I keep wanting to post weekly, and it ends up being monthly. Sorry!
One thing I was recently thinking about is my sinuses. Along with lots of nasal congestion, I have sinus congestion. I usually feel it as varying degrees of pressure, much like the nasal congestion. It can become sinus pain when my allergies are bad and it can make me feel dizzy, or cause pain on bending over, etc. when my allergies are bad too. For some reason however I am lucky in that I rarely get sinus infections.
I have tried many things to help it, and most don't work. Doing some kind of steam type thing, like long hot shower or in a steamy bathroom, etc. is about the only thing that helps, and it doesn't last very long after I am out. I have tried a neti pot a number of times, but the water will never come out of my nostril. The most I have ever gotten was a few drops, and the neti pot usually sends me into sneezing fits. Another thing I kept trying over and over again was getting sinus massage. Many people always told me how helpful they are and I had tried many different people who do it, but every time it either made my sinuses worse or sent me into allergy attacks. Its annoying that I have totally different reactions to things than most people.
That's just something I was thinking about so I figured I would share. I have a couple of questions to answer too:
Q:Have your allergies gotten worse with age?
A: Yes, to a point. for about the first 5 years or so of having allergies (about 13 yrs old to 17/18 yrs old) they got progressively worse. After that, they don't seem to have gotten much worse, although I sometimes do discover something else I didn't know I was allergic too. That I think is more about not encountering it before or not knowing I was encountering it before more than developing a new allergy.
Q:If you could get rid of just one allergy what would it be?
A: That's a hard choice between cats and ragweed. They are 2 of my worst allergies. I love cats and would love to be able to have one or 2 again. But at the same time, its often possible to avoid cats. Ragweed however can't be avoided and it cause me a whole lot of suffering. If I was to be practical, I would probably have to say ragweed, although if I could say all pollens that would be a better choice!
Thank you again for the questions. Please keep them coming so I can make more posts! And as usual, feel free to e-mail me or IM me on yahoo if you want to chat.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Early Feb. Q+A
I am happy that I got a few questions pretty quickly. It gives me something to write about!
Q:You said that you use lots of tissues a day. How many tissues do you use each day for your allergy?
A: I never took exact count, but sometimes I can easily go through a box in a day. When my allergies are bad I have to be using a tissue pretty much constantly, and at those times my sneezing fits can be very messy.
Q:If you need to stay outside for some reason on a high pollen count day, how will you cope with it?
A: It gets bad for me on high pollen days if I am stuck outside. I become unable to function pretty quickly. I end up just sitting and sneezing like crazy, etc. It even becomes pretty hard to communicate. I have had a few times where someone was trying to be of help, and I ended up being stuck outside longer because I couldn't tell them I needed to go inside.
Q:You have once said that your allergy interferes your daily life. How do you manage your time in studying, especially ragweed, which worsen your allergy problems?
A: I try to get as much work and studying, etc done at the times my allergies aren't too bad. Thats why i tend to do better in school at the end of the fall semester and the beginning of spring semester, when there isn't much pollen around. During ragweed season, which overlaps with the beginning of the fall semester, I am often useless for studying and I have to miss class often, etc. I have luckily been able to make stuff up, and stretch things out, etc. If it wasn't for my allergies, I'd be getting through my program much quicker.
Q:Do you find you have difficulty falling asleep because of your sneezing? Is it hard to lie down with the congestion and how do you deal with that? Are you able to get rest?
A: Often times, yes. Trying to get sleep with congestion, sneezing, and runny nose can be impossible. I tend to sleep with my head propped up a bit, so that helps, but not always the most comfortable. When my allergies are bad, I often don't get much sleep. I'll tend to doze off for short times all though the day and night.
Q:Do you take daily medication for your allergies and does it seem to help at all?
A: Yes, I take a number of things, but they don't help too much. My doc will sometimes switch things up to see if some combination helps more. It certainly doesn't get rid of my allergies, but at least during some of the year it does take the edge off enough to help me be functional.
Keep those questions/ideas coming please! And thanks for reading my blog. As always, feel free to say hi.
Q:You said that you use lots of tissues a day. How many tissues do you use each day for your allergy?
A: I never took exact count, but sometimes I can easily go through a box in a day. When my allergies are bad I have to be using a tissue pretty much constantly, and at those times my sneezing fits can be very messy.
Q:If you need to stay outside for some reason on a high pollen count day, how will you cope with it?
A: It gets bad for me on high pollen days if I am stuck outside. I become unable to function pretty quickly. I end up just sitting and sneezing like crazy, etc. It even becomes pretty hard to communicate. I have had a few times where someone was trying to be of help, and I ended up being stuck outside longer because I couldn't tell them I needed to go inside.
