Sunday, September 12, 2010
My Allergies Are Killing Me
It wasn't till about 9th grade that my allergies got bad but once they did it was like a snowball down a mountain. It really only started with itchy eyes which for a while was something I could deal with. After that the roof of my mouth started to get itchy. Once it got to that point I couldn't just suck it up so I decided to take some sort of allergy medicine. Because it was the most advertised at the time I decided to try Claritin-D. I decided to go with the D because my nose was getting stuffy at the time and I hopped it would help clear that up for me. When I first started taking it, it worked perfectly. It would last all day and all of my allergic reactions would disappear. After a while though my allergies started getting worse and the Claritin would stop working as much. It wouldn't last all night instead it would just last for 8-12 hours when it was supposed to last for 24. I decided that it was time to switch to something else so I decided to try Zyrtec. That to worked for a while but I again built up a tolerance so I tried switching back to Claritin last winter. Thats when my allergies started getting worse. The Claritin wouldn't take care of all of my allergic reactions. My eyes would stay itchy and start watering and the roof of my mouth would be constantly itchy and nothing I could do would stop it. I remember one particular day as I was walking to class there was what looked like a pollen tornado. I of course had to walk through it to get to class and that made my allergies go berserk. In class it literally looked like I was crying because the pollen had gotten into my contacts and behind them and the Claritin couldn't handle it. When I got home later I washed my contacts off and the solution was yellow from all the pollen. Just today I switched back to Zyrtec in the hopes that it can better fight my allergies. If this doesn't work like I want it to I might have to start looking into allergy shots because I'm sick of suffering from my allergies.
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Allergies are the worst, and it's especially aggravating when you take medicine but it doesn't work. I've had allergies since I can remember to pretty much any and all indoor/outdoor things, especially cats. You're just lucky you don't have to deal with asthma! Mine always gets worse in the fall along with my allergies. Although I didn't even have it until 3 or 4 years ago. I wish I would grow out of both of them! Anyway, I also switched to Zyrtek recently, I used to take it but it stopped working for me too. Here's hoping it works for both of us!
ReplyDeleteI think I have seasonal allergies. I usually do not suffer consistently but only in change of seasons. There are times where i feel really "sick" and everything "sucks." My eyes are very itch and my throat gets a weird agitation. It is also followed by couple headache that last for about a week. I have a friend, who i will refer to as "J" and he's allergies are insane! He says hes allergic to literally everything: dust, mold, grass, etc...He however takes allergy shots and he says that it helps a lot. Im not sure why everyone doesn't take these "allergy shots," but im guessing that there is a cost/benefit dilemma. Is it very expensive and also risky? and are these shots available to all types of allergies?
ReplyDeleteAgreed, as a fellow sufferer, allergies are a pain. And, I suspect others share your experience of escalating symptoms and deescalating medication effectiveness. But, I couldn't help but wonder (give the health psychology context of your blog) whether you've noticed a relationship between your allergy symptoms and stress? If all else is the same, would you say your allergies bother you more when you're stressed? I don't think it's been published yet, but there was an interesting presentation last year at APA on research examining the relationship between stress and allergies (http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/allerglas.htm). From my own anecdotal experience, I cannot say whether my hay fever is worse on high-stress days. BUT, I also have excema and skin allergies, and I know that my skin symptoms are worse when I feel stressed (and, research also supports this finding). In a similar vein, there is certainly a large body of literature suggesting a relationship between immune function generally and stress, so a link between allergies and stress would make sense.
ReplyDeleteI completely understand how you feel. Allergies are really so hard to deal with. I hate the itchy eyes and congested feeling =( I have seasonal allergies and Im also allergic to dust. I found that zyrtec worked the best for me but I guess it varies person to person. Since your allergies seem to be really bad I suggest you really look into the shot or other options with your physician. Also as Elizabeth said, it might also be related to stress. I find that my own allergies are sometimes aggravated by stress and it could very well explain why I have them so bad sometimes. I found an allergy blog that you may be interested in reading more into. Hope you find some things that may help you with your allergies this season! Here's the link! http://www.allergiestreatmentblog.com/
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