Raise your hand if your nose is red and swollen.
Raise your hand if your eyes are itchy and blood-shot.
Raise your hand if you have snot dripping out of your nose at the most inopportune of times. (Actually, I can’t think of a real opportune time for dripping snot.)
Raise your hand if you experience violent mood swings and demand completely unreasonable things from those you love. (Oh, maybe that’s just me. Moving on.)
If you were able to raise your hand to any of the above situations (except, perhaps, the violent mood swings) I believe you may be one of the millions of people in this country who suffer from seasonal allergies. I know I fall into that group.
I happen to live in the “grass seed capital of the world”. I’ll give you one guess as to which category of allergens attack me on a seasonal basis. Yep. You got it. Grass allergens. Could I have possibly picked a worse place to live? I think the only way to achieve that would be to set up a hut smack dab in the middle of a grass field. That would be worse.
However, even though I don’t live in the middle of a grass field, I am but mere miles away from them and, unfortunately, pay the dear consequences.
It’s actually a running joke in my family…Mindy’s allergies. It just so happens that my symptoms tend to act up when any kind of yard work is necessary. This did not go over so well when I was in high school. My siblings would be outside sweaty and dirty toiling over beds of weeds and wheelbarrows full of bark, sucking in grass pollen. I would be inside, perched on the couch sipping iced tea and watching Days of Our Lives, not sucking in grass pollen. Hey. I didn’t create the unfairness of the world. I just live in it.
Medicinally speaking, I have yet to figure out how to entirely wipe out the sniffles and itchies. I have tried all manners of medication and haven’t yet found the secret formula that actually works. I have taken over-the-counter antihistamines, prescription drugs, homeopathic solutions and have even resorted to steroid shots in both the arms and the *ahem* be-dunk-a-dunk. I’ve been attempting to stear clear of the steroids after experiencing some very odd side effects, one of which actually killed off tissue in my arm leaving a giant divet at the injection site. Gross. I’m far too vain for voluntary mutilation. (Unless they could perform a series of shots covering the entire buttocks area…I could actually handle losing some tissue from there.)
I am currently taking up to 6 capsules daily of Quercetin (a natural anti-histamine and anti-inflammatory) and will soon add a dose of Allegra to the mix. I plan on being nice and medicated here real soon. Which renders me slightly grumpy and utterly useless for a good 6 weeks. Mainly it means I am housebound for the majority of late spring/early summer and won’t be able to be outside sporting my bikini-clad self on especially hot days. Darn it. That’s too bad. I hate that. What a disappointment. Because otherwise I’d totally be outside. In a bikini. Right.
So, to all of my fellow allergy sufferers, I pray for you a mild season and medication that works. I also grant you permission to whine and complain as much as you see fit as necessary. Because I plan to. A lot.
Mindy
Related posts:
Angela
You may not want to hear this Mindy, but I listened to a podcast that touted a very natural and effective cure for allergies. The guy in this story had severe allergies and was beginning to develop asthma. He was so happy to find a cure. Now he doesn’t have to take any medicine at all. Want to know what it is? It sounds really kind of disgusting. It’s hookworms. They discovered that people who had the little parasite do not have a lot of these autoimmune disorders such as allergies, asthma and even chron’s disease. Can you imagine the people with chron’s disease who had their colon removed only to learn later that they could have just gotten themselves infected with a hookworm??? Well, I doubt the evidence is completely confirmed yet, but hey it’s something worth considering. Of course, then again. If I had some medical reason for not mowing the yard, it might be worth putting up with snotty noses!
1st: WordPress has been eating your comments. I was even thinking at one point, “Mindy must not like my new blog very much, she hasn’t said anything…” For it to occur to me YESTERDAY that maybe my comment spam filter wasn’t as infallible at detecting spam than my mail filter was, and lo and behold, Mindy Comments! I have educucated WP and perhaps it has learned its lesson. Next is the rolled up newspaper.
2. I also have really bad seasonal allergies – so bad that they trigger food allergies that I don’t have the rest of the year. My magic formula: steroid nasal spray, Claritin, and nasal rinses with a medi-pot. (I had to get talked into that one – I resisted for years and years.) ALSO – I just found out that there’s a prescription for that horrible, claw-your-eyes-out-with-your-nails itching. BUT my insurance doesn’t cover it, so we’ll just have to see how desperate I get. Trying to remember the name….uhhh….damn, it starts with a P, I think. But it’s only available by prescription but I’m sure if you told a doctor/eye-doctor that you were about ready to do an eyeball-ectomy with a melon baller they’d write a script for you.
They’re not GONE, but I can function. Although I limit my outdoor time during peak season.
Poor thing. Hope some cocktail works for you.
Ooooh…cocktails. Damn, it’s only 7 in the morning. Never mind.
Allergies suck…yes, i suffer from them, too! Now, at least I have something to blame my violent mood swings on…yes, I will,too!!!!!!!!!!!
I used to try and fake allergies to get out of yard work when I was in high school. Is that the same thing?
No really, I feel for you. My son has them and it looks truly miserable.
I’m allergic to housework. Does that count? Oh, and mold. That stuff will lay me up for days if I’m not careful!
Yep, it is miserable here too. They said on the news the other day it would be one of the worst allergy seasons in Oklahoma. Lovely. My nose doesnt drip, just get completely stuffed up and the pressure in my ears is terrible. It even seems to affect one of my bunnies a bit.
How come I had severe allergies and never got to skip yardwork?? The hell? My dad made me rake grass every time he mowed. And sweep off the sidewalks. Because we lived on an Air Force Base. And then, when I was a soggy, snotty, watery-eyed mess my mom would dope me up on Atarax and I’d pass out. Wait…this totally explains a lot…
I hear you girl. I have been hibernating in the air conditioning with the doors and windows shut. The one day I attemped fishing, the next morning my eyes were crusted shut. Yuck.
♥Spot
yeah – see i have asthma so I’m allergic to EVERYTHING. dust, grass, dogs, cats, pollen you name it – it makes me sneeze. and the snot dripping from the nose? oh yeah Babe finds that VERY attractive. =)
I’m so sorry you are suffering as well – in the grass capital no less!
I strongly suggest you move here and we can be neighbors and enjoy our allergies together!!
plus not as much rain so your hair will thank u!
=)
I don’t know why but i can’t type in my website address. Weird!
Maybe that is what is wrong with me. I don’t have sever symptoms, but it never fails..mowing the grass makes my nose runny. LOL!
I could go for the lose of tissue in the hiney too!
Girl, I feel your pain and your sneezes. I am allergic to everything – grass, dust, my cat, etc. I use Zyrtec, but sometimes I still suffer. Bob uses Allegra, but only about half the time, so to save money I was using that. Unfortunately, it can give you pink eye and I was one of the ones who it affects like that.
Oh man! Does that mean no more bike outings? Blech! Zyrtec makes me feel like I can’t lift my arms. Hope the winds blow the crap out soon!!