Living with Allergies

I have been living with severe seasonal allergies for as long as I can remember.

While in the military, I moved around a lot.

The Southern United States was the worst for me.

While living in Mississippi, I was taking a nasal steroid and prescription antihistamines.

While living in Idaho, I received an allergy test.

They had a large stamp with dozens of needles.

Each needle had been dipped in a different allergen.

They then stamped my forearm and I waited about 30 minutes to find out what I was allergic to.

Any dot that bubbled up, was something I was allergic to.

I remember, my forearm looked like a mountain range by the time I was done!

That was 15 years ago.

They didn't really tell me what I was allergic to, but they did give me prescriptions to take daily.

While pregnant with my first child, I ate a handful of tree nuts, which I hadn't done since I was a child.

I had an allergic reaction and had to take Benadryl.

My whole mouth and throat swelled up.

After my son was born, I found out he had severe peanut allergies, so I carry an Epi-Pen around with me everywhere I go.

I am afraid to use it, but I will if I have to.

I usually just gave him Benadryl and watch him to make sure he is not having breathing problems when he does ingest a peanut, but I found out that Benadryl only helps with the discomfort of allergies.

It does not stop the blood pressure from dropping or the throat from swelling shut.

If your child has peanut allergies, be very careful around Halloween time and check all the candies before they can eat them.

We usually trade our candies that contain peanuts with other kids non-peanut candies.

That way, everyone is happy!

I had recently moved to Northern Virginia and my allergies have been out of control since the beginning of February.

I have not stopped coughing or draining mucuos since then.

I went to a Minute Clinic where they prescribed Nasonex and Cherutusin for my allergies.

The next week, it was in my lungs also, so I went to a primary care doctor who told me I had bronchitis and told me to keep taking the medicine that I received a week ago and wait it out.

A week later, I went to an ENT, who prescribed a steroid pack and antibiotics.

It really helped with the itching and swelling, but once I was done, all the symptoms came back and got worse everyday.

About a week after I finished my steroids and antibiotics, my throat swelled almost completely shut and was so itchy, my sinuses were constantly full, my voice was completely gone, my ears were completely full and I woke up in the middle of the night unable to catch my breath.

My husband brought me to the ER where they ran alot of tests.

They said it was not strep, flu or pneumonia.

I still had a sinus infection and my allergies were awful.

I received a breathing treatment (albuteral), stronger steroids and stronger antibiotics and a take home albuteral inhaler.

I was coming to the end of the steroids and I was really worried that it would happen again and my husband would have been on a business trip and I would not make it to the hospital.

I was in complete misery.

People avoided me because they thought I was sick.

We had to leave Easter Mass early because I couldn't stop coughing.

It was completely taking over my life.

I did not want to live like that.

I wanted to feel like a human being again, who can take my kids on walks and go to the playground with them.

I had not been able to sleep well.

I had been averaging 2-5 hours of sleep a night and it was getting worse.

I felt like a zombie all day.

I went to an allergist to have allergy shots done.

I went once a week and sat in the allergy clinic for a half an hour each time to make sure there was no allergic reaction. They made a serum with my top 4 allergens. As the months went on, they gradually upped the dose to build resistance. I went for over a year before I moved out of the area and stopped treatment.

Even though it was a long process with frequent appointments for shots, I would rather take that over the way I felt then. I feel like it did help me a bit. It may have been better if I kept up with the shots to keep my resistance high, but it did help a bit even after being off of them for a few years.