Pop Ice ARE My Friends

Well, it looks like it finally arrived. The night where Pop Ice pops once again become one of my best friends in the world. At the moment, I am sneezing my head off, thanks I suppose to an overly long exposure to kitten dander, the numerous types of grass, tree, flower pollen that's floating around, and a house filled with smoke from a ban frying session earlier this evening (at least the chicken salad that the bacon was intended for was really good!)

(I literally just went and ate a few more spoonfuls of it after typing that! *g*)

Anyway, back to the point at hand, if I have one. As I believe I mentioned earlier, when my allergies flare up like they have tonight, and I vacillate between near total congestion and sneezing my head off, there are 3 things that seem to help me, namely cold temperatures, movement, and eating. So on nights like these, when I sometimes want to kill myself to escape the congested suffering (and I am NOT a proponent of suicide!), I take heart in the fact that we have a freezer loaded with Pop Ice for occasions such as these.

At the height of my nocturnal suffering, I head to the freezer, cut the top off one of the colorful plastic tubes, and pace around my house crunching on the artificially flavored coldness within. The movement, combined with the eating something cold helps temporarily clear my sinuses and bring brief reprieve to my suffering.

I haven't quite gotten to that point yet tonight, but it's probably lurking just around the corner. The few spoonfuls of cold chicken salad helped tide me over for a little while though, and the sneezing attack that I was having has fortunately abated for the time being. Here's to hoping it stays that way.

If not, Pop Ice, here I come...

My Ears Are Ringing

One of the lovely side effects of all this pollen is sneezing attacks. Now usually I don't mind these, because they help clear my sinuses, and enable me to breathe a little more freely for a while, but lately they have been less than enjoyable.

Following several forceful sneezes in a row, my ears end up feeling like they've been "boxed", and I get a disturbing and uncomfortable ringing sensation in my ears, and a pressure buildup in my head. Sometimes my vision even goes a little blurry momentarily. This isn't SO bad, most of the time, but if I happen to be driving at the time, or doing something that requires my complete concentration and utmost attention, then it becomes a major inconvenience, and a possible liability!

I have enjoyed the last couple of days, spending time here and there outside with my family, but I am paying the price. While not as bad as I was expecting, congestion is starting to build up in my chest as my sinuses drain each night/morning, and I'm on steadily on my way towards my yearly bout with bronchitis at the very least. Couple that with odd fumes (from somewhere) at work, that only I seem to be able to smell (and which made it very hard for me to breathe yesterday, and necessitated the use of an inhaler), and I have been having a LESS than enjoyable time.

Spring doesn't last forever, but it sure feels like it sometimes. I can't wait for allergy season to be over, so I can start living my life again!

It Feels Like Burning

My eyes are on fire right now. More so my left one, but my right eye is catching up. I guess with all the wind we've been having lately, and apparently will continue to have for another day or so, the pollen is getting whipped up into a frenzy!

At least I'm not driving at the moment though. That's one of the worst things about the pollen getting in my eyes. A lot of times when I'm driving during the spring, pollen will get into my eyes, and they'll start to burn; and half the time I end up trying to drive with only 1 eye open, and that does wonders for your depth perception. It's amazing I've never been in a wreck! *knock on wood*

Oh well, only 3 months or so of pollen season left to go! Joy...

I'm Not Stoned...REALLY

This is the time of year where I usually inform my current employer of the likelihood of me coming to work each day looking like I've been doing drugs or drinking heavily. I'll be wearing dark sunglasses (well, I do THAT all the time), I'll have bags under my eyes for sleepless nights due to extreme congestion, and said eyes will be bloodshot and glazed looking. That's my general appearance over the 3 months or so of extreme pollen production.

People have often commented that I look "stoned", but I always assure them that, "It's just allergies. I don't do drugs!" to which I often get the response, "Uhuh. Allergies, RIGHT..." Of course then I usually offer a retort about volunteering to take a drug test or something, to prove my innocence. You'll find plenty of drugs in my system, but they're all prescription or over the counter medications. I've never done drugs in my life, and I don't plan to start any time soon! (Drinking on the other hand...well, you never know.)

At any rate, I usually look pretty glassy eyed and geeked out during the spring and early summer, and I have our wonderful pollen producing flora to thank for it. I know the pollen production is necessary for the survival of the plant species; I just wish I wasn't so bloody allergic to it! Spring is such a nice time of year, but it's always ruined for me because I spend so much of it (usually indoors) suffering with allergies!

Again, those of you out there who also suffer from seasonal allergies can relate to what I'm talking about. As for the rest of you...well, consider yourself lucky. Allergies may not sound so bad, but to those of us who suffer them on a yearly/cyclic basis, they can be a living hell!

Mucinex Nasel Spray

On one of her past trips to the doctor, Monica was given Mucinex nasal spray. I'm not sure why (I'm assuming she had a sinus infection at the time, and they thought it might help), but at any rate, she never used it. So I figured I'd give it a shot, since I'm now thoroughly congested due to the increasing pollen count. Surprisingly, it worked quite well, and I was actually able to breathe enough last night to where I got a full night's sleep, something I definitely wasn't expecting!

