A photomicrograph of pollen. It even looks painful, doesn't it?
Image: Arizona Enginnering [larger view].
Today has been another in a long series of bad days. For example, these past couple weeks, my allergies have been so bad that I have been unable to think, to write, often unable to see and at times, unable to breathe. My allergies are so severe that I have ended up in the emergency room on several occasions, due to anaphylaxis. Worse, despite the fact that it is cold and has been raining for two days straight in NYC, I am still taking 2-4 times the recommended doses of two different over-the-counter antihistamines (both generics) combined with three different decongestants (also generics) and pain relievers (more generics), as well as using very expensive (!!) antihistamine eyedrops (NOT generics!), yet I am in considerable misery. I cannot sleep, eat (I have hives inside my mouth, fer chrissakes), and I spend a fair amount of my time trying not to claw the skin out of my mouth or my eyeballs out of my head. I often fail. Needless to say, I am working on several stories for you, including two that are embarrassingly "old news" at this point, but I am still going to publish them on my blog when I have (1) recovered well enough to formulate a coherent paragraph and (2) I have a stable wireless connection. In short, it already sucks to be stuck in my worthless existence for literally years, but to have the last thing in this world that I love -- writing -- to be beyond my reach is sheer hell. I feel like a complete and total failure. Please accept my apologies.
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Did you see ERV's post on ketotifen fumarate? Shot in the dark, hope it might help....
I feel bad for you. I hope you get through this very soon.
Hi, long time reader, first time commenter... I empathize. I am a native NYC-er, and this is by FAR the worst allergy season ever. I don't suffer from the eye issues as an adult, but I missed a week of work due to coughing so violent I collapse. Whee. Fun. Feel better!
i am using eyedrops with ketotifen fumarate -- it is as expensive as Taq polymerase, and not nearly as effective. (cost me $16 per 0.3 oz!)
sorry to hear about your allergies, I know what a pain that can be. We've moved home several times over the past few years trying to get into better air.
I'd invite you here, but we have just as much rain and certainly more pollen!
Steaming hot shower. The steam and water scrub the air. The hot water counter the itch. The stream opens the sinuses and allows them to drain. The noise is calming. The moist heat allows muscles to relax.
Just make sure you stay hydrated. I used to drink deeply before a long shower and soak. Hot water extracts sweat and dulls the feeling of dehydration.
I used to get unlimited hot water and this was how I got through pollen season. I would would absorb repeated insults limping long on antihistamines and tea and grit until I was worked into a frazzle. Then I would take off a few hours and shower and soak to reset the system.
What you need is to get the next plane to England and recuperate here in Cromer. We have pollen too, but the sea air will do you good.
You ain't no failure, grrl. You just got a heaver load to haul.
i would LOVE to recuperate in Cromer. I'd even write and publish a photoessay each day of my adventures for all my readers to enjoy. I am just not sure how to manage plane fare, is all.
The spiked spheres appear to be ragweed pollen. I used to see it when I did an undergraduate project in palynology with a core from Brown's Lake Bog (a glacial kettlehole lake located near Wooster, Ohio).
Totally awful spring in the upper Midwest as well. No mercy for the allergy-prone. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide?