Supermom Chronicles
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Hostile Ragweed Takeover
Help! I am being held hostage in my own home. I cannot venture outside for the Ragweed is waiting just outside my door....
What a bust of a birthday weekend. It felt like a mild cool front blew in Saturday afternoon, and apparently stirred up the ragweed with it. Ragweed & molds have been high for a couple of weeks, so I'm not sure why all of a sudden this weekend put me over the top. I've been taking my Allegra & Nasacort daily and had little if any allergy symptoms. Usually once, maybe twice, a year I have a really bad day or two of allergy symptoms that will make me sick for days. Since ragweed is a fall allergen, I usually fall ill around my birthday. Yippee! After 1-2 days of really bad allergic rhinitis (I literally used at least 40-50 kleenex on Sunday alone), all the mucus packs in for a stay at the Hotel Sinus. After a couple days stay there, the mucus starts to venture to the Bronchiole Condominiums for another few days stay.
Yesterday I thought my head was going to explode. Most of the sneezing had subsided, but every movement hurt. I couldn't hear well because my ears were clogged, my nose was so sore from the previous day, and my head must have weighed 1-2 lbs more than usual. I was desperate. So I went to see the doctor yesterday morning to see if there was anything more powerful than what I had already tried (allegra-D, Nasacort - 4x the usual dose, chorpheniramine, benadryl, tylenol, Entex-LA, a Neti-pot, some oil of oregano tincture, cayenne pepper green tea w/ honey). My usual doc was out for the week, so I saw a new doctor. I found myself thinking how young he looked, and how he was not really helping me at all. After I left, I wondered how many of my own clients have left the clinic feeling the same way. Hopefully very few. I'm really big into educating clients during visits. When they bring their pet in for chronic allergies, I stress to them that allergies is not a curable disease, only manageable. I give them literature so they can read up on it themselves. I offer a variety of medicines and modalities as the case warrants to best control that pet's symtoms. So even though I couldn't wave my magic wand and cure their beloved Fifi, at least they don't leave feeling like they didn't accomplish anything by coming in.
But then again, maybe I expect too much from human doctors nowadays. I already know a lot about human medicine by extrapolation from vet medicine. So the main reason I go see a doctor is so he/she can write a prescription for the latest and greatest medicine to help with my ailment (since it's against the law for me to write my own prescription). I already knew all the suggestions he was going to throw at me for managing my allergies.
"Maybe you should see an allergist to find out what you're allergic to." I've already done that.
"Maybe you should try immunotherapy." I've already done that, too.
"If you know you're allergic to ragweed, you should use your allegra & Nasacort regularly through the fall season." Yes, doctor, that's what I've been doing.
He never really answered me when I asked if it is "normal" for a person to clog up in the sinuses like I do for days after a bad allergic attack. I know lots of people with allergies, but none that suffer for days after the sneezing has stopped like I do. He mumbled, "Maybe you have an anatomy problem..." as he wrote me a prescription for Singulair.
Well, at least my $20 copay did buy 2 things: 1) a prescription for Singulair, which is another method of dealing with allergic symtoms (not an antihistamine), which I've never tried before and 2) the knowledge that Entex-LA (strong decongestant requiring an rx) is the same thing as over-the-counter Mucinex-D.
Today I am a little better. My head is still in a fog. My ears are still clogged. But I'm not blowing my nose nearly as much, my sinuses don't hurt as bad. The trade-off, however, is that some of the mucus has gone down to the Bronchiole Condos. I'm running a low-grade fever and coughing some nastiness. In spite of this, I am able to care for the kids today (I could not yesterday). I do plan on returning to work tomorrow (although I'm not looking forward to wearing that surgery mask all morning). Hopefully I won't be hoarse at my sister's wedding this weekend.
Sadly, 2 of my 3 kids have a pretty severe runny nose and some mild coughing right now. I hate allergies. I really do.
