So this might be a weird one because I can just look this up anywhere, but Ive been dealing with some vexing medical problems the past year and I just want to see how allergies affect others. Maybe hearing from regular people instead of doctors will ease my mind a bit. A little back-story on my issue (though I’m not looking for a diagnosis), almost exactly a year ago I developed sever constant chronic rhino-sinusitis. I am constantly having to clear my throat and snort/sniffle. Its non stop every 30 seconds or so and no matter what combo of meds I take for allergies, nothing really helps. I have never had allergies before (that i know of) and all of a sudden, after well over 40 years on this earth, I’m allergic to everything. And I do have allergies. According to the test I took a few months ago, I tested positive for 45 out of 50 allergens they tested for. To make a long story short, every doctor I go to says its allergies. Says to get allergy shots and keep taking sprays and pills everyday etc. Nothing brings me any relief. I’m on the strongest sprays that are killing my sinuses and multiple 24hr allergy pills (Doctor ordered), and its almost like I’m not taking anything. So my questions to you wonderful people:
- What do allergies feel like for you?
- Are they constant or do you have flareups?
- Do meds help you significantly?
- Am I just being a big baby and how I feel is just what allergies feel like?
I know this is subjective and everyone will have different answers and that’s fine. Honestly, I don’t really have anyone to bounce ideas off of and talk about this, so this is as much a way for me to scream into the void and vent, as it is to gather info. Again, I’m not looking for a diagnosis, just your personal anecdotes so I can put my own situation into perspective. Love all of you peeps, thanks in advance for any replies!
Edit- Mods, I realize this kinda flirts with rule 3, please feel free to remove it if you so deem.
I’ve had a stuffy nose for almost 50 years. Food makes me stuffy, dust and pollen make me runny.
If I behave food wise and it’s not fall or winter I can be somewhat normal.
Visiting Vegas had me breathing clear if I didn’t make bad food choices.
Medicine is barely effective. Never tried the shots because they’re not effective with food
Visit Meow Wolf while you’re out there
If you play your cards right you can get decent rooms at the LINQ for $50 a night.
A doc described allergies and migraines the same way to me - you have a cup and different triggers add a bit to your cup. That cup is your tolerance and you get symptoms when it overflows. It can be really hard to detect your triggers because it’s not just mountain cedar or soy or whatever - is 2% this and 3% that until it’s full. You can try a journal of everywhere you go, everything you eat, when/where you’re outside, etc.; but it’s easier to just take the meds. If you think the meds aren’t working, go off them for a few days and see how terrible you feel. On day 1 i get sniffly. By day 3 I itch so bad i can’t sleep.
I get really bad brain fog. It’s like I wake up and feel my IQ has halved. Simple problems seem gigantic, everything is a hassle. On top of that - general fatigue, like walking up the stairs or running a bit gets me all breathless. Even though I should be familiar with it by now, I always keep thinking: “is it COVID?”
Then one day it rains and the pollen subsides and suddenly I can run and think and feel like myself again.
So I’ve had allergies all my life. Waking up stuffy or sniffling is super common, I don’t even keep track of it. When it’s bad, if I tilt my head back, I’m literally drinking mucus lol (gross). I joke about being allergic to the outdoors, spring time’s bad, and there’s particularly something about the desert that makes my allergies act up. Some of the shrubs out there, sagebrush maybe. And I can get it basically everywhere, even while traveling to other countries, so it seems like I’m allergic to multiple things. My allergy symptoms are pretty much sneezing and sniffling, nothing to do with the throat.
I’ve taken OTC antihistamine meds before. They don’t completely dry me out but it helps a little. They’re not a magical cure, so I actually don’t bother most of the time unless it’s bad and I have something important going on.
I don’t think you’re being a big baby, because it sounds like you just developed this issue? I just deal with it because it’s normal, it’s been going on my whole life, kinda like wearing glasses lol.
I keep holding out hope that there will be some kind of magic bullet cure, but the more I hear from people, the more I’m starting to think Ive just got normal, bad allergies. Thanks for the reply! The (gross) comment you made, is something ive dealt with a few times this year, so that makes me feel better…in a gross kind of way, lol.
As far as I know, I have 2 main allergies: pollen and metals (some metals, not sure which exactly).
Pollen
- It feels like my nose is a leaky faucet. It will run and run and I’ll have sneezing fits for hours. If I blow my nose, it makes the inside feel super-dry and itchy, which just kicks off more running and sneezing. So it basically feels pointless to blow my nose at all, and I usually settle for sniffling instead. But if I do that too much, I start getting mini-sinus headaches.
- Flare-ups. Sometimes I’ll see the plants that trigger it and I’ll start sneezing within 10-20 minutes. Other times I’ll go outside and it’ll start out of nowhere. It’ll last for hours.
- Meds do not seem to help at all. Maybe they shorten what would be a 6-hour episode into a 3-hour episode but who tf knows. I have yet to find anything that kicks in faster than a couple hours after use.
Metals
- I break out in a highly localized rash. It’s red, bumpy, and itches like mosquito bites.
- Flare-ups after prolonged contact (several hours) with a metal. It’ll last anywhere from a couple hours to a couple days.
- No meds. It’s pretty easy to ignore when it flares up, and it’s easy enough to avoid exposure.