Q:You have once said that your allergy interferes your daily life. How do you manage your time in studying, especially ragweed, which worsen your allergy problems?
A: I try to get as much work and studying, etc done at the times my allergies aren't too bad. Thats why i tend to do better in school at the end of the fall semester and the beginning of spring semester, when there isn't much pollen around. During ragweed season, which overlaps with the beginning of the fall semester, I am often useless for studying and I have to miss class often, etc. I have luckily been able to make stuff up, and stretch things out, etc. If it wasn't for my allergies, I'd be getting through my program much quicker.
Q:Do you find you have difficulty falling asleep because of your sneezing? Is it hard to lie down with the congestion and how do you deal with that? Are you able to get rest?
A: Often times, yes. Trying to get sleep with congestion, sneezing, and runny nose can be impossible. I tend to sleep with my head propped up a bit, so that helps, but not always the most comfortable. When my allergies are bad, I often don't get much sleep. I'll tend to doze off for short times all though the day and night.
Q:Do you take daily medication for your allergies and does it seem to help at all?
A: Yes, I take a number of things, but they don't help too much. My doc will sometimes switch things up to see if some combination helps more. It certainly doesn't get rid of my allergies, but at least during some of the year it does take the edge off enough to help me be functional.
Keep those questions/ideas coming please! And thanks for reading my blog. As always, feel free to say hi.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Short dream and Q+A
Wow, its been so long again since I have posted. I really want to post more, its just that I can't think of much and I keep putting it off. I had a dream two nights ago that had a part to do with allergies, and I have a question to answer, so here we go!
I know I was having a few dreams, but this one part I remembered. For some reason, my nostrils were huge, like 2 or 3 inches wide. They were full of snot and I was having a hard time keeping it from gushing out, as all I had was a small tissue. I was in a big house and I kept going from room to room to find a place to blow my nose before everything gushed out. Every room I went into had people in them and I was too embarrassed to blow my nose in front of anyone.
Ok, that's all of the dream I remember. Here is the very short Q+A:
Q: Do you remember how long is your longest sneezing fit? After having these huge attacks, how do you feel?
A: Oh I have had some be very very long. Its not common, but its gone into the hundreds at least. After any long attack, not even in the hundreds I feel totally wiped out/exhausted, and sometimes my muscles can feel sore. I have even passed out from sneezing so much, if the fit won't let me get air in. That tends to make the fit stop though, lol.
Thanks for the few of you who keep reading. Please ask me questions/give me ideas for posts, and feel free to say hi if I am online.
I know I was having a few dreams, but this one part I remembered. For some reason, my nostrils were huge, like 2 or 3 inches wide. They were full of snot and I was having a hard time keeping it from gushing out, as all I had was a small tissue. I was in a big house and I kept going from room to room to find a place to blow my nose before everything gushed out. Every room I went into had people in them and I was too embarrassed to blow my nose in front of anyone.
Ok, that's all of the dream I remember. Here is the very short Q+A:
Q: Do you remember how long is your longest sneezing fit? After having these huge attacks, how do you feel?
A: Oh I have had some be very very long. Its not common, but its gone into the hundreds at least. After any long attack, not even in the hundreds I feel totally wiped out/exhausted, and sometimes my muscles can feel sore. I have even passed out from sneezing so much, if the fit won't let me get air in. That tends to make the fit stop though, lol.
Thanks for the few of you who keep reading. Please ask me questions/give me ideas for posts, and feel free to say hi if I am online.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Service animals
(I meant to post this back in October, but I just recently discovered I never hit the 'post' button!)
I'm very allergic to dogs, and other animals in general (cats are my worst). Over the years, there have seen more and more service dogs around. It hasn't been an issue for me until recently. I have seen some around at the school, but I never needed to have much interaction with people with service dogs. I have been running into some problems now though because there are service dogs in some of my classes. One class is a pretty small class, and it gets bad for me pretty quick, so I sometimes have been skipping classes and gettign notes from people and/or looking at material on-line.
I kind of worry that dander for the service dogs will stay around in the classrooms (I doubt they clean classrooms that well!) and cause me more problems even when the dogs aren't around.
Thats whats been on my mind allergy-wise lately. Please make comments, and please give me some questions to use in a Q+A. I am going to make an effort to post more by talking about any allergy-related things that happen to me, but I might forget or put it off too long if they aren't that major.