What a bust of a birthday weekend. It felt like a mild cool front blew in Saturday afternoon, and apparently stirred up the ragweed with it. Ragweed & molds have been high for a couple of weeks, so I'm not sure why all of a sudden this weekend put me over the top. I've been taking my Allegra & Nasacort daily and had little if any allergy symptoms. Usually once, maybe twice, a year I have a really bad day or two of allergy symptoms that will make me sick for days. Since ragweed is a fall allergen, I usually fall ill around my birthday. Yippee! After 1-2 days of really bad allergic rhinitis (I literally used at least 40-50 kleenex on Sunday alone), all the mucus packs in for a stay at the Hotel Sinus. After a couple days stay there, the mucus starts to venture to the Bronchiole Condominiums for another few days stay.
Yesterday I thought my head was going to explode. Most of the sneezing had subsided, but every movement hurt. I couldn't hear well because my ears were clogged, my nose was so sore from the previous day, and my head must have weighed 1-2 lbs more than usual. I was desperate. So I went to see the doctor yesterday morning to see if there was anything more powerful than what I had already tried (allegra-D, Nasacort - 4x the usual dose, chorpheniramine, benadryl, tylenol, Entex-LA, a Neti-pot, some oil of oregano tincture, cayenne pepper green tea w/ honey). My usual doc was out for the week, so I saw a new doctor. I found myself thinking how young he looked, and how he was not really helping me at all. After I left, I wondered how many of my own clients have left the clinic feeling the same way. Hopefully very few. I'm really big into educating clients during visits. When they bring their pet in for chronic allergies, I stress to them that allergies is not a curable disease, only manageable. I give them literature so they can read up on it themselves. I offer a variety of medicines and modalities as the case warrants to best control that pet's symtoms. So even though I couldn't wave my magic wand and cure their beloved Fifi, at least they don't leave feeling like they didn't accomplish anything by coming in.
But then again, maybe I expect too much from human doctors nowadays. I already know a lot about human medicine by extrapolation from vet medicine. So the main reason I go see a doctor is so he/she can write a prescription for the latest and greatest medicine to help with my ailment (since it's against the law for me to write my own prescription). I already knew all the suggestions he was going to throw at me for managing my allergies.
"Maybe you should see an allergist to find out what you're allergic to." I've already done that.
"Maybe you should try immunotherapy." I've already done that, too.
"If you know you're allergic to ragweed, you should use your allegra & Nasacort regularly through the fall season." Yes, doctor, that's what I've been doing.
He never really answered me when I asked if it is "normal" for a person to clog up in the sinuses like I do for days after a bad allergic attack. I know lots of people with allergies, but none that suffer for days after the sneezing has stopped like I do. He mumbled, "Maybe you have an anatomy problem..." as he wrote me a prescription for Singulair.
Well, at least my $20 copay did buy 2 things: 1) a prescription for Singulair, which is another method of dealing with allergic symtoms (not an antihistamine), which I've never tried before and 2) the knowledge that Entex-LA (strong decongestant requiring an rx) is the same thing as over-the-counter Mucinex-D.
Today I am a little better. My head is still in a fog. My ears are still clogged. But I'm not blowing my nose nearly as much, my sinuses don't hurt as bad. The trade-off, however, is that some of the mucus has gone down to the Bronchiole Condos. I'm running a low-grade fever and coughing some nastiness. In spite of this, I am able to care for the kids today (I could not yesterday). I do plan on returning to work tomorrow (although I'm not looking forward to wearing that surgery mask all morning). Hopefully I won't be hoarse at my sister's wedding this weekend.
Sadly, 2 of my 3 kids have a pretty severe runny nose and some mild coughing right now. I hate allergies. I really do.
posted by Joey at 11:48 AM
2 Comments:
That sounds miserable. I got sick a lot like that in high school, usually just before a choir try-out or concert. My symptoms are not as severe since moving away from west TX.
I hope you feel better soon!
I am right there with you- I do the Flonase, Allegra, Benadryl...whatever works- except none of it has been working ! I hate taking Benadryl too b/c it makes me sooo sleepy- so it's either sneeze my head off or be groggy and in a fog all day-I've been opting for the groggy fog ! Hope you are feeling better soon
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