Allergy *sniff sniff* Symptoms
I have had allergies since I was a little kid. They are the hay fever type, so many different pollens from trees, shrubbery, and other flowery plants send my body's system into attack! mode almost instantly. I grew up in California where for eighteen years it was unknown to me that a nose had any other purpose than to drive me nuts and be a bump on my face. Breath through it you say? Well if I could have I would have. I tried the over the counter stuff. I saw my regular doctor about prescribing something to help. I then went to see a doctor specializing in allergies. He prescribed me some more stuff: nose spray, daily pills, eye drops, and inhaler. There are three different nose sprays, all have a different purpose. There are different daily pills (mainly Claritin, Zyrtec, and Allegra) ALL of which I have tried at one point or another. There is of course Benadryl which I resort to only when desperately needed and at night time (if I can help it, we all know Benadryl knocks you out whenever you take it). There are several different types of eye drops for allergies, dry eyes, contacts, you name it. I use the red eyes/allergic symptom kind along with saline/lubricant when my eyes are dry and feeling very worn out. The inhaler was prescribed because allergies, when severe enough, can make your breath shorter and it's harder to breath. I have had 1 asthma attack in my life (terrible feeling) but I don't regularly have the symptoms. So that one's really a "just in case" item.
The interesting turn in my allergy history came about when I moved back east to begin college. At first I wasn't even thinking about allergies. They come every year and make me miserable but I still have to deal with them, just a part of my life. Spring of freshman year came around and I started noticing that I wasn't using as much medicine. When I used a nose spray to clear up my sinus', not only did it work but it lasted! It was a glorious discovery, I finally understood why we have noses...to BREATH through! Now sleeping at night was more peaceful for me and my roommate. I awoke in the morning with a clear nose and my throat wasn't dried out and sore. Throughout the day I felt better because I could breath with ease.
The only drawback of this awesome east coast - no allergies and not so awesome west coast - terrible allergies was this: After spring semester was over, I headed back to the west coast...Everyone looks forward to summer, to seeing their family, to just relaxing without classes to worry about. Me? I was looking forward to that but with the looming cloud of allergens over my head. This cloud threatened to toss me back into a miserable lose-lose battle of trying to remember to take pills and nose sprays, in the hope to maybe ward off symptoms enough that I could enjoy summer. And my nose was not going to be an option for breathing over the summer despite the sprays. It's the case that everyone knows: you'll never miss what you never had, BUT if you had something and then it's taken away, you'll probably miss it a lot. Well, this is exactly how I felt about breathing through my nose. Now I want to stress that I will always love California, it's where I grew up, but when I think about making a trip back there...it feels like I'm preparing for battle. Besides my packing list of clothes, there's also a list of all the allergy meds I'll need. Then, because I don't take them regularly, I have to start taking everything BEFORE I get to CA so that my body isn't sent into complete shock. This is something that I'll have to live with and as long as I'm prepared it can be ok.
The next fun part of my allergy history is that now, in WV, my allergies seem to be making an appearance again. They're not nearly as bad as in CA, but they're there. The drippy nose then the clogged nose, the itchy/dry eyes, and on seldom occasions, wheezing. The main culprit these days are my eyes. I can't tell if they're itchy from allergies or if they are somehow much drier than earlier in the year. Even in the morning I wake up and they hurt more than usual, it's what inspired this post today!
It seems this will always be a part of my life, dealing with allergies. I've been growing a lot in the past couple years (becoming an adult, more mature, etc) and part of that is getting a hold on my grumpiness. Allergies WILL make me grumpy. When I was younger it was not fun to be around me because I let my allergies take the reins and ruin my mood. These days I'm trying to keep that inside, not let it affect what I want to do each day. It does require to take a moment and remove myself from a situation sometimes, but that's better than just turning into the hulk and starting a fight with everyone that's around. I could have it much worse than this, but each of us has our own battles. We value our battles relative to ourselves and not typically to others, although this can help put things into perspective sometimes; I believe they're called reality checks ;-) Sometimes it's easy to compare ourselves to others and sometimes it's incredibly hard. For me, the more I try to consciously place myself as one of many instead of many ones, the better I feel. It's good to think highly of ourselves but not so much that we can't relate to anyone else. There are few, if any, people who can be put above the rest. Even those people are probably just better at hiding their flaws than the rest of us.
