Allergy on tap…

If you have never had allergies, then please feel sorry for me! This year I am suffering from an allergy as the spring has just moved in. Problem is, I have never… not ever in my life… had a day of sneezes, runny nose and dripping eyes.

That, I have found out, is allergy. Actually, “spring allergy”, or “hayfever”, or “seasonal allergy” or “allergic rhinitis”. Which I can’t remember ever before from suffering from it. Maybe I’ve “forgotten” because of my stroke, but I just can’t remember.

I tried to google about people who had only developed this at the age of 59. Like me. Wikipaedia said that around 20% of people in the developed world are affected by hayfever, which is medically known as allergic rhinitis. They have a separate page for this, and describe the effects: “Signs and symptoms include a runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, red, itchy, and watery eyes, and swelling around the eyes. The fluid from the nose is usually clear.” I know that… that’s how I feel. Unfortunately, Wikipaedia didn’t say that people “develop” this sort of stuff at my age.

My head breakdown started on Tuesday. Actually, on Monday night – I had a very sharp pain in my throat which I simply put down to some insect I had swallowed which thanked me by biting me inside my throat. You’re welcome, insect. On Tuesday, after just over an hour at the STEPs meeting at Gold Coast, I was completely overtaken by the feeling of my runny nose and eyes, and I thought that maybe it was the sunny air on that beach. I left and came home and slept that afternoon.

By Wednesday I seemed to be fine, but Thursday I was getting worse – runny nose and eyes. The sneezing didn’t start until yesterday. In the morning I sneezed 17 times, and I had a break from sneezing during the middle of the day. I had thought that was because I slept most of “it” off that afternoon. In the later afternoon and early evening I sneezed another 13 times. I went to bed by 7pm, up and down a couple of times during the night with no more sneezes. This morning, at 5am, it started again – 8 sneezes until 7.30am, which was after I had walked Jordan.

I remember my brother, Wayne, sneezing. He had allergies every single… well, was it spring or summer? I know he had problems, but when mum was alive she took control of his medications for that and the rest of us could pretty much ignore it. I don’t think anyone else in my family had this sort of “allergic rhinitis”… at least, back then. Nowadays I just don’t know if any of them are suffering.

Every country in the world has this sort of stuff, the seasonal allergies.  In the USA it is 8%, in Australia is it 15%, in the rest of the world it is 20%. Look up each of the websites I got that information from. Trouble is, even here in Aus, these allergies can carry on for all of spring and summer, according to ASCIA (Australian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergies). They said: “Pollen seasons can last for several months and exposure is difficult to avoid.” And, a bit further on: “In Australia pollen numbers are lower on the east coast where the prevailing winds come from the sea and where there is protection from westerly winds by the Great Dividing Range. Pollen numbers are higher on the Victorian south coast because the prevailing winds are from the north carrying pollen from the northerly grasslands. In South Australia and Western Australia, the concentration of pollen can vary according to the prevailing winds.” I’m in the east coast of Australia – Brisbane – and had lived by the sea (Woody Point and Scarborough) pretty much immediately after my brain aneurysm and stroke. This is the first time inland after my surgery – perhaps it was just the lovely sea which stopped me finding out about it?

Melbourne (Victoria) has their own very good websites for the people in their area who suffer from allergies. Check them out if you live there. The other one is Asthma Foundation which reports on Adelaide (South Australia). They also reported on the pollen season: “For many people in Australia with asthma or hayfever, August to March (or the dry season in tropical areas) is a difficult time. At this time of year there is often an increased amount of pollen in the air which may trigger an asthma ‘episode’ or ‘attack’ that can make life pretty uncomfortable.”  Which seems very bad for someone like me.

ABC posted an article back in September 2015, and that was updated in June this year. Similar weather? Probably, according to this. Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia have different sneezing times than South Australia. New South Wales, ACT, Victoria and Tasmania start later in spring. Pollens from different grasses affect different cities in different times. Don’t even travel that time of year!!

Some websites give both medical and natural treatments, which may – or may not – work: like, medical treatment of symptoms, antihistamine, allergy shots, nasal sprays. The Aus websites said to stay inside as much as you could, and keep your doors closed during the spring to avoid the pollen dust. Some even say to have a shower after being outside… how many times a day are they talking about? I might have to try some of the treatments, either medical or natural!

So Australia was 15%. Now, it seems, I’m in three groups measured by percentages. 2% for brain aneurysm. 15% for allergy. 17% for stroke. I’m off to a doctor this morning, but if this allergy is because I’m getting older, then I no longer want to get any older!

Wish me luck!