So it’s blog chain time again over at Absolute Write and being the masochist that I am, I’ve signed up yet again. Not that it’s painful to do a blog chain but considering how much I have on my plate, adding anything else threatens to crack it.
Gillian, the food lady that went before me, talked about fasts and fish allergies. I’m still trying to figure out how that relates to the theme of the chain, new beginnings, but I guess it relates back to rebooting which was talked about a few links back. To fast is to deny yourself something for an extended period of time then gorge once you can have it again. You purge (reboot) and gorge (repeat the vicious cycle). At least that’s my view of it, hence children giving up candy and swallowing whole Cadbury Creme Eggs on Easter. It makes sense.
Spring is in and of itself a new beginning. A new yearly beginning and my time of suffering. Right around the time the trees and shrubbery are starting anew, my eyes start to get itchy and the sneezes come in droves. Damn pollen, how reactive you make me. It’s starting earlier this year which sucks big time. Usually I don’t feel much until closer to May. Being the beginning of April, this is a sure fire sign that this year’s fresh start is going to make me suffer like a Red Sox fan with statistics (that would make more sense if I linked to the post but I’ll be reposting it here soon anyway, you’ll get it then).
Up until last year, I was fully capable of snarfing six to seven Benadryl a day to stave off my allergies and remain fully functional. I know some of you are wondering how the hell I did that without slipping into a coma. I have no idea. I’ve just always been immune to Benadryl’s side effects. But, alas, my luck ran out and last year was the first year I slept because of those damn pills. So I had to switch around and find something else. And switch around I did because nothing seemed to work like Benadryl did. Yay for suffering. Now with yet another prescription drug available over the counter (is it Zyrtec?), I have another option, albeit an expensive one.
I wouldn’t have minded if I was still at my last job where I could slack off to no end because I did all of 2 hours of work a day but seeing as how I just started a new one (and a much more demanding one to boot), drooling on my desk from a Benadryl overdose might not make the best of impressions. And imagine my writing! Considering I do pen to paper, just think of the smudging! The work I can manage because I’m essentially sitting in a bubble with filtered air running through my nose so allergies don’t really bother me there. It’s at home and I’m afraid my writing, until everything blooms, is going to suffer for it. It’ll be even worse if I have to come home and pop a Benadryl in order to relieve myself of the itchy eyes and snot-spewing sneezing (you’re welcome for that image). It wasn’t much of an issue before because I haven’t been as serious as I am now about my writing until this past autumn (slacker, I know) but I do the bulk of it when I get home from work.
Hopefully Zyrtec is strong enough because that other stuff, what’s it called. You know, the cloudy . . . Claratin. That does shit for me other than sit in my stomach and fester. Maybe walking around with a bubble on my head would be beneficial. At least my eyes wouldn’t swell shut and my hair would look perpetually good but there’s always that problem of breathing. Would I have to carry a tank of oxygen around with me and have it attached to my Spring Defense Bubble?
Maybe Freshhell has the key to the mystery. Until she finds the answers to my woes, why not check out some of the other links in the chain (bricks in the wall?).
Auria Cortes
Polenth’s Quill
Unfocused Me
Spittin’ (out words) Like a Llama
Food History
Fantastical Imagination
Life In Scribbletown
For The First Time
Polyamory From the Inside Out
Livininsanity
Spynotes
A Wayward Journey
Virtual Wordsmith
Recently:
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Comments
This entry was posted on Sunday, April 13th, 2008 at 9:20 am and is filed under On Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Your spring allergies sound like my late summer/fall allergies. I am not and never have been immune to Benadryl’s side effects — it puts me out almost instantaneously. Back in 1995, I started taking a combination of Nasacort (a prescription steroid nasal spray) and Claritin, which cleared up roughly 90 percent of my symptoms. Last year, I switched the Claritin to Zyrtec, which took care of most of the rest.
The nasal spray is important. I don’t think any of the non-drowsy antihistamines can really solve the nose-related issues alone; the spray gives you something targeted. I take the spray and the pill each once a day, and that’s all I need.
Until I was 25, I started every school year as the sneezy kid, and I can’t tell you what a difference it made to turn August, September, and October from 90 days of torture into productive, pleasant months.
If you haven’t tried a spray, give one a try; if you have and it didn’t work, try something else until you find something that does. Good luck!
I actually haven’t tried a nasal spray but at the rate I’m sneezing at the moment, I think I might. I don’t want to do anything prescription just yet because I have shitty insurance and want to wait to get hired permanently for this job because they have the good stuff. I’m not a fan of nasal sprays but this year I might just be desperate enough for it.
I get more reactive to Benadryl with each passing year. I now take a half dose before bed and I still feel drugged when I wake up in the morning. But nothing else works on the allergies. Still, I’ll never need a prescription for sleeping pills.
I am doing the zyrtec thing, and let me tell you, it helps a lot. My eyes are still somewhat itchy, but nothing like they were before I started taking it! Now if I go one day without it I’m ready to gouge out my eyes with a sharp pencil. Yikes! I feel your pain!
Harriet, I hear you on that. I considered taking one last night but at night is when my allergies are the least bothersome. My eyes might itch a little but that’s it.
Colby, I think I’m just going to break down and try it this year. What choice do I have?
[...] you fall off the “what are my priorities here” wagon, to food allergies. The other dayFantastical Imagination wrote about spring allergies and her Benedryl addiction. She asked if I could solve the mystery of [...]
Ugh, nasal sprays are disgusting. All that goo just goes straight down my throat which can’t be right. Gross. The dr keeps giving me samples and I keep throwing them away. But Zyrtec! Well, you’ll have to read my entry to see what I think of that wonder drug.
I am so, so, so glad that I do not have allergies.
Fresh, which is why I don’t like to use them. I have enough chronic post nasal drip as it is! TMI, I know.
Kathleen, you should be! They suck!
The best part of an allergy is sneezing. I love the way it feels.
[...] been an interesting month, weaving from beginnings of novels, fitness, and most recently, Fantastical Imagination and Life In Scribbletown have talked about [...]
I seem to be in the no pollen allergy minority. Though a faceful of pollen’ll make me sneeze, just because it’s itchy.
[...] the process of beginning a novel, learning 3d design, rebooting your life, taking breaks, fasting, spring allergies, the wonders of Zyrtec, moving, new beginnings in one’s sex life, and blogging. It’s enough to [...]
I just work through it, and the most I get are tears and a sneeze or two for a couple of days until some strange spore or pollen gets snorted and then I go through the whole process. Other than that, my nose goes wacky for a few days and that’s about the worse of it.
I just go with the flow regarding my allergies, as I feel worse if I take medicines for them.