Sunday, February 13, 2011

Allergies

About a year ago, I went to an allergist to figure out what was causing my constant sneezing and sore throat. After doing allergy tests, the doctor told me I was severely allergic to the following things...
-Dogs
-Dust mites
-Cockroaches
-Mold
-Seafood
 Well, I own a dog which would explain the constant sneezing. I am now supposed to keep my distance from her as much as possible. It is so hard being greeted by the cutest animal in the world and not being able to pet her. Once, I decided I would try petting her and then take a shower immediately afterwords... didn't work. I sneezed the entire day and then proceeded to get a sore throat that stayed for the next two days. So now, my dog and I love each other from a distance. 
As for the dust mites... My allergist told me to removed all excess pillows and rugs from my room. I used to have 6 frilly pillows and a shag rug, none of which were cheap and now they are all sitting storage. 
I assumed that the cockroaches and mold wouldn't be a problem... I mean there are no cockroaches or mold in my house and its not like I eat them. Well, I was wrong. Seeing as I am now in a dorm room at college, I am told there are lots of cockroaches and tons of mold. I am supposed to be using a humidifier to keep the dead cockroach skin and mold from bothering me. I decided to not take this piece of advise. I would rather sneeze a couple times then buy a humidifier and have to clean it every other day. 
The seafood allergy wasn't a huge shock. My dad is deathly allergic to seafood. Thankfully, growing up, I stayed away from the stuff. I think the idea of seafood is disgusting. But now that I know I am allergic, and probably deathly so, I have to carry around epipens and ask every restaurant if they cook their seafood in the same place as the meat. Also, if I ever have to get surgery I have to pray that the doctors don't use iodine to clean the incision area because I will most likely have a horrible reaction to it. 
On top of all of these precautions I have to take two different allergy medications a day and do a nasal rinse. But compared to some of the allergies people have, mine are nothing. Anyone have any interesting allergies they want to share?

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