Living with allergies

[PaperDoll]

Allergy season is starting earlier and dragging on longer, due to climate change. </crossthread>

I had that poke test done on both arms a few years ago and discovered I'm not allergic to anything. That's what I'd already believed. But it also didn't give me a cause for my symptoms.

I was coughing up gunk for two months, starting around this time last year. It's like my insides waited for the offseason and inflicted me with all the illnesses I'd avoided. I kept my mask on, even outdoors, and repeated, "I've been tested. It's not COVID."

When I got back from an international trip with an eye infection on top of the cough, the walk-in clinic doc insisted it was whatever the new strain of COVID was at the time. Nope. I got lots of prescription drugs and nothing stopped the cough. Wal-Tussin (dextromethorphan) pills (generic from Walgreens) were the best. A European nasal spray that isn't available in the U.S. worked wonders on the runny nose.

Good luck!

 

[BTExpress]

Took my dog for an allergy test last year. Turns out he's allergic to Earth. Every type of tree, grass, shrub, airborne particle.

Useless expensive test.

 

[swingline]

Several years ago I had the tests on my forearms. We found out that I'm allergic to oak, which just so happens to be the predominant tree in my state. I had a welt that looked like a smallpox bump on my arm for a couple of months.

 

[Wenders]

I got tested about 10 years ago. They said I was non-reactive, confirmed with a blood test.

Then why the F have I been on allergy medication constantly since I was 10? My nose is constantly a drippy runny mess, I get at least 2 sinus infections a year, my eyes are gross and watery in the morning, etc. I always buy my Kleenex boxes by the 4 pack and have one at my office desk, in my car and by my bed.

People have questioned over the years if I'm allergic to cats, but I had the same exact symptoms when I lived 3 years in the dorms in college (so no pets of any kind there) and had no pets for about 2 years after grad school, so it's unlikely that cats are my allergen. (But also, I'll load up on every allergy med known to man before I'll give up my cats.)

 

[MileHigh]

I got the allergy stuff when I was like 8 and it was for the big environmental stuff: Trees, weeds, grass, etc.

I still to this day constantly have to blow my nose to clear out gunk. Hate it. I had to get a new doctor who I see in a couple of weeks so we'll see if they can fix things.