“Spring this year has got me feeling like a horse that never left the post;
I lie in my room staring up at the ceiling,
Spring can really hang you up the most!”
- Frances Landesman

If you’ve got allergies, spring really can “hang you up the most.”  Allergy symptoms can drive you absolutely crazy. 

It’s not easy to describe what it’s like to have allergies to someone who hasn’t experienced them firsthand.  But I’ll try.

It’s like having a perpetual cold.  Some days it’s worse than other days, but the symptoms are almost always there.  You have that “I’m Going to Sneeze Feeling” a hundred times a day (and night).  Sometimes twenty times in a row.  I gave up on tissues.  I started keeping a roll of toilet paper on my night table.  And in my car.  You can’t carry a roll of toilet paper around in your purse, so I usually smash as many tissues in there as I can and hope for the best. 

Complete strangers have offered me tissues, when I’ve run out.  Let me tell you, there are few things that are more embarrassing than being in a checkout line (church/movie theater/corporate meeting/parent-teacher conference) or on a job interview (first date/stage/amusement ride) with your head tipped all the way back, trying desperately to keep your nose from running.  You wouldn’t believe the things I’ve had to resort to using in situations like those: gum wrappers, sales receipts, bank deposit slips, grocery lists.  Anything within reach.  Once, I actually used the hem of my dress.  I was that desperate.

When I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome three years ago, my doctor warned me that my allergies were going to be worse.  Worse?  So, how about getting myself hermetically sealed until the CFS goes away?  Where can I rent a plastic bubble?

The doctor wasn’t kidding.  Not only did the “seasonal” allergies get worse, I started having all kinds of reactions to food, too. 

Aspartame, that stuff they put in NutraSweet could put me in bed for three whole days with a migraine headache, fatigue, and confusion.  Dairy products (especially “hard” cheese) would keep me up the entire night sneezing and coughing.  Cranberries, I learned the hard way, are “dried” with sulfites, which put me into an asthma attack one night.  I can’t even be in the same room with chamomile tea, which almost totally closed my throat about an hour after I drank it.  If I eat miso soup (which is made with soy), I start sneezing before I even leave the restaurant.

What to do?  Move to Arizona and live on a diet of oatmeal and lettuce and lentils?

The doctor put me on daily antihistamine, which was supposed to help the symptoms.  “Help” is a relative term.  Some days, a gallon of Benadryl wouldn’t make a dent, even if I shot it into my veins.  But the antihistamine did help to keep my immune system “boosted.”  And that’s a real plus for someone like me, who’s also allergic to every antibiotic on the market (even the IV drugs).  I used to get at least four or five colds a year, which almost always went into an ear infection of bronchitis.  That number has been reduced to one or two.

When my doctor suggested allergy shots a couple of years ago, I balked.  So many people I knew had tried them with little or no success.  You’re committed to going once a week for at least a year or two - once every two weeks after that.  And you may have to continue for as long as five years.  The shots also cost about a hundred dollars out of pocket per month.  I dropped the subject.

Then, out of nowhere, I came across an article that claimed that allergy shots were being used as a successful treatment for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  Could it be?  You mean, I could not only help my allergies, but cure my CFS, too?  Praise Jesus!  I may have found my miracle.

I started the shots in February.  I got my life back in April.  Not only has my energy returned, I feel better than I have in my whole life.  I had no idea how tired allergies can make you.  And, if you have CFS, they can make you so much more fatigued. 

I did some research before I began getting the shots, to give myself the best chance at success.  It seems that exposure to second-hand smoke can inhibit the effects of allergy shots.  I wondered if this was true.  Then, I came across a study conducted by The Medical College of Georgia, which found that children who were exposed to their parents’ second-hand smoke were more likely to have allergies.  The researchers suspect that exposure to cigarette smoke was actually altering the development of their immune systems.  After hearing that, I swore to do my best to stay out of smoky places.

Allergy symptoms can range from sneezing, coughing, burning eyes, asthma and itchy skin to headaches, hives, rashes, muscle and joint pain, and tiredness. 

Allergy shots are inconvenient, costly, and they don’t always work.  (The success rate is 80%.)  There’s also a small chance that a person could experience anaphylactic shock after an allergy shot.  So, you have to sit in the doctor’s office for a half hour after getting one, to make sure you’re going to be okay. 

But, a doctor can usually tell if allergy shots are working for you within four to six months.  That’s not very long, when you consider how many months a year you suffer with allergy symptoms.

It was time for me to take matters into my own hands (or “arms,” as the case may be). And I’m glad I did.  For me, allergy shots were definitely worth a shot!