Now hopefully this stuff doesn't go the way of most new medications that I try...the first and/or second dose work really well, and then my body adapts to it and it doesn't work from then on. I'm hoping that I've found something that really works, and that will help me get through allergy seasons now and in the future. I guess that remains to be seen. I can only use it once every 10-12 hours, and although I'm really congested at the moment, I want to hold off using it as long as possible so I can use it as close to bed time as possible, and maybe get another decent night's sleep tonight.

If not, you'll get to my read a blog I have planned for the future called Pop Ice Are My Friends. We'll just have to see how it goes.

To all my allergy suffering friends out there, I feel your pain. I hope you've all found something to alleviate your symptoms, and if you have, and it works well, please let ME know! Thanks. :-)

Like Kryptonite To Superman

Allergies, my one weakness. Okay, so it's many weaknesses in one (pollen, dust, smoke, extreme amounts of pet fur, etc.), but allergies are the ONE thing that keep me from doing many of the things I enjoy, particularly this time of the year. Even things that I don't enjoy, but should be helping with are issues. For instance, Monica is outside right now finishing off mowing the lawn with the push mower, partly because the rider we were given by her dad still has 2 flat tires, but mainly because if I were to be the one doing it, I would spend 2-3 weeks suffering in allergy hell, which would then lead to bronchitis and possibly pneumonia, followed by potential doctor and/or hospital visits we neither have time nor money for.

So here I sit, inside at the computer, while she toils away in the yard (albeit it, enjoying the first nice, sunny day we've had in a while.) I HATE this time of year! But at the same time, I want to be outside ENJOYING this time of year. I want to go hiking, fishing, and camping. I want to play tennis, and take a mountain bike (which I'm going to obtain by some means) along the trails by the river at Watson Mill Bridge State Park. And many of those things I will do, allergies be damned! If I'm going to suffer, it may as well be for something I enjoy and love doing!

But right now I just feel bad. I feel like a slacker, and a bad husband, because Monica has been working off and on in the yard yesterday and today, and I am unable to help like I want to. As mentioned in my previous post, this time of year is a bitter irony for me.

Now I know many of you out there (okay, so maybe it's just the 1 or 2 people who actually read these things) are saying "Why don't you get some allergy medication? Or go to the doctor and get this problem taken care of?" And to those questions I reply, "I have, but nothing works." I've had allergies more or less for all of my life, and while they've gotten better over the years (somewhat anyway), they still loom up to haunt me each spring, and I definitely haven't "outgrown" them. I've also taken basically every type of OTC medication for allergies, AND most if not all of the prescription only variations. And nothing seems to work; not for very long anyway.

Sometimes when I try a new medication that I haven't used before, the first (and maybe the second) dose help really well, and I think to myself, "Finally, something that's going to work!" But then my body adapts to the new drug almost instantly, and each dose gets less and less effective. I've built up a tolerance of sorts to pretty much every allergy medication available, and nothing really helps any more. So I try to spend as much time indoors as possible (torture itself to me, because I'm very much an outdoor type of person), and I grin and bare it over the next few months.

This will be my first pollen season in our new house, so I'll have to see how this spring is going to go. We have oak and pecan trees aplenty in our yard, along with numerous flowering plants, so I'm not expecting the next 2-3 months to be a very enjoyable time for me. Still, the weather is starting to improve, and one way or another I'm going to try to get out and enjoy it, at least somewhat! But for now, I'm sheltered inside, hiding away from the pollen which is already turning everything a nice shade of yellow-green. Gotta run now though. Monica needs me to restart the lawn mower. At least I can be of SOME use to her...

The Irony Of Spring

The rain has FINALLY stopped, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and it's a lovely [soon to be] warm day outside. I hate it. Or, more accurately, I hate spring. Being an allergy sufferer, this is one of the worst times of the year for me, and just another reason I prefer fall and winter, and hate spring and summer.

Already, from just the little time I spent outside this morning, I can feel my sinuses starting to close off. I'm starting to sniff and have a runny nose, and my eyes are starting to feel strained. Just from my brief exposure, I could already be in for a rough night. And usually the "rough night" turns into a rough week or two, with symptoms rapidly getting worse, and then I end up with a sinus infection or bronchitis, or worse. Yes, I truly hate spring.

It's all the more annoying because Kate, Mike and Jacob are here at the moment, and they're all outside with Monica, enjoying the day (except for Mike maybe. He's working on the gold Saturn, so I'm not sure how much fun HE'S having.) But the point is, I want to be out there with him, to be outside enjoying the lovely weather. But I'm sequestered inside with a runny nose, trying to keep my allergies from getting any worse than they probably already are. Add to that the fact that, with all the medicine I have in my "pharmacy", I currently don't have any ALLERGY medicine, so I'll have to run out to Wal-mart later to get some, and that's using gas I'd rather reserve, and spending money we really don't have.

Anyway, all of this is to show what a cruel irony lovely spring days are to people like me. I REALLY want to be down by the water's edge fishing, or out hiking in the woods, but if I do that, it will take me a week or two to get over it, and most of the time it's just not worth it. So here I sit, alone in a chair in our living room, typing about how I'd love to be outside with everyone else who's out there ENJOYING this wonderful weather. Oh well, at least the rain's stopped.....