Newsflash: Spring came late this year.
I know its spring when my Water Oak has allergies and starts snotting on my deck
Shifting the schedule for all sorts of stuff — spring time flowers, new leaves on barren skeletal trees, warmer weather, and not the least — a delayed pollen and allergy season.
Baseball season started on time, though. That’s something, right?
Over the years, my allergies changed with where I lived: in Florida, it was cats and an occasional pollen issue. Migrating northward, suddenly there were a whole SLEW of new allergens never before imagined.
A new form of torture
In addition to the watery eyes and runny nose that most folks experience during allergy season, I had something else, not unique, but certainly new to me.
Ever had an allergy migraine?
Some days I couldn’t get out of bed because the light hurt my eyes…
I was nauseous …
and it felt like someone stuck an ice pick at the base of my skull and kept wiggling it around.
Trust in this: YOU DON’T WANT ONE.
Through the miracle of modern medicine, we discovered my allergies were a bit more than just cats and some stray pollen. Now these are the things that fill up my senses and make me feel oogie:
- an E N T I R E tree group
- ALL cold weather grasses
- ragweed (like mother, like daughter)
- mold
- dust mites (ew!)
- AND get this: DOGS!
Yes, I am allergic to these two cute girls. What a travesty.
Get that stinkin’ needle AWAY from me
Backstory: Needles scare the bejesus out of me and have since I was very young.
It has to do with a shot in kindergarten gone horribly and I do mean HORRIBLY awry.
AND then…receiving a WHOLE SERIES of shots to counteract the shot that went awry.
I’m pretty SURE that’s where the intense dislike came from.
To ring in the new year in 2009, I began allergy shot therapy and for the first year I received an allergy shot 1-2 times a week.
You an imagine what a fun filled year that was for someone who had an INTENSE dislike of needles. Now my shots are just once month, and I’m not as much of a wuss anymore.
This form of therapy doesn’t work for everyone, but I’m grateful it’s helped me.
Spring allergy season isn’t a skip down the shore, however, when my tree group decides its time to send their pollen to mate with my sinuses, I’m not huddled in bed clutching my head in agony.
How have your allergies been this year?
Have you tried allergy shots? Did they work for you?
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