So it's not a virus
Having had allergy testing done last year is giving me huge insights into my "fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue" flare-ups and the "colds" that last for weeks.
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The last two or three weeks have been rather miserable. I would have blamed it on something nebulous, but then I realized: The maple trees in the back yard and the birch tree in the front yard were blooming. Yesterday I read in the newspaper that the period spanning the end of April and beginning of May is when tree pollen in our area reaches its all-time high for the year.
We got to go to the coast with the Malamute Rescuer family this weekend. We had such a wonderful time, and I felt great all weekend. Now that we're back home, I feel tired, grumpy and achy again, and my "cold" is back. Even though I got approximately the same amount of sleep last night as I've been getting all weekend, I slept restlessly and feel much more tired than I did waking up at the beach.
Tree pollen is winding down for the year, though. We should have a few weeks' reprieve before the grass pollen kicks in. Apparently our part of the country boasts the highest grass pollen counts in the USA--last year they were over 1,000 ppm (200 is considered very high) in a measurement taken within a half-hour or so of us.
When I had the allergy testing done, they said, "No wonder you don't notice much variation in symptoms from one season to the next. You react to allergens in every season!"
At least it's nice to know what's causing it. I'm seriously considering looking into finding a non-drowsy antihistamine or trying allergy shots.
We had a marvelous time at the beach. More on that later. Right now I have to get the kids ready for school and call the shellfish hotline to find out if it's safe to cook and eat the fresh live mussels we picked up on the beach (for DH and the older kids, anyway).
#####################
The last two or three weeks have been rather miserable. I would have blamed it on something nebulous, but then I realized: The maple trees in the back yard and the birch tree in the front yard were blooming. Yesterday I read in the newspaper that the period spanning the end of April and beginning of May is when tree pollen in our area reaches its all-time high for the year.
We got to go to the coast with the Malamute Rescuer family this weekend. We had such a wonderful time, and I felt great all weekend. Now that we're back home, I feel tired, grumpy and achy again, and my "cold" is back. Even though I got approximately the same amount of sleep last night as I've been getting all weekend, I slept restlessly and feel much more tired than I did waking up at the beach.
Tree pollen is winding down for the year, though. We should have a few weeks' reprieve before the grass pollen kicks in. Apparently our part of the country boasts the highest grass pollen counts in the USA--last year they were over 1,000 ppm (200 is considered very high) in a measurement taken within a half-hour or so of us.
When I had the allergy testing done, they said, "No wonder you don't notice much variation in symptoms from one season to the next. You react to allergens in every season!"
At least it's nice to know what's causing it. I'm seriously considering looking into finding a non-drowsy antihistamine or trying allergy shots.
We had a marvelous time at the beach. More on that later. Right now I have to get the kids ready for school and call the shellfish hotline to find out if it's safe to cook and eat the fresh live mussels we picked up on the beach (for DH and the older kids, anyway).
Labels: allergies
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Posted by purple_kangaroo at 9:49 AM[Permanent link]
6 Comments:
I'm glad the allergy testing information is turning out to be useful. (And I hope you feel better soon!)
I recently started looking at a pollen report -- here's the US cities index. Looking out your window is possibly more useful, of course!
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/cities/indexusa.htm
I'm taking Zyrtec every day. It's working very nicely and I'm not at all drowsy or hyper on it. Allegra didn't work as well for me, but it was adequate. Claritin made me feel like I was having a heart attack (ww from October 2005).
I hope that the right allergy medicine will make your distressing symptoms go away.
DH and most of his family have really and allergies. Something that really helps him is doing as nose rinse. It washes all the pollen out of his nasal cavities. It would be really easy to search or find in drug stores or health food stores if your interested. DH has a squeeze bottle instead of the watering can pitcher kind...
He also made a nasal spray out of saline water and cayenne pepper oil. It helps dilate the blood vessels in the nasal passages. This doesn't help the eye problems, but it might help the nose problems...
Also with the Zyrtec, after Claritin proved insufficient. It definitely made me drowsy at first (I take it at night) but it's wearing off.
Despite the little incident, the allergy shots have made a HUGE difference in my allergies. It's probably 75% better than a year ago.
Hope you feel better!
Madeline, thanks for the link. I could only find Canadian pollen lists there, but I found a place I could sign up for e-mailed allergen allerts from pollen.com, and I think that will be very helpful.
Liz, I'll have to call the compounding pharmacist, but I'm pretty sure Zyrtec is not one of the meds that can be compounded corn-free. I may be stuck with Baby E's Benadryl.
A, I do have a nasal rinse kit but I haven't tried it yet . . . I need to do that. Thanks for reminding me.
Jenny F. Scientist, I'm glad to hear the allergy shots are helping you despite the anaphylaxis incident.
In Europe, cellulose powder is gaining in popularity.
Puffed up the nose, this totally inert powder coats the nasal passages with a thin layer of gel preventing the allergens from making contact.
I have some samples if you would like one. No charge, no catch. I am just trying to raise awareness about a novel approach to allergies.
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