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.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Sunday, April 14, 2013
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!
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!
Saturday, April 6, 2013
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!.
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!.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
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!
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!
Saturday, March 2, 2013
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!
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!
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)