In Focus

The pollening is happening—that time every spring where trees and other plants decide to wake up and unleash yellow crap upon us all. As a fellow allergy sufferer, you know when it’s happening before you can even see it.

Just a few days ago, I had all my windows open while I slept, enjoying the cool spring air. Then I woke up with the worst allergies. I shut the windows, turned on the air purifier and found myself rinsing off in the shower while I waited for various allergy medicines to kick in.

My right eye was killing me. The throbbing pain was worse than a headache. Tylenol and allergy medicines didn’t even come close to easing the pain. I ended up having to take a steroid, do a frozen face mask and took a nap in hopes it would go away. It did, but it still continues to linger off and on.

I walked outside and everything was covered in a thin layer of yellow. The yellow specks on my red deck and car were the most noticeable. I could see the faint outline of footprints on the sidewalk. So much pollen, and only so many medications that would help.

Along with that comes all the outdoor activities and concerts. Battling the elements is one thing, adding allergies on top of that is another battle. Sure, it’s nice and sunny out, but that nice breeze is pushing pollen right up my nose causing itchy, watery eyes, an itchy, runny nose, sore throat, eye pain, etc. And there is not a “take care of it all at once” medication to curb this to get through the whole day, or get through a concert without sneezing my head off.

A prescription allergy medicine, nasal spray, sudafed and tylenol are just the front line for me. Sometimes I have to take another allergy pill, another pump of nasal spray, and of course, as an absolute last resort—benedryl. If it comes down to that, all functioning ceases as it will knock me out. It’s not always a terrible thing, but when it’s the middle of the day it is a bit of a problem.

Then came the haze. Smoke from wildfires in Canada made their way here, just to make life more difficult for people like us. I was barely getting by with my current method of medication, and then the smoke decided to make things worse, while triggering my exercise induced asthma. What a winning combo. Let’s add the inhaler on top of all this as it became harder to breathe and taking a deep breath was difficult. And the inhaler makes me a little shaky for about an hour. Along with the shaking and twitching, increased heart rate, and constantly itching my nose, I probably looked a little strung out. Then it all mixed with the morning fog, making smog, mixed with the pollening—we shall call it the smogening.

But my eye pain was something else. It resulted in a last minute eye appointment via my regular doctor. The eye exam was fine and it was narrowed down to two possibilities. One was Crohn’s related...go figure...and the other is called a cluster headache. After going through the symptoms, the cluster headache fits, and ironically, one of the triggers is a histamine reaction. Oh great. Let’s just add one of the most painful headaches to my list of issues.

This allergy season is trying to kill me...