Do you have allergies?
 

Due to certain life circumstances, I’ve been learning a lot about allergies lately.

Growing up I suppose I was fortunate enough that no one in my family ever had any allergic reactions (except hay fever), but in conversations I’ve had recently, it seems a lotttttt of people out there are allergic to a lottttt of different things.

So what about you?

I have an odd seasonal allergy. I'm allergic to certain types of mold, so I have problems in fall and early spring, not when the flowers are in full bloom. I'm also allergic to penicillin obviously.

I've grown allergic to the Chiefs losing. I'm hoping not to have an episode Sunday night.

Dust mites and ragweed.

I take a Zyrtec every night, since I can't really get away from dust mites. Ragweed is a fall allergy. Every once in a while I'll take a Zyrtec in the morning and at night when the count is really high. Usually does the trick.

Also, did not have allergies (that I noticed, anyway) until after the kiddo was born.

Try having a winter mold allergy. Mine always flares up around Christmas and New Year's Day.

Not sure if you've looked into it or if its an option but my wife was identified with a dust mite allergy and went through immunotherapy. I was pretty skeptical because it was regular shots for what seemed like a couple years but it ultimately turned out to be effective enough that she has no notice of it years after finishing the treatment

My allergies are relatively mild but since I was born with a deviated septum and all kinds of sinus issues, I usually spent half the year with sinus and ear infections. I had a bunch of surgery done about 15 years ago to correct all that and my allergies have been pretty much a non-issue since.

How did you find out? Just making an educated guess or went through testing?

My wife is allergic to those two as well, among other things. Those seem to cause her the most issues.

She can’t even wear an old sweatshirt from the back of the closet or touch anything that’s dusty without breaking out in hives, eyes watering, itching like crazy. It seems terrible.

Zyrtec also helps her.

This is the kind of thing that’s bizarre to me. Why can they just pop up out of nowhere?

My wife’s grandma developed a peanut allergy in her mid-60s. And not even a minor allergy. One day she ate some and her face ballooned up twice its normal size. That shit is scary.

Do you have allergies?
 

Yes but they’ve changed over the years. Simply taking the Costco allergy medicine (same as Zyrtec maybe) in the morning when allergens are active does the trick.

A weird one I have that’s not common but still is established is being allergic to bananas, cantaloupes and some other citrus type melons/fruits. For bananas it definitely wasn’t the case as a kid, but if I eat one now I get swelling in the throat, difficulty swallowing and various uncomfortable reactions. Apparently they have some similar or same proteins as ragweed.

Bradford pear blossoms and cats.

I discovered a great ENT through my childhood friend who is my dentist. Noticed something weird in my xrays, and it was sinus infection crap. Got on a shot plan and it cleared it up. Mainly now just take a Dollar store clartin everyday because its cheaper and works the same. It seems to do the trick and living pretty good because of it.

Oddly enough I’m allergic to whey so I can’t eat much dairy or else my throat swells up.

I'm allergic to a relatively common antibiotic, which I learned the hard way. Also tea and most types of lettuce. The lettuce thing didn't start until I was in my forties.

Speaking of whey, it was only about a year ago I discovered whey protein isolate, which most of them are lactose free. That was a huge game changer for me as typical whey protein in the amounts needed would destroy my digestive system. The isolate has no such effects.