I go through so many sheets of tissue every spring and fall!

For as long as I can remember, I have had seasonal allergies.  When I was a kid, I didn’t know that my constant sneezing, stuffy nose and watery eyes were the results of allergies. I just remember getting sick often, going to the doctor’s, and being prescribed Tavist-D.  No one told me what was going on (I doubt my parents, with their lack of English skills, actually understood) and I never bothered to ask; I was just happy to get out of the doctor’s office! He was quite scary.

I took a whole lot of Tavist-D as a kid.  It was the only thing that worked for me. As an adult, once my allergies struck, I went to look for some and couldn’t find it.  There was regular Tavist but not Tavist-D.  A bit of research revealed that Tavist-D was no longer being made because the “D” part was phenylpropanolamine, a drug that’s been linked to increased strokes in young women. Greeeeeeeat.

After years of trying everything out there from brand names to generics, behind the counter pills and natural remedies, I finally found something that worked for my seasonal allergies: chlorpheniramine maleate.

Unfortunately, as I get older, it seems that I have developed reactions to a host of other things besides the spring and fall blooming season.  None of my reactions have been severe or life-threatening, but they are bothersome.  I know I’m having a reaction when my skin gets itchy and/or my throat feels a bit swollen. I tend to cough a lot for a few minutes and become very aware of the flesh inside my throat.  My wind pipe feels engorged and itchy, but beyond that, nothing too scary.  It just seems my list of triggers keeps getting longer every year, and sometimes I’ll have a reaction while at other times I won’t.  Seems like it depends on the concentration of whatever it is that my body doesn’t like.

Some things that triggered an allergic reaction:

• Most things containing sulfites, which include wines, most pickled or preserved Asian fruits and vegetables (which I love to eat!), and dried fruits. It’s also added to lots of other food as a preservative.  Besides wines and the Asian imports, most aren’t required to list that they contain sulfites on the label.
• Strawberries
• Kiwis
• Jalapeños
• Coffee Creamer (sulfites perhaps?)

I still continue to eat all of the above since my reactions aren’t severe, but I worry that they’ll get worse as I get older. It sucks because it seems that sulfites are in many, many things that I like to eat!

Also, it seems that I’m allergic to bee stings, and possibly other bug venom.  A few years ago I was stung by a bee (it’s amazing how much instant pain such a tiny stinger can inflict!) but I didn’t have a reaction until 2 weeks later. I actually had to go to a doctor because I didn’t make the connection and was informed that I was having a rare, type III reaction called serum sickness.  In a nutshell, it’s a delayed reaction to the bee venom caused by my body trying to protect itself from future “attacks” and inadvertently making itself sick.

Okay, this was a pretty random post.  Don’t know what prompted me to write about it.  It’s been raining all day, dark, cold and gray, so perhaps I just wanted to write about something a bit depressing.