Here i am, concerned about something left in my diet which is causing allergic annoyances. and i completely dropped the ball. Yes, i went to the local department-of-health pollen-and-mold site, and saw nothing particularly noteworthy -- what i failed to do was take a drive outside my usual dog-walking route.
Yesterday i finally caved in, and went to do some shopping for the new tyrosine supplement, various meat supplies, and kitchen notions. The warm spring weather here has caused Nature to rejoice in her usual way, encouraging blossoms of all sorts, flora and fauna, to multiply themselves. Yes, the city is abloom with things that DON'T get listed with the DOH: Bradford pear, for one.
The way-too-short time i lived in Tulsa, our property abounded with the trees; looking out the bedroom window, you would have thought a snowstorm was raging, the view was so white. That first spring resulted in no misery, but every succeeding spring that i've been around the things, they've driven me crazy.
Not only do new allergies pop up when we're overexposed to stimuli, the tricky bit is that they're also CUMULATIVE. Pollen X or mold Y or food Z may not pull the trigger, but get all of them going at once, and suffering takes on a whole new form. I learned this when we lived on the gulf coast of Texas, where it seems that NOTHING EVER DIES ... in the microscopic world, anyway. You never get a break from the mold, mildew, algae, etc etc. The ubiquitous oak trees pollinate THREE TIMES A YEAR. Then there's the ragweed, goldenrod, yarrow.... Fighting fleas and roaches is an endless battle.
So the unpleasant surprise concerning an unknown allergen in my VERY limited diet is most likely a minor sensitivity when the landscape is covered with snow or heatwaves, instead of flowers. I'll stay away from things i know (or suspect) to be irritating in small doses: nightshades, citrus, eggs, nuts, chocolate, perfumes, whatever. I'll have to be cozier, though, with one of the few pharmaceuticals i depend on anymore -- Benedryl!
Tess, these air purifiers improved my life tremendously:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.airoasis.com/
Hooray for diphenhydramine, and loratadine for me, too! :)
alas, lortadine doesn't do much for me -- i only use it when i'm on the highway.
ReplyDeletei should get a purifier for night-time use, especially. during the day ... i'm having too good a time having my WINDOWS OPEN!!! can you tell, i'm enjoying the spring weather? :-D
As long as that yellow dust doesn't fly in, open windows are grand, I agree. I run the air oasis purifier constantly. Have for several years now. It kills viruses as well as bacteria, deters bugs, and is a little, miracle machine, for me.
ReplyDeleteI only take diphenhydramine in the daytime when the pollen hangs thick in the air, and symptoms are horrific. I'm trying to "tank up" on loratadine so that when the air turns into yellow particles I won't need as much diphenhydramine.
Am hoping that last year of very low PUFA, (no nuts/seeds/their oils) will help. May take another year or two, though.
Hooray for spring. :) I wish you a symptom-free spring. :)
same to you!!! fortunately, the "yellow dust" isn't bad locally. ...yeah, one of the best things about my current food-and-supplements plan is how it diminishes the chance of getting viruses! i'm MUCH healthier in every respect. part of the credit i give to systemic enzymes, though!
ReplyDeleteOh, shoot, at first I thought this meant you could have limes again.
ReplyDelete[chuckle] i think ONE lime slice wouldn't do me any harm -- EVERY food has its pluses and minuses. the conclusion i came to was, whatever is giving me zits only does so in conjunction with a major irritant like pear pollen (or oak or sagebrush or yarrow).
ReplyDeletebut i came up with something that i think will console me for no citrus in my water: ONE TABLESPOON of "whipped" vodka actually gives a lovely flavor to a quart of water, while adding negligible calories and alcohol content! :-D yum!