Allergies!

Mine are back, with a vengeance!

I lived my entire life without even understanding what all the fuss was about until . . . until January 2005. I began to have an itchy palate. It was bearable for about a week before I couldn't even sleep because of the itch. As gross as this sounds, I would keep a spoon on my nightstand so I could scratch it at 3 AM when I would awaken with teary eyes, itchy nose and an uncontrollable itch in my soft palate that felt like Chinese water torture.

I saw 2 doctors who basically shrugged "sounds like allergies, take some Claritin." Really? 'Cause that wasn't the first thing I thought to do. By the time I'd seen these guys, I'd taken every allergy med I could think of. I was beyond despondent and hadn't slept in weeks.

Ironically, the 3rd doctor I saw was a D.O. (doctor whose approach is rather holistic) and I've never had much faith in that route (mostly 'cause that crap never works on real ailments!). Now, this story has a bit of irony to it. Irony #1: the holistic doctor absolutely found my problem (nasal polyp) when the mainstream guys did not and Irony #2: the holistic doctor did not send me away with frankincense and murr as I expected but rather a prescription for Nasonex (as blue blood heavy FDA approved, regular pharmaceutical drug as you can get!).

That was a Sunday. I'll never forget it. I used it before bed (my attacks were worse after I went to bed) and by Monday morning I was 80% better. Within a week, I was 100%. A nasal steroid literally saved my sanity. I slept for the first time in weeks.

Two months later I saw an immunologist and had a bunch of tests run to find I was allergic to trees, pollen, dust mites, feathers, dogs and the worst one - the very worst - ragweed. Well, I can try to avoid all of them (and do when possible) but a life without a dog is no life I want to be a part of. I'd rather live on nasal steroid addiction but I won't even have a brief discussion around a solution whereby my dog and I would part. That's just crazy talk!

For about a year I visited the immunologist twice a week and was injected 2-4 times each visit. If it helped, it wasn't much. But, truth be told, my allergies have been minimized the past 3 years and the itchy palate is a distant memory. Until today.

This morning I woke up with an itchy palate that's plagued me throughout the day. Tonight I met my friend N at the ice rink where her daughter was skating and it was all I could do not to grab a plastic utensil from the hot dog vendor and scratch away. I think I have some leftover (expired, but it'll be fine, I'm sure) Nasonex - I love that damn bee - in my nightstand that'll get me through a couple of days. But I am going to have to see a doctor for a new script, just in case, which brings me to a new subject.

Is it just me or do you ladies also not have a G.P.? Maybe it's being so worn out on RE's and Gyn's and surgeries and blood tests and the cooter cam that I feel like, Enough already!