Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Achooo!

I fell off the blogdar for the past week for a variety of reasons, mostly because I was wiped out by weed and mold allergies. My fellow allergy sufferers and I agree that the fall allergens have been particularly ferocious here in DC lately.

Although I've had fall allergies for as long as I can remember, usually they have been quite mild. Most years I'll sneeze a bit, but I won't feel bad enough to resort to antihistamines. Last week and weekend, by contrast, I was still experiencing a wide range of symptoms despite faithfully taking zyrtec each day. One day things got so bad that I took benadryl in between zyrtec doses. At that point, I decided that it was time to figure out where my epinephrine-pen was, just in case (epinephrine is used to treat cases of anaphylaxis, which is an extreme allergic reaction that potentially is fatal). Yikes!

My experience seems to be about on par with others who have weed and mold allergies. One of my dog park friends was having so many allergic symptoms that he lost his voice for three days late last week. Another friend was sneezing and coughing so badly that at first she thought she had a cold. Yet another friend is still suffering despite taking oral meds and shots. So, it's not just me -- I think that there is something different going on out there in the air this year. I sincerely hope that whatever made things so unbearable recently is not indicative of a new trend!

At this point, I am happy to report that I am feeling much better. The offending agent(s) seem(s) finally to have subsided. I'm breathing a lot easier and have returned to my usual energy level. Now that I'm feeling like me again, I hope to be posting more regularly. It was weird being away for a week.

9 comments:

Val said...

glad to hear you are feeling better. i was away for a week too and surely missed all my new blogger pals! so lovely to come back and catch up with allx

Angela said...

Welcome back, Adrianne! I am sorry about your allergies. So many people suffer, and I must admit I never have. They say that when as a child you grow up in cow stables and dirt (which I did, occasionally), it makes you resistent for life. Too late now (or maybe not???).

Barbara said...

It is interesting that the newest finding on allergies is that you are better off not being in too sterile an environment (as Angela says). Maybe it's like homeopathic medicine where you actually take small doses of what is causing your problem.

I think it's the same principal at play with the antibacterial soaps that can tend to kill too much!

Anyway, glad you are on the mend.

Tess Kincaid said...

You are not alone! I am a fellow allergy sufferer and this fall has been worse than normal, hasn't it?

Glad to hear you're feeling better!

virtualjourney said...

Missed you and glad to hear you are feeling better than you did - we're sneezing frequently here; dust in the air with all the falling leaves?

Hope you manage to stay clear of shock symptoms. Thanks for the comment about Hadrian - I will be posting his artwork.

Siobhán said...

Good to hear you're on the mend Adrianne. As a writer you might be interested in a new online venture by Harper Collins I discovered this week. I have uploaded my novel to it. See my blog today for details. Best.

Reya Mellicker said...

I've really missed your posts but I think blogging should never be a "I have to post" kind of experience.

Sorry about your allergies! Yikes!! And so glad you found your epi pin. Just in case.

You know I worry about you, my Adrianne. It's my inner Jewish mother, I guess.

Glad you're past the worst of it. If we could get a good solid freeze, the air would really clear up.

Merle Sneed said...

I use Claratin everyday to control my allergies.

Steve Reed said...

I'm having the same problems here in NYC, though I think it may also be due to dryness from having my heat come on.