So on I go battling allergies with my arsenal of pills, sprays, and drops, wishing any of you with the same symptoms a better outcome than me. In fact, it's time I go restock some of my supplies, so off I go!
Adios amigos.
The interesting turn in my allergy history came about when I moved back east to begin college. At first I wasn't even thinking about allergies. They come every year and make me miserable but I still have to deal with them, just a part of my life. Spring of freshman year came around and I started noticing that I wasn't using as much medicine. When I used a nose spray to clear up my sinus', not only did it work but it lasted! It was a glorious discovery, I finally understood why we have noses...to BREATH through! Now sleeping at night was more peaceful for me and my roommate. I awoke in the morning with a clear nose and my throat wasn't dried out and sore. Throughout the day I felt better because I could breath with ease.
The only drawback of this awesome east coast - no allergies and not so awesome west coast - terrible allergies was this: After spring semester was over, I headed back to the west coast...Everyone looks forward to summer, to seeing their family, to just relaxing without classes to worry about. Me? I was looking forward to that but with the looming cloud of allergens over my head. This cloud threatened to toss me back into a miserable lose-lose battle of trying to remember to take pills and nose sprays, in the hope to maybe ward off symptoms enough that I could enjoy summer. And my nose was not going to be an option for breathing over the summer despite the sprays. It's the case that everyone knows: you'll never miss what you never had, BUT if you had something and then it's taken away, you'll probably miss it a lot. Well, this is exactly how I felt about breathing through my nose. Now I want to stress that I will always love California, it's where I grew up, but when I think about making a trip back there...it feels like I'm preparing for battle. Besides my packing list of clothes, there's also a list of all the allergy meds I'll need. Then, because I don't take them regularly, I have to start taking everything BEFORE I get to CA so that my body isn't sent into complete shock. This is something that I'll have to live with and as long as I'm prepared it can be ok.
The next fun part of my allergy history is that now, in WV, my allergies seem to be making an appearance again. They're not nearly as bad as in CA, but they're there. The drippy nose then the clogged nose, the itchy/dry eyes, and on seldom occasions, wheezing. The main culprit these days are my eyes. I can't tell if they're itchy from allergies or if they are somehow much drier than earlier in the year. Even in the morning I wake up and they hurt more than usual, it's what inspired this post today!
It seems this will always be a part of my life, dealing with allergies. I've been growing a lot in the past couple years (becoming an adult, more mature, etc) and part of that is getting a hold on my grumpiness. Allergies WILL make me grumpy. When I was younger it was not fun to be around me because I let my allergies take the reins and ruin my mood. These days I'm trying to keep that inside, not let it affect what I want to do each day. It does require to take a moment and remove myself from a situation sometimes, but that's better than just turning into the hulk and starting a fight with everyone that's around. I could have it much worse than this, but each of us has our own battles. We value our battles relative to ourselves and not typically to others, although this can help put things into perspective sometimes; I believe they're called reality checks ;-) Sometimes it's easy to compare ourselves to others and sometimes it's incredibly hard. For me, the more I try to consciously place myself as one of many instead of many ones, the better I feel. It's good to think highly of ourselves but not so much that we can't relate to anyone else. There are few, if any, people who can be put above the rest. Even those people are probably just better at hiding their flaws than the rest of us.
So on I go battling allergies with my arsenal of pills, sprays, and drops, wishing any of you with the same symptoms a better outcome than me. In fact, it's time I go restock some of my supplies, so off I go!
Adios amigos.
I am sorry to read that you suffer so, Polly. All at the wrong time of year, it seems so unfair!
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