Well, that was...something

[rolanni]

And so...I'm slightly (very slightly) allergic to...dogs...and some few weedy things...and a couple varieties of mold, but, really, who isn't? I am not, mind you, sensitive enough to any of these things that the doctor was willing to use the word "allergic," preferring "irritant." While this is Good News, it leaves open to wonder Just What Exactly Is Going On. Sigh. Nose drops for four weeks, and regroup. If no better, then I get to have my sinuses x-rayed. Somehow, this proposition fails to fill me with joy...

This was my very first time having an allergy test, which made me a minor celebrity with staff, and I must say that I have a whole new appreciation for the Death of A Thousand Cuts. Happily for me, I had taken along blink by Malcolm Gladwell, which is utterly absorbing. I can't wait to get back to it.

In other news, we had a thunderstorm this evening; the sun is out now, and the sky as blue as if it had never rained...

Comments

[doryllis.livejournal.com]

I had a similar Allergist experience. They later determined that I am lactose intolerant and "sensitive" to everything. When I give up the dairy almost completely, I don't seem to have as many issues. Also, getting rid of the feather mattress pad and pillows seems to help a great deal.

[anisosynchronic.livejournal.com]

Feather pillows, ugh! Instant mudbrain....

[(Anonymous)]

It could easily be something they don't test for. Poppy seeds are a 9-1-1 item for me.

Can you take Zyrtec?

[(Anonymous)]

The allergist has not been able to figure out what I am allergic to: they can't take me off of allergy meds long enough for the skin tests, and the blood tests done so far are not giving useful results.

So they said the heck with finding out what the allergen is; instead we focused on finding a treatment that worked.

Zyrtec (Cetirizine Hydrochloride) recently became an OTC med, and it's been a lifesaver. It is supposed to last 24 hours (more like 22 for me, that's not bad) and it makes me sleepy at first so I take it at bedtime. No more nausea from draining sinuses, no more coughing all night long, no more sinus headaches!

Might be worth asking your doctor if you can try it. I buy bottles of 100 as a generic from my pharmacy for about $13; name brand in the store is much more expensive.

In the meantime, if your nose drops are a steroid-based product, such as rhinocort or nasonex, then I would suggest you rinse your throat (gargle-and-spit) shortly after using them. Some people are susceptible to getting thrush from oral or nasal steroids, and while it's common to see a warning on asthma inhalers, it's rare to see it on the nasal ones. Personal experience here. You might not have a problem -- but what harm is there in a quick gargle?

Good luck....

--Susan

[katmoonshaker.livejournal.com]

heh. After similar reactions (gee, these aren't reactions at all, that might be called a slight irritant but...), a round of steroids, and a sinus x-ray they decided that I had nonallergic rhinitis or somesuch and sent me off with a sample & scrip of Veramyst and told me to keep taking my allegra ("how's that working for you?"). ::sigh:: I've decided to go back to dealing with it the way I have before ever going there.

[marniferous.livejournal.com]

Bummer! Glad you're enjoying blink though.

I have two holistic-ish suggestions,
if you're open to that:

1. Have you tried a neti pot? (with which you rinse out your sinuses with warm salt water on a daily basis.) Rinses out the irritants so they don't...irritate. I'm lucky not to have pollen allergies, but other chronic sinusy stuff, and when i actually do the NP it helps a lot.

2. Have you heard of NAET, which is an allergy elimination acupuncture process?

http://www.naet.com/subscribers/what.html

I know time and money for these sorts of things is not highly available....
still, i wanted to mention it.
I've had pretty strong results with things like food allergies, mold, soap....

And when it comes to figuring out What Exactly Is Going On, i'm personally a bigger fan of good kinesiology (muscle testing) than allopathic approaches, which are more like talking to a computer - it can only yes/no answer the question you've asked, and if you didn't think to ask the key question (it would never have occurred to me that i was allergic to soap!) it can't really help you get there.

Or Neilmed squeeze-bottle

[jane-barfly.livejournal.com]

I found that Neti pots require me to Breathe Funny While Contorting My Neck. Not an all-around glowing success. I get the same sinus-rinse effect from the Neilmed squeeze bottles. Not amazingly comfortable, but much much better than sinuses stuffed with cotton-wool.

Laura

[6-penny.livejournal.com]

If you are responding to something local/east coast, going out to Denver may confirm it. Years ago I helped friends move west in August. We got past the Penn. border the first day, i was up in the small hours with my sinuses pouring _ the summers accumulation of congestion! The rest of the trip I had more energy than I had had since I was a kid, the altitude in the Rockies had my puffing a bit, but otherwise it was a revelation. Flying back east, the plane touched down in Pittsburgh, they opened the doors (The old days when one went down a ladder to deplane) and my sinuses clamped down instantly.