I'm very allergic to dogs, and other animals in general (cats are my worst). Over the years, there have seen more and more service dogs around. It hasn't been an issue for me until recently. I have seen some around at the school, but I never needed to have much interaction with people with service dogs. I have been running into some problems now though because there are service dogs in some of my classes. One class is a pretty small class, and it gets bad for me pretty quick, so I sometimes have been skipping classes and gettign notes from people and/or looking at material on-line.
I kind of worry that dander for the service dogs will stay around in the classrooms (I doubt they clean classrooms that well!) and cause me more problems even when the dogs aren't around.
Thats whats been on my mind allergy-wise lately. Please make comments, and please give me some questions to use in a Q+A. I am going to make an effort to post more by talking about any allergy-related things that happen to me, but I might forget or put it off too long if they aren't that major.
Monday, November 25, 2013
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!
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!
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Been a bit Q+A
Sorry everyone for such a long time between posts. I have been busy and having many problems with my allergies. I do have a few questions now to answer, so here we go:
Q:You have mentioned a couple times that your sneezes are weak. Have you tried to do more forceful sneezes so that the fits are shorter?
A: I haven't been able to figure out any way to make my sneezes be more forceful. I think its just how I sneeze, and there isn't much I can do to change it.
Q:Also, when you are in a situation where sneezing would disrupt a class or movie or something, do you ever stifle your sneezes?
A: For the longest time I hadn't been able to stifle sneezes at all. I recently have been able to, but what happens is a stifle makes me immediately need to sneeze again, so I can keep stifling only for a short time, then I'm sneezing. Also, stifling tends to make me have to sneeze more, and tends to bother my sinuses. When my allergies start to disrupt a class or movie, I'll usually leave and go to a bathroom or something.
I was glad to see in my last post, a few people commented that they read my blog. Thanks! I'm just surprised at how many of them are anonymous. I always imagined dozens of people would want to read my blog, so I guess I was a bit disappointed when I started this and it seemed like only one or 2 people were reading.
I still have problems thinking of topics to write about, so please keep the questions coming. I haven't been on-line as much lately, but still please feel free to drop me and e-mail or a message if you want, and even if I am not around, I will be sure to reply when I can.
Q:You have mentioned a couple times that your sneezes are weak. Have you tried to do more forceful sneezes so that the fits are shorter?
A: I haven't been able to figure out any way to make my sneezes be more forceful. I think its just how I sneeze, and there isn't much I can do to change it.
Q:Also, when you are in a situation where sneezing would disrupt a class or movie or something, do you ever stifle your sneezes?
A: For the longest time I hadn't been able to stifle sneezes at all. I recently have been able to, but what happens is a stifle makes me immediately need to sneeze again, so I can keep stifling only for a short time, then I'm sneezing. Also, stifling tends to make me have to sneeze more, and tends to bother my sinuses. When my allergies start to disrupt a class or movie, I'll usually leave and go to a bathroom or something.
I was glad to see in my last post, a few people commented that they read my blog. Thanks! I'm just surprised at how many of them are anonymous. I always imagined dozens of people would want to read my blog, so I guess I was a bit disappointed when I started this and it seemed like only one or 2 people were reading.
I still have problems thinking of topics to write about, so please keep the questions coming. I haven't been on-line as much lately, but still please feel free to drop me and e-mail or a message if you want, and even if I am not around, I will be sure to reply when I can.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Not much to post/dream bits
Its been so long since I posted. I don't know if many people read this anymore since I haven't been getting many comments or questions lately.
Ragweed has been starting up around here and I am severely allergic to it, so its making me pretty miserable
I recently had 2 bits of dreams that had to do with my allergies.
In one dream, people were trying to figure something out that was very important. I figured it out but every time I tried to tell anyone I would start having a huge allergy attack and I was unable to communicate. Once I would give up, the attack would stop, only to start up again if I tried telling someone what I knew.
In another, during part of a dream I was in a house and I was sneezing non-stop, and when I would go outside the sneezing would stop but my nose would start running/gushing like crazy. If I went back in, the running would stop and the sneezing would start again.
That is all I have for today. Let me know if you have any questions, and feel free to comment or drop me a line.
Ragweed has been starting up around here and I am severely allergic to it, so its making me pretty miserable
I recently had 2 bits of dreams that had to do with my allergies.
In one dream, people were trying to figure something out that was very important. I figured it out but every time I tried to tell anyone I would start having a huge allergy attack and I was unable to communicate. Once I would give up, the attack would stop, only to start up again if I tried telling someone what I knew.
In another, during part of a dream I was in a house and I was sneezing non-stop, and when I would go outside the sneezing would stop but my nose would start running/gushing like crazy. If I went back in, the running would stop and the sneezing would start again.
That is all I have for today. Let me know if you have any questions, and feel free to comment or drop me a line.
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