and I like to have some in every room where I live.  If I have any pockets, I keep some in most pockets.  And yes, I like to use a tissue as much as I can, then just get rid of it.  makes things easier that way.

Q:Who, besides your girlfriend, are you most comfortable having a sneezing attack around? And why?
A: My best friend Jessie.  I made a post about how we met and became friends early on in this blog.  The why is because her allergies are also very bad (though not as bad as mine).  I haven't seen her as often since I moved to the east coast, but we still stay in touch and I visit her when I can.

Q:How do you decide, on a bad allergy day, to stop fighting it and give up trying to have a normal, productive day?
A: Its hard to say exactly, other than just how crappy I am feeling.  How worn down and how bad my allergies are being really determines it.  Some days like that I wake up and know I just can't function that day, sometimes I have to stop part-way through the day.

Q:With everything you've written about snotty sneezes and runny noses, do you enjoy sneezing in the shower, because tissues are redundant?
A: 'Enjoy' is way too strong a word.  I feel like I am very messy when I am in the shower so I don't like that.  The sneezes and the snot can come much more in the shower so that makes me feel more messy and kind of overwhelmed.  On the good side, its easy to clean up and there is no one else around.


Thanks everyone for all the questions.  It makes it easier to post.  My next post topic might not be as interesting to some people, so if you ask me more questions, I can answer them too.  As usual, feel free to comment, e-mail, or chat with me if you'd like!.

Seeing snot

Since I don't have any questions to answer, and I have been kinda busy lately, I am just going to post something quickly.

I can get pretty paranoid about people seeing my nose being snotty.  I make a large effort effort when I am around others, or if others can possibly see me, in hiding any snottiness.  When I am alone, its not much of a big deal to me, but I hate for anyone else to see it.  I am usually not able to blow my nose so my sneezes can get pretty snotty and sometimes my nose can run really badly.

I always use tissues when I sneeze because of that and I often wipe my nose and I often check in a mirror to make sure nothing can be seen.  I have been told that using a hankie would be better, but i don't see how it would be.  I use a tissue and when its used, I can grab others.  With a hankie, I think I'd snot it up kinda quickly, then it wouldn't be of any more help.

Trees have started pollinating and I'm certainly feeling it.  Allergies have been starting to get bad.

Give me some stuff to answer or at least make some comments please!


PS.  Nothing to do with allergies, but its something I just thought about recently.  In cartoons, many female superheroes or with powers that can fly tend to wear skirts.  That makes no sense to me.  Its a pretty silly idea to wear a skirt when you can fly!

No, I don't have a cold!